Western Arctic National Parklands Residency Day 18: Boating the Noatak

I spent most of today on prep work for the painting workshop I'm teaching next week.  I found a suitable photo for everyone to work from, filled palettes with paint, and organized everything else.  That's as much as I'll say on that topic, it's far from the most interesting thing.

This evening we packed clothes and gear for a weekend of camping up the Noatak River.  Tyler and Cassia's friends have some land along the river and are in the process of building a cabin.  We went along to help where we could and hang out in the evenings.  After getting all packed up and having a quick pizza dinner, we headed to the friends' house to load up the boat.  There were seven of us, plus gear and food.  The great thing about the late sunsets is that there's no rush to get out the door.  It's about an hour's ride across the sea and up the river.  We arrived around 10pm, got tents set up, and sat around the fire for a bit before turning in.

Looking back as we boat up the Noatak.

Approaching our stop.