Western Arctic National Parklands Residency Day 20: Boating the Noatak

We all slept in again, made coffee, and had a variety of foods for breakfast: pancakes, sausage, eggs, and more.  Then the guys got to work on the cabin again, with the goal of getting footings for stairs done before lunch.  There were so many people, not all could help with that.  A few of us kept the fire going, cleaned up from breakfast, worked on lunch prep.  After lunch we got packed up, then figured out how to get the very heavy wood stove up and into the cabin.  It took about eight guys to manhandle it onto a sled, pull it to the cabin with the four wheeler, get it started up a ramp, using metal pipes to roll it up the long ramp to the porch, about six feet above ground level.

We headed back to Kotzebue around 4pm, the river was still very high and we saw more debris, and more seals.  We got everything back to Tyler's house and unloaded, and then I made caribou tacos for dinner.  Around 10pm I noticed some incredible colors happening in the ocean, and though I knew it would likely be impossible to catch them with a camera, I had to go try.  I expected to be gone for maybe 10 minutes, but instead I stayed an hour.  The sun moves so differently this far north, when the colors in the sky grow intense and the sun dips low, there's still close to an hour to enjoy the show before the sun drops below the horizon.  Even then, it's more of a sideways motion, so the colors linger gloriously.  Last night, the colors just kept getting better and better.  I saw colors that I haven't seen before, and though the photos are nice, they don't begin to capture the truth of that sunset.  Vivid cyan right next to an orange so bright the combination pulsated.  Quite possibly the best sunset I've ever seen.

A quick sunset pic first, more to come later!

Morning views of fog blocking the mountains.

This is how the locals say hello, repeated fly-bys.

Headed out of the Noatak.

Some really interesting land forms through this stretch of river.

More seals!

Overcast skies and reflective river.

Headed out of the Noatak.

Crossing the Chukchi Sea back to Kotzebue.

Another amazing sunset on the Arctic Ocean.

While photographing, I heard someone approaching, and turned to find Ranger Julia headed down to watch the sunset.

Western Arctic National Parklands Residency Day 19: Boating the Noatak

Last night it rained a bit, enough to make everything damp, and it was pretty chilly today.  Everyone slept in, then we made coffee and heated up an egg scramble to make breakfast burritos.  Next we all helped work on the cabin.  Goals included trimming out windows, caulking, insulating the floor and loft, and moving wood and other materials into the cabin and underneath to keep them drier.  We got a nice fire going before lunch and cooked over it, then again for dinner as well.  I made a pretty decent potato salad and we had chicken and squash.

Cassia and I poked around the tundra for a little while this afternoon, finding ripe blueberries, and unripe crowberries and cranberries.  Some of the cranberries were enormous.  The misty rain that continued through the day left droplets on the spiderwebs in and around the tussocks.

After dinner and sitting around the fire, Tyler's friends wanted to go for a boat ride further up the river to look for moose and bears.  We headed out after 10pm and drove for about an hour.  The rains have made the water level even higher than it already was, washing down full trees and fair amount of debris.  There were no visible sand or gravel bars, and the river looked immensely wide.  As we traveled along, there was a long dark line in the middle of the river: seals resting on a submerged gravel bar.  There were dozens and dozens, really neat to see.  Plus more in water, watching us approach.  We turned around a little after 11 and got back to camp after midnight.  Everyone was exhausted and we all crashed.

Cranberries and spiderweb.

Vivid and damp tundra plants.

Labrador (tundra) tea.

View of the Noatak River.

A very wide Noatak.

A huge group of seals on a submerged gravel bar. Everyone said they've never seen so many together, must be because of the high water, this was the only good spot to rest.

A little closer view.  It was so overcast and dim that I couldn't get any clear photos.