Tok River Float-Hike-Float

On the advice of a friend I recently signed up for my first Outdoor Adventure trip even though I’ve been at UAF for several years. What I discovered along the way was more than just a great way to spend the 4th of July in the beautiful Alaskan wilderness, it was an experience that allowed me to make new friends, push myself physically and make memories that I will keep for the rest of my life.

Day 1 at O’dark thirty we set off from UAF towards Tok over 200 miles away. We arrived later that afternoon and after a quick shuttle trip to the take-out point we launched into the murky rain-fed Tok River. The water was fast and full of logs and debris from weeks of heavy rain. I’ve done plenty of river canoeing before but almost no kayaking so it was an interesting experience to say the least. At the start of our trip we made it several miles downriver until we were assaulted by a brutal hail storm that pelted us with pea sized hail, soaking some of us and most of our gear. Undaunted, we persevered through the storm until it cleared. After a relatively calm half a day’s paddle we reached a lovely sand bar and made camp where we ate a delicious dinner of broccoli and beef with rice. S’mores and Jello No-Bake Oreo Pie followed.

The next day we made-way 300 feet downriver where we beached and went on a hike to the Eagle Trail state recreation area. Here our group split up and “some of us” went for a vigorous hike up a steep mountain trail to the summit while others in the group went along an informational nature hike and got to see some indigenous Alaskan orchids and got some great pictures! We met back up at the bottom of the trails, filled our water bottles and made way back to our kayaks and canoes for the next leg of our journey which took us several miles downstream to our next campsite. That night we enjoyed a dinner of wild mushroom couscous with sautéed chicken and veggies. Dessert was apple pie and cream cheese pasties made by our very own Lily G! Fun with cameras and a T-Rex attack left us happy and tired for our second night of rest.

Our last day was our longest yet, as we navigated nearly 20 river miles while singing innumerable Disney songs. By the end of the day my arms were screaming at me as I spent most of my energy floundering about in a kayak which I finally figured out how to make “drive” straight after eight hours of trial and error. My failure as a kayaker was dwarfed by the canoe of our compatriots which was deemed to be “slightly faster than walking”. They attributed most of this to a defective canoe but most of us believe they just weren’t paddling hard enough…or at all. It was already mid evening when we pulled out of the river and nearly 9:00pm by the time that we ate a feast of a dinner at Fast Eddy’s, a local diner in Tok. We dined on the finest of french fries and burgers, a well deserved reward after all the paddling we did.

While this was my first Outdoor Adventures trip I can confidently say that it will not be my last. I had one of the best times of my life out on the river with my new friends, guides, and Ethan the Adventure Duck. It was easily one of the most memorable 4th of July’s I’ve had.

~Shane

Trip Participant

Introduction to Arctic Backpacking

Outdoor Adventures had a GREAT time backpacking in the Brooks Range June 18-24th. The Introduction to Arctic Backpacking course started on Friday, June 17th, with a trip-planning day. Frank and I helped our 5 participants go over the basics of route planning, gear prep, menu planning, food shopping, and all other matters of trip prep. We got everything ready to head out early the next day.

Saturday morning we all piled into the Suburban and started on the 8 hour drive up the Dalton Highway. We stopped to stretch our legs at the Yukon River and had a late lunch at the diner in Coldfoot. We arrived at the start of our hike just south of Atigun Pass, readied our gear, and threw our packs on to start our week-long trip on foot.

We hiked a couple of miles Saturday evening before finding a nice flat area to set-up our first camp. Those couple of miles were a good introduction to the type of terrain we would be hiking on for the next several days. Arctic Tundra is exciting and unpredictable, with lots of varying terrain to offer!! Dry, firm, boggy, rocky, lumpy...you never know what you'll find! Saturday evening we had a dinner of Caesar salad and boiled bratwursts on buns and crawled in our tents for the first night of camping under the Arctic sun.

Sunday morning (day 2) Amy made Ranchero Grits for breakfast, we broke camp, and we started hiking up our first pass, which was about 1000' of elevation gain to go up and over the Continental Divide.

While hiking down the other side of the pass, we spotted a muskox on the other side of the drainage!!! It was very exciting for all of us!! We stopped for a lunch of flatbread pizzas with cheese and pepperonis and hiked down the rest of the drainage to cross the headwaters of the Atigun River. We hiked a few miles down the river before stopping to make our second camp and cook a delicious dinner of pine nut couscous with sauteed zucchini, squash, and chicken. After dinner Amy, Jana, and Gregg did a bit of a side-hike up a nearby drainage to see some neat waterfalls and a glacier.

Monday morning (day 3) we awoke and ate some oatmeal that we flavored with brown sugar and various dried fruits. we hiked a few more miles down the Atigun River and had a lunch of triscuits with salami and cheese. we continued hiking until we were just below the slope that we would be hiking up the next day to gain our largest pass. Rather than leave a 3000' elevation gain for the next morning, we opted to hike about 1000' up until we found a nice bench to camp on, leaving only 2000' to climb the next morning to gain the 6200' pass we would be going over. We got camp set-up just before it started to rain on us a bit, and we rested a while until the rain started to let-up. We began to gather while Frank cooked an amazing dinner of golden curry with chicken, veggies, and buckwheat pasta.

Tuesday morning (day 4, and solstice) we ate a hardy breakfast of sin dog bread rolls (not sure of how those are actually spelled) and started on our climb to the top of the pass. After 3 or 4 hours of climbing, we reached our pass just in time to eat a lunch of flatbread sandwiches with cheese, bell peppers, and cucumber slices.

Hiking down the other side of the pass to the headwaters of the Itikmalak River provided a great view of a big glacier, as well as some exciting moments on tough, rocky terrain in the rain. Towards the bottom we encountered the hardest part of the descent and folks were starting to get a bit tired and low on energy, so slips and small falls started to occur among the group. We finally made it down and hiked a mile or so down the river to the first nice gravel bar we found to camp on. It was a long day and we were all excited for some food and rest!! Jana made some delicious macaroni and cheese with summer sausage bits mixed in, and I made "poop" for dessert, which is a great backpacking rendition of Jello No-Bake Oreo pie.

Wednesday morning (day 5) Gregg made some great toasted english muffin sandwiches with bacon and cheese and we started hiking down the Itikmalak river. This was the first day that we really started seeing large concentrations of mosquitos, and some folks started to pull out their bug nets for the hike. Frank ranked them on a 4 or 5 out of 10. The hike reminded us all of Jurassic Park habitat, so T-Rex and Velociraptor footprints abounded in our imaginations.

We had a delicious lunch of chicken wraps in the rain and hiked a total of 6 or 7 miles to a nice camp in sight of the next valley we would be turning into to hike over our next small pass. Our camp happened to have a great caribou shed sitting in it, so I used it to pitch my tarp!! Gregg braved the rain to cook breakfast burritos for everyone for dinner, and we all stood in the wind and drizzle to eat before we headed to bed.

Thursday morning (day 6) brought better weather and Kathi cooked hashbrowns, black beans, and scrambled eggs with salsa for breakfast. We hiked toward our next small pass and had beautiful weather during the morning! At lunch (pita with hummus, cheese, and sundried tomatoes) it started raining on us, and did for most of the rest of the day. Between the weather and how close our last camp would be to our final destination, we decided to beat out the last 8.5 miles on day 6, making our way through the rain and over our last small pass to Galbraith Lake Campground, where our Suburban and clean, dry clothes waited patiently for us. We made camp at the campground and enjoyed a rest and some time out of the rain before Amy cooked hot chicken and veggie stew for dinner. We were all pretty excited to have access to an outhouse with walls and a roof, as well!!

In all, we hiked about 30 miles through the Brooks Range and had an amazing time!!! The weather was mostly wonderful and the bugs were surprisingly lacking, for the most part. The worst they may have been was a 6 out of 10, and that didn't happen until our last day of hiking. Friday morning we hit the road early and had brunch in Coldfoot. We made it safely back to Fairbanks Friday evening in high spirits but ready for some well-deserved rest and relaxation!!

For a general idea of our route, see here:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217854628407747728292.0004a6e432810dfcdbc62&msa=0&ll=68.285651%2C-149.603577&spn=0.509103%2C1.771545

Thanks for reading!!

~Heidi