Even getting to the Brooks Range in Gates of the Artic NP is an adventure in itself: Two flights to Fairbanks, another charter flight to Bettles, and from there a float plane into the park.
After flying to Fairbanks, I checked into my hotel and had some time to kill before meeting the rest of my group. One the trip “assistants”, Brandon, did a quick gear check with the group, went over some logistics for the flight next day, and distributed group gear and food. In the early morning, we shuttled back to the airport and checked in for our flight to Bettes with Wright Air. Seeing the 9-seater plane definitely worried me a little - I am not a huge fan of tiny planes. However, the subsequent flight was pretty smooth, and the landing on the gravel runfield in Bettles wasn’t a problem either. In Bettles, we linked our guides Dave and Mary, who had returned from a trip with a different group. We also had the change to quickly talk to a returning group, who were still beaming with joy and enthusiasm fueled by their trip and good weather, which made all of us super excited. Unfortunately, the next days would show we wouldn’t be as lucky with the weather.
After a brief instructional session by the park ranger - especially on bear safety - we continued our trip into the wilderness by boarding a float plane, and heading towards Lake Omelaktavik, where we would begin our trip in earnest. We touched down around midday, and got our first taste of what to expect in the coming weeks: beautiful landscape, clouds, and wet feet!
We hiked down the Kugrak River for around six miles, before calling it a day and setting up camp just before it started raining - an experience that would repeat itself in the coming week. Nevertheless, it was a great first day to get aquainted not only with the landscape we’ll be surrounded by, but also get to know the members of group better, hailing from all corners of the United States, including a local Alaskan.
