Probably the hardest part of our 1999 Brooks Range trip in Alaska was getting there. Dianne, Irene, Tony, and the two of us first flew from home in Vancouver to Seattle, then to Fairbanks, Alaska where we met Kirstie who drove from her home in Whitehorse, Yukon. From there we all flew to Arctic Village and then chartered a plane to take us to the northern edge of the Brooks Range where the Aichilik River leaves the mountains and crosses the broad coastal plain on the north slope of Alaska.
We chose to go in early July hoping to see large herds of Porcupine Caribou in their calving grounds on the coastal plain and nearby mountains. Unfortunately instead of large herds of Caribou we saw vast swarms of mosquitoes! Note to self: next time go there in mid-late August.
Aside from the mosquitoes, which thankfully were only really bad for the first few days, this was a fun and casual trip. Easy hiking, easy river crossings, easy route finding, lots of flowers, and lots of wildlife, except for the missing caribou. We hiked up the Aichilik River valley and crossed over a pass we called “Poppy Pass”. We spent four nights there doing day trips before descending the Jago River valley.
Here is a Google Earth tour of our route:
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