Teshekpuk Lake is the largest lake on Alaska’s North Slope and the lake is surrounded by wetlands stretching to the Arctic Coast. The Teshekpuk Lake wetlands are likely the most productive and ecologically important wetlands in the entire circumpolar Arctic, supporting nearly one hundred thousand molting geese, 6 million nesting shorebirds, and providing critical habitat…
Packrafting was born in Alaska, and the Brooks Range is the perfect place to hike and paddle your way across the wilderness. These light, nimble and mind-bendingly sturdy little boats have expanded the areas we can explore, opening new watersheds to exploration and enjoyment. We’ve been offering our Gates of the Arctic Packrafting trip on the…
Where is the best place to watch polar bears in the Arctic? Polar bears have been in the news a lot the last few years. Our changing climate will have a huge effect on polar bear biology, behavior, and long-term survival. This has had people calling us with a desire to “see them before they…
Great herds of caribou are a powerful symbol of the Arctic, and camping amongst them is an experience of a lifetime. But their movements are erratic and notoriously hard to predict making it difficult to encounter this wildlife spectacle. After 20 years of guiding in northern Alaska we have developed several trips to help you…
In any civilized place it would have been time to wind-down the day and head for bed. But being 100 miles above the Arctic Circle on the summer solstice with the sun refusing to set and the tundra shimmering with the fresh greens of spring, we had other ideas. It had already been an adventurous…
We had the honor to guide Mario Davalos, a photographer from the Dominican Republic this summer. His dream was to photograph 3 iconic species and their wilderness homes. Over the winter we discussed various options for his trip and eventually settled on three locations where we had had good experiences finding wildlife on previous expeditions….
As the late-morning sun shone golden light on the tops of snow-covered spruce trees, the silence of the boreal forest was interrupted by my startled yelp and curse as I “burned” my hand, ungloved for a moment, on the axe head. Skin sizzles audibly on contact with metal at -45 F. Arctic Wild has long…
After all of my years guiding in the most remote, beautiful, wild places, I had still never seen a walrus until last summer. It takes a concerted effort and hours flying to see walrus, but it is absolutely worth it. After searching for the ideal location to observe and photograph Pacific walrus we have found a…
Why do we take people to the Arctic? This summer we guided a group from the Sierra Club including the Sierra Club’s Executive Director Michael Brune on the Aichilik River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This video, made from their trip, perfectly captures why we love sharing the Arctic.
This is re-posted from our guide David Shaw’s blog Wild Imagination Journal It was August 30. Though that is still summer in much of the country, in northern Alaska, autumn was in full swing. I was guiding my final trip of the season, a week-long canoe trip down the Kelly River. The Kelly is a…
I really had no intention of walking right into the middle of the herd. There was no stalk, no stealth and I didn’t even have my camera. Then, much to my surprise, and to theirs, we were all standing on top of the ridge together, sunshine glittering off the thin snow and frozen tussocks. I…
What does a river guide do when Arctic Wild’s busiest summer ever comes to an end? Dinner and a movie? No. Luxurious hotel and spa? Nope. He goes rafting with his family of course. Just as soon as Arctic Wild’s last trip of the summer wrapped up in mid-September, We (Michael, Sally and our two…
Ok, so I ripped off the title for this trip report from Seth Kantner’s excellent book of essays about growing up in the “bush” in the Northwest Arctic. But I think he’d be ok with it since we guided this trip together, and we were in fact, shopping for porcupine. Let me explain; German cinematographer…
Spring is late this year across Alaska, and our Gates of the Arctic Base Camp Adventure got to experience full winter conditions in the Arctic. Strong winds and sub-zero temperatures didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of our party as we explored the area around Itkillik Lake last week. With woodstove-heated tents, a well provisioned kitchen and…
Bill and I spent most of January guiding in Antarctica. It is great to be back home but we had a fantastic trip to the Antarctic Peninsula working for Cheeseman Ecology Safari. One of the highlights for me was seeing an Arctic Tern. I’m humbled to think of those little birds flying from Alaska’s tundra…
Alaskans are a devious bunch. We do everything we can to tell the world about how terribly cold and miserable winter in Alaska is. We brag about the -50 temperatures in the Interior, the howling winds on the North Slope and the 30+ feet of snow that fell last winter on the coast. But what…
We are very excited by our newest wildlife focused trip. Next July we plan on visiting the Alaska Peninsula to view and photograph Pacific Walrus in one of the most reliable haul-outs in Alaska. Just getting to this far flung beach on the Bering Sea coast will be an adventure, and once we set-up our…
By Michael Wald Co-Owner and Guide The Kongakut River in northeastern Alaska is one of my favorite rafting trips of all time. Most trips on the Kongakut River, and there are quite a few, are on the upper canyon section in June. The Kongakut that I love is the part that sees very few people…
I had the wrong dates in my previous posting. Here are the correct dates for the Washington State Slideshows. -MW February 27th, Seattle, WA Unexplored Alaska The Sierra Club has invited us to come to Seattle and give a presentation about exploring the Western Brooks Range. Come see pictures of the least visited part of…
February 27th, Seattle, WA Unexplored Alaska The Sierra Club has invited us to come to Seattle and give a presentation about exploring the Western Brooks Range. Come see pictures of the least visited part of Alaska and learn about the natural history and conservation of the area. Great pictures. Wild stories. Don’t miss it. For…
Katmai Bears– Trip Report by Michael Wald Bears of the Katmai Coast July 6- 10 , 2012 Katmai National Park in southwest Alaska has some of the biggest brown bears in Alaska, and with rich salmon streams, sedge meadows and clam beds to feed the bruins, Katmai has more bears than almost any other place…
A VERY SPECIAL DAY IN KAKTOVIK by Moe Witschard This past September, after guiding my final Arctic Wild trip of the season, I found myself at the Okpilak/ Hulahula Delta with two friends, getting picked up from an 11 day personal trip. We were met by our Inupiat friend Eddie, who gave us a…
Happy New Year. Our best photos of 2011 can be seen in a short slideshow below. We had a wonderful year exploring Alaska’s great wilderness and are looking forward to another summer of adventure. Contact us to start planning your trip in 2012. If you would like a DVD of the slideshow, let me know…
In July 2011, a fun-loving group of friends hired Arctic Wild to guide them on a wild and far-flung adventure in the eastern Aleutians. We spent a week camping on a remote beach; from our base camp we explored the steep and lush mountains, walked the beaches, fished the creek and, of course, soaked in…
Many of our clients sign-up for combination trips each summer. Usually they join one of our backpacking trips and segue into a canoe or rafting adventure so they can spend some more time in the arctic and cover some more ground. This June one intrepid traveler went whole hog and combined three trips for a…
KOBUK RIVER -TRIP REPORT By Moe Witschard – Guide and Photographer Moephotography.com The floats skimmed the surface of Walker Lake as our float plane dropped us off to begin our 9 day Kobuk River expedition. I was here with 3 clients to float the upper 80 miles of the Kobuk in inflatable canoes and to…