Today I began eight days of wilderness exploration with a park ranger, based in two different areas of the Noatak National Preserve: Rainbow Lakes along the Kelly River and Long Lake along the Nimiuktuk River. The preserve was initially designated a National Monument by President Carter in 1978. The Noatak contains 6,569,904 acres of boreal forest and tundra that's north of the Arctic Circle and borders Gates of the Arctic National Park to the east and Kobuk Valley National Park to the south. The northern border of the preserve encompasses the Brooks Range, the southern border the Baird Mountains. This is a vast, expansive landscape roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts. The Noatak is home to moose, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, Arctic foxes, lemmings, voles, shrews, Dall's sheep, vast herds of caribou numbering more than 200,000 individuals, and a variety of birds. There are no roads here. The only access to the Noatak is by plane or boat. Small airplanes can land on flatter areas of tundra (of which there are few) or on larger gravel bars on the rivers. Float planes can land on a limited number of lakes and rivers. Boats can access much of the Noatak River and limited stretches of its tributaries. Aside from pilots, few people get to see much, if any, of this immense country. I feel extraordinarily lucky to be offered this opportunity. Rainbow Lakes are unique in that they are spring fed and do not freeze during the harsh winters here, where temperatures are regularly 30 and 40 degrees below zero. Permafrost is a mere 10 inches to 2 feet below the surface. This area has some spruce forest making it ideal habitat for grizzlies and very lovely to photograph. Tundra vegetation is dense and varied, plants growing on top of each other with large grass tussocks making walking quite difficult. A tussock is generally 8-24 inches in diameter and anywhere from 8-24 (or more) inches tall. They are hard, but unstable, my ranger companion said the best metaphor he's heard yet likens walking on tussocks to trying to walk on a field of bowling balls. They roll under you and your ankles are constantly twisting. The tussocks on the arctic tundra here grow densely and are surrounded by blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, mosses, Labrador (tundra) tea, and myriad other plants. Everything grows in a mass, with small patches where one plant dominates between the tussocks. Walking along, you can sometimes find solid footing on a patch of springy sphagnum moss, but more often when your foot goes down, what it lands on gives way, unevenly, and you sink unpredictably. It's impossible to walk in a straight line or avoid tripping. Your feet and ankles are constantly twisting and turning with each step. Where the tussocks are deepest, you have to raise your knees way up to try to step over each one and try to find something more stable to land on. It is impossibly slow and exhausting to hike on the tundra. One mile takes and hour or more, and feels like five very hard, uphill miles. The plants of the tundra are extremely varied in appearance and fascinating to look at up close. There were abundant ripe blueberries everywhere, and some ripening cranberries and blackberries. Plenty of fresh fruit to enjoy and round out our diet. We practiced proper bear safety for this region, hollering "hey bears" and other things to make them aware of our presence, wearing bear spray at all times, and carrying a shotgun for emergencies (primarily to make a loud noise to scare off a bear that isn't frightened by our smell, noise, and other efforts). Grizzlies here are not the problem they are in some places. They are not accustomed to humans and still have a natural fear of us. So long as you behave intelligently, you're unlikely to end up in a bad situation. It's difficult to convey the enormity of the Noatak Preserve. It's the size of Massachusetts, there were maybe as many as a dozen other people there during our time. In our long days of hiking, at each lake we only covered an area equivalent to a city neighborhood. So we visited two neighborhoods in the state of Massachusetts after spending 8 solid days of hiking and exploring. Flying across the preserve was a remarkable experience, and afforded a grasp of it's magnitude. My next eight blog entries will detail each day of the expedition, and I will also include a couple blogs dedicated solely to wildlife and plants. For now, here are a few images to whet your appetite for more.
The southern of the Rainbow Lakes.
Views of the creek west of Rainbow Lakes.
The southern end of Long Lake, tents visible near lake edge.
