Gearing up for Arctic adventures

Where I’m headed for a week long photo and trekking adventure. Noatak river in the Brooks range, Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska.

I took the above aerial photo a few years ago, but I’ve never explored the area on the ground. But that will change soon as I’m about to head out on a solo trip in the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska’s Arctic. I’ll be photographing and exploring the amazing sights near the headwaters of the Noatak River, in the Brooks Range. While doing solo trips is not my preference, it does force a slightly different attitude and approach than sharing the experience with someone else. Some of my most meaningful, but not necessarily the most fun experiences have been on solo trips. When in grizzly bear country, adding one person does more than double the feeling of security. It is more like the Richter scale in that company divides bear concerns not by 2x but more like 10x. My gear and food is finally packed, and anyone who has done this kind of thing before knows that such preparations take some time. I’ll be back in 9 days or so, with hopefully some fun photos to share from my journeys. I fit 7 days of food into my bear proof canister, mostly all dehydrated meals save a little chocolate and mixed nuts. For those of you who are gear junkies, you can see my list and weights in the table below.

Packing food

8 days of food

Gear for an Arctic backpacking trip.