Western Arctic National Parklands Residency Day 2: Kotzebue
Jessica L. Bryant
Today was a day of preparations for my 8 days in the wilderness with Ranger T. We met with the park's backcountry ranger early this morning to discuss logistics. We will be keeping an eye out for, and documenting, a number of things like illegal campsites, plane and helicopter activity, any archaeological sites, and more. We'll also help restore some wilderness by breaking down an old outfitter's camp. We talked safety about bears and float planes, went over bear spray and shotgun usage. We reviewed our three methods of communication: satellite phone, aviation radio to talk to airplanes flying overhead, and the GPS beacon. We will be calling to check in twice each day, so we won't have to wait days for rescue if anything goes wrong. There is all kinds of gear and food packed up. Tents that are reputed to be bomb-proof, the kind people use at Everest base camp. Our sleeping bags are rated for 30 below plus we have extra liners along. We have bear barrels, camp stoves, lots of food. I have my cameras, lenses, many batteries, memory cards, battery packs. And a small set of paints and sketchbook. We have quite a lot of stuff packed. Says Ranger T "It's like car camping but with an airplane" except the airplane doesn't stay with us. And we'll be really remote. The backcountry ranger commented this morning that while we know these areas, and people have been out there before, we are some of the first few crews to visit and explore the area for the park. There is still a lot to discover and learn here, and I'm really excited for tomorrow. We head out at 2pm. I'll keep a log of each day, and post it with photos after we return next Thursday. Have a great week everyone! I'm sure I will!
Looking out on the lagoon where the planes take off.
Park Service and Fish and Wildlife float planes.
A portion of the gear we packed up today.
Location of our two destinations. West is Rainbow Lakes, east is Long Lake. Noatak River is to the south and Brooks range to the north.
Rainbow Lakes is near the Kelly River, Long Lake is near the Nimiuktuk. You can see Kotzebue on this map, too.
