Today was our transfer from the Rainbow Lakes area to Long Lake. We did the usual morning routine, up about 9, check in, packed some stuff from the tents down to the lake, and had breakfast. Our scheduled pickup is at 2pm and we're planning to be ready at 1pm so we have time to relax before going. After breakfast and a little rest, we went back up to the tundra to take down tents. It was really windy today, especially by the lake. It was all going fine, I had my tent staked down and carefully held onto the rain fly as I detached it and packed it in it's bag before it could blow away. Then as I was bent over packing, out of the corner of my eye I saw my tent pull up and start tumbling across the tundra like a beach ball, bouncing as it went. I took off running, really it was a sad excuse for running that was more like a stumbling, awkward toddler trying to stay standing while moving forward. Luckily Tyler saw the tent start to go too, and had a much more effective run than I. Not sure how he managed it, but he was at full run (he may have face planted once, but to me it looked like he was diving to catch the tent). After about 200 yards, the tent started spinning instead of tumbling and it was enough of a slow down that he got close enough to nose dive toward it and catch the very edge with his fingers. It was such a lucky break. My tent would have ended up in the trees at the next lake soon, and if they didn't stop it, it would have bounced up and over and into the lake. Maybe even across the lake. As the tent pulled loose in the first place and started tumbling, the stakes fell out and were strewn across the tundra. By some miracle we were able to locate all the stakes amidst the tussocks and other plants. A gold medal to Tyler for his heroic tromp across the tundra.
We finished packing up and hauled everything down to the lake, then organized it all to fit into the float plane. I was trying not to think too much about the likelihood of being airsick again. We had a light lunch of trail mix, thinking a more empty stomach might be nice. While doing some last preparations, but well before the relaxed down time we were looking forward to, we heard a plane. It was ours, an hour early. Good thing we were hoping to have down time. The pilot landed and pulled up to the shore near our spot. A word of float plane safety here, in case any of you ever go out on one: never try to be helpful by pulling in the plane for the pilot. Let him/her deal with wind, waves, a poor landing, whatever. Every year people try to help, lean out to grab a float to pull it to shore, and get hit by the propeller. It's usually fatal. So, the plane arrived and we pulled on our hip waders, then helped load our gear, some into the floats, the rest into the tail and back seat of the plane. Then it was time for our av(iation) vests (bright orange survival vests you wear on a float plane out here, it has a built in life vest, matches, food, first aid supplies, and other necessities) and the pre-flight safety briefing by our pilot. I had three plastic bags packed, but with him so early, I didn't have time for my usual (and largely superstitious) anti-motion-sickness routine. Oh well. We got loaded up and took off. Hard to say goodbye to this place.
Take off was quick and our 45 minute flight was gorgeous. Not a speck of nausea, even though I was looking all over at the breath taking landscape that went on forever, maybe because this time I took photos out the windows without looking through the view finder. I know I've said it before, but vast is such an understatement for this country. We flew south along the Kelly River to the Noatak, then east along that river, through the Grand Canyon of the Noatak (spectacular), until we were just about to the mouth of the canyon. We veered north along the Nimiuktuk River to Long Lake, which is nestled in a large, gentle bowl next to a large rocky outcrop.
We got our gear unloaded from the plane, tossing it up into the less wet marshy area. It's a much more mucky shoreline here, the grasses diminishing into the mud. Next we set out to locate good spots for the kitchen and tent areas. We opted to stay as close as we could to shore with the kitchen, and went for the first area where the land was less squishy wet. The space between the lake and kitchen had ridiculously tall tussocks. Tyler dubbed it the "mine field." For tents we went a little further uphill where the plants thinned out and got smaller, looking more like the high tundra I know from my time at Rocky Mountain National Park. Here it was very rocky with plants and duff between rocks, varying proportions of each. We found good spots and had an easy time setting up, the stakes feeling much more secure here. It's a great location. High, dry, and a lot closer to our kitchen than before. Definitely colder than our last location.
After dinner (I've mastered the Coleman stove and made alfredo) we climbed to the top of the high rocky bluff above our lake. Fantastic views in all directions. Endless tundra to the east, layers and layers of the Brooks Range to the north, the Noatak River in the distant south, and the Nimiuktuk and Kingasivik Mountains to the west. It's excruciatingly beautiful in life. I could sit here forever. We wandered around the top of the rock enjoying different angles and vantage points. We sat for a while, watching the slowly changing light, chatting, joking, inventing new catch phrases. Tyler pulled out the spotting scope and found a grizzly meandering along the tundra across the river. That makes 7 bears. As the sun dipped behind the clouds on the horizon it got even colder so we hiked back down to the tents. The moon had risen, so I took even more photos. Then the wind died down and the lake became calm. The loons are chattering from further north on this aptly named long lake as I sit in my tent and write, at 12:30am. A good, long day.
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| This gives a hint of how bumpy the floor of my tent was over the grass tussocks below. |
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| Last view of our tents before breaking camp. |
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| Looking back up as we headed down to breakfast. |
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| More tundra plant pics. |
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| More blueberries. |
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| Aqpik plant (called salmonberry too here, it's really cloudberry according to what I found online) |
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| Cranberries |
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Panorama of the view up the hill toward the tents.
We were really down low next to the lake, couldn't see the tundra above. |
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| Getting things packed together. |
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| Our ride arrives! |
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| Size context of plane and lake. |
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Super quick pic while waiting for the pilot to get himself pulled in to shore.
Ready to go with my av vest and hip waders! |
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| Tyler helping pull the plane (engine off) up the shore, closer to our gear. |
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| Almost there. |
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| Tying up. |
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| The little pile of aviation fuel cans will have to wait for a later pickup, but they're ready to go. |
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| A last look south along the lake before hopping in. |
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| Lower Rainbow Lake from my window. |
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Headed west along the Noatak into the Grand Canyon of the Noatak.
Wish I could have stood on the wings and shot a panorama view. |
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| Noatak River. |
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| Mouth of the Nimiuktuk. |
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| Turned north, Long Lake is to the left of middle of the frame. |
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| Circling to lose altitude, view of the Nimiuktuk and Kingasivik. |
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| Long Lake! The rocky outcrop I talked about climbing is there on the left. |
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| Landed, hunting for something to tie up to. |
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| Unloaded. |
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| And again we watch the departure of our connection to the outside world. |
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| Going... |
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| Going...almost gone. |
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| Looks like a reasonable place for some tents! |
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| And indeed it's a great spot. |
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| View of the lake from our tent site. Looks further away. than it feels. |
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| Crowberries. Fairly flavorless, but if they're good and ripe they taste fresh, like a burst of clean water with lots of seeds. |
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| Some species of phlox, I think. |
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| Some real brush to push through on the way up the rock. Lots of willows and alder around here. |
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| Looking back down at the south end of the lake and our tents, from part way up. |
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| Still further to go, it got a little steep but still easy to climb. |
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| Unidentified plant with really cool, kind of leathery leaves. |
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| South quarter to third of the lake, with tents on the little gray rise and the end of the lake. |
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| Looking northwest. |
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| Unidentified flower - I'm going to put some time into plant IDs and do a separate post later of everything I saw up here. |
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| Looking east, long ribbon of our lake mostly visible. Hard to tell, but we're plenty high up here. |
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| Toward the north end of the lake. |
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| Panorama of most of Long Lake. |
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| Another unidentified plant. |
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| And another. |
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| And another. I may not know them well yet, but I sure love tundra plants. |
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| Another northern view, love the warm afternoon colors. |
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| Proof that it was really me out there. I'm not into selfies, but once in a while it sounds good. |
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| Another panorama of Long Lake. |
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| Looking northwest. |
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| Looking southeast. |
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| Looking north. |
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| Incredible views of the Brooks Range stretching off to seeming infinity beyond the Nimi. |
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| Looking west at the Kingasivik Mountains of the Brooks Range. |
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| North into the Brooks Range and upper end of the Nimiuktuk. |
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| The Nimi |
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The sun is like a little kid that fights bedtime.
It seems to never want to set, it just keeps gliding sideways and extending the golden hour to near infinity. |
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| Great clouds overhead. |
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| Lichens are great. So is this cool plant on the right that looks like a cactus or a braid. |
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| More neat plants. |
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| Tyler with shotgun and spotting scope, all set for whatever comes on our adventures. |
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| Lichen! I've been told that the orange lichen can only grow where birds have defecated. |
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| Jaw bone of a juvenile carribou we found part way down the rocks. |
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| Whatever this one is called, I love how the undersides of the leaves are silver white. They glisten in direct sunlight. |
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| A less zoomed in view. These are very small. |
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| Horsetail or puzzlegrass. Such a cool plant. You can pull apart the sections and put them back together again. |
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| Not sure what this plant is, but I'll figure it out and post later. The flowers will help. |
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| Same for this guy. |
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| The sun is staying behind the clouds, but our view from camp is pretty great. Looks like something from northern Europe. |
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| Colors in the clouds above the Kingasivik Mountains. |
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| Nearly full moon on the rise. |
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| A closer look. |
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| Denser clouds means losing more light. |
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| Looking south, tents with moon. |
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| Looking north, tents with lake. |
