Gates of the Arctic

August 17, 2024

Gates of the Arctic - Alaska

Gates of the Arctic National Park lies north of the Arctic Circle and has no roads or trails. It is the least visited national park with an average of around 11-thousand visitors per year (compare that with Great Smoky Mountains which receives over 13-million visitors per year).

After my trip to Denali and a few days in Fairbanks, I was ready to meet the crew for our trip to Gates of the Arctic. I met my trip-mates and our guide, Haley (owner of Tundra Travels and general badass Alaskan adventurer). We spent the first evening packing gear, food, and discussing the plan for our trip. Due to a cold-snap and snowstorm, we could not fly into Anaktuvak Pass as originally planned. Our entry point would be off the Dalton Highway where we planned to park the van and enter the park on foot.

Below is my trip log and select photos from our backpacking trip into Gates of the Arctic National Park July 28 - August 4, 2024

Day 1: Driving into the Arctic - Camp: Marion Creek Campground

It was a pretty sight, entering the Brooks Range this way, slowly approaching the mountains ahead, and crossing into the Arctic Circle. -from the log, day 1

The day started with a road trip along the Dalton Highway. The highway starts a bit north of Fairbanks and ends just a few miles shy of the Arctic Ocean. It is intermittently dirt and pavement, with no apparent reason for the abrupt changes in surface type. The road was originally private and created during the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline that runs along the route. It is now a public highway, but traveling it is infamously treacherous and slow-going at times. We slowly approached and entered the Brooks Range, navigating a slew of construction along the way. The trip took 8-hours from Fairbanks to Coldfoot Camp, where we stopped for a buffet-style dinner and some last wifi at the visitor center. We spent the night at Marion Creek Campground where we had our official briefing for the days ahead.

Waiting in parked traffic through a construction zone

Crossing the Yukon River

Day 2: Into Gates of the Arctic National Park - Camp: 68°02'20.6"N 149°50'14.6"W

We started the day with a river crossing & very wet feet... this condition is unlikely to change. - from the log, day 2

We drove another ~30 miles north on the Dalton to get to our starting point. From there, we parked the car, put our packs on, and started walking. We began the day with a river crossing, any illusion of keeping dry feet was lost within the first 15 minutes of hiking. Between the many river crossings and the soggy tundra, dry feet were a thing of dreams in the Arctic. It was slow going as one member of our group struggled with the terrain, understandably.

If you have never walked on trail-less tundra, it is hard to explain and there is really no preparing for it, especially while carrying a pack weighing over 40lbs. Walking on the tundra itself is a wet, squishy experience punctuated by solid, variously sized, grassy blobs (called tussocks). Sometimes these tussocks are the size of your head, sometimes the size of a grapefruit, sometimes much larger than both. Variety comes not only in the size of the tussocks themselves but in the depth and moisture level of the ground below. The whole experience can make you anxious, fearful, and scared for your ankles, or give you a good giggling fit at the silliness of the whole thing. One must re-learn how to walk when doing so on tundra. Anyway, I digress.

So, it was slow going. We crossed into Gates of the Artic as we cleared our first pass and headed into the Kuyuktuvuk Valley. We made camp among the willows along Kuyuktuvuk Creek many miles shy of our planned stopping point for the night. It was disheartening to move at such a slow pace, but I was hopeful that the following days would bring greater comfort with the terrain and a faster hiking speed. Despite this disappointment, my mantra was (and continued to be throughout the trip): I'm just happy to be here. I was acutely aware that I was walking on lands that relatively few humans have traversed and I still feel incredibly grateful for that experience.

Our last glimpse of the Dalton Highway as we crossed into Gates of the Arctic NP

Day 3: To Oolah Pass - Camp: 68°03'58.8"N 149°59'21.1"W

As we began the day's journey, we heard some howling near the landslide that sat above our camp. A peek through the binoculars revealed the top of a head poking through the grass far up on the hill. We continued to look at the hillside & were rewarded with a tall & stern wolf silhouetted atop the hill looking down at us. Majestic, obviously. - from the log, day 3

We bushwhacked through the willows along Kuyuktuvak Creek, slogged through more tundra, and continued our slow pace as we began another climb up to Oolah Pass. We stopped to make camp just shy of the Continental Divide near an alpine lake. Here at the Continental Divide, rivers to the North flow into the Arctic Ocean and rivers to the South flow into the Pacific Ocean.

We were able to move a bit faster, but it was clear that we would not be able to make it to Anaktuvak Pass at this pace. In talking with our guide, Haley, it is almost certain that Plan A (point-to-point with a bush plane flight back to Fairbanks) and Plan B (a loop back to the Dalton Highway) are out the window and it is time to make a Plan C (an out-and-back).

A HUGE wolf track - we saw many, but this was the largest

Alpine lake near camp

Tent spot night 3

Day 4: Itkillik River - Camp: 68°04'39.1"N 150°13'51.2"W

Hiked today. Found a small Dall Sheep or caribou skeleton. Passed through a massive landslide. Weather was up & down. Took a couple tundra naps... Saw a lumbering wolverine on the other side of the creek. Team meeting resulted in deciding to head back the way we came after a day hike at some point. C'est la vie. -from the log, day 4

Our hiking continued at a slow pace down from Oolah Pass along the Itkillik River. We ran into a group of young women from a summer camp in the lower-48 who were on day 39 of a 43 day backpacking journey. We also found an old NPS metal marker from the 1980's - Haley says there are discreet markers all over the lands here. When the park was first established, adventurous rangers were tasked with trying to map and explore the park to better understand the landscape.

After dinner, our other two companions settled in early as Haley and I sat chatting (mostly about smut novels and hiking). We noticed some movement on the bank across the river and pulled out our 'nocs to get a closer look. The Alaska factor really messes with your sense of scale and we went around and around trying to decide if we were watching a brown bear, a porcupine, or a wolverine. It was definitely a wolverine, which is pretty incredible as they are rarely spotted. We both retired early to do some reading as the drizzling rain began to sound more aggressive on the kitchen tarp.

Tent spot night 4

NPS Marker from 1984

Just four years after the park and wilderness area were officially established.

Post-river bath lounging - that river was COLD :)

Day 5: Day hike to Oolah Valley along the Itkillik River - Camp: layover/same camp

We made it to the farthest point of our trip looking down the Oolah Valley to where the Itkillik River turns North toward the Arctic. We can see where we would have turned south toward Anaktuvuk Pass. - From the log, day 5

68°06'52.2"N 150°17'00.1"W - farthest point West on our trip.

The Oolah Valley was gorgeous as it opened up and turned toward the Arctic, but it was bittersweet to know that we could not make it to our planned destination at Anaktuvuk Pass. We day-hiked with light packs and left our camp set-up. We watched a cow and calf moose running along the mountainside on the other side of the Itkillik River (the final of the "Big Five" mammals in Alaska - I had already seen caribou, grizzly, dall sheep, and wolf). We headed back to camp in the persistent, frigid rain and made an early dinner after drying out a bit.

Trying to dry everything in my tent

As we cleaned up from dinner, the wind changed direction and a cold, Arctic fog entered the valley socking us in. It was still raining and getting colder... While reading inside my tent, I noted the quiet and lack of pattering on my tent; I thought it had stopped raining. A while later when I opened the tent door to go pee, I realized it had indeed stopped raining, but it had turned to snow - hence the hush. Moisture from the south collided with the cold air from the north and we were suddenly in a small and quiet blizzard for the night. - from the log, day 5

Late-night blizzard!

Day 6: Back to Oolah Pass - Camp: 68°03'59.5"N 150°00'15.9"W

We woke to an Arctic wonderland with snow all around. It was truly a magical sight and I was joyful and full of gratitude to be in this wild place. We had breakfast, packed up camp, and headed back toward Oolah Pass and the alpine lake we would camp beside.

Early morning: sun rising, fog hasn't burnt off yet

Here comes the blue skies!

Breakfast in the snow

Packing up camp

Away we go as the snow begins to melt

Day 7: Our final day and night in the backcountry.

After camping right beside the alpine lake, we woke and continued our journey back the way we came. We camped along the river again before our quick ascent and descent bringing us out of Gates of the Arctic NP and back toward civilization. As we came to the top of the pass bringing us out of Kuyuktuvuk Valley, I stopped for a rest with my trip-mate while we waited for the other two members of our group. We dried out, took in the views, and sat in some last moments of quiet wilderness. Then, it was our final push down to the Dalton Highway... blueberry and cranberry picking the whole way.

The crew on our final descent

Our trip ended the way it had begun, in a van cruising the Dalton Highway. I ate my wild berries with granola as we rode the 8-ish hours back to Fairbanks. Haley dropped me off at the hostel where I took a wonderful hot shower and relaxed for the night. Haley picked me up again the next morning as our journey continued. We made some stops near Denali to grab coffee and meet some of her friends who guide nearby. Then off to Palmer where she dropped me off at the NOLS branch for the next chapter of my Alaskan adventure!