Last updated: November 20, 2025
Itinerary
What follows is a general flow of events. Expect the unexpected and prepare to be flexible.
August 2
Meet your guide at Arctic Wild headquarters at 4 pm for a pre-trip meeting where we can check gear and help you get ready for our departure the following morning.
August 3
Fly north from Fairbanks across the Yukon River over the Brooks Range and into the Arctic Slope. We land right on the sand near Fish Creek and after we bid our pilot farewell we are swallowed by the silence.
August 4
With endless daylight we are never in a hurry, but we do have some miles to cover, so we will get the canoes assembled and begin our trip down the river. We should expect some shallow water and may need to portage. We can also expect true wilderness and solitude.
August 5 - 9
We have 5 days to paddle about 65 miles of the creek. If the water is up and the wind is down it will be a lazy float with binoculars in hand.
More likely, with only two feet of drop per mile the current will be insufficient to counter the wind and we will paddle our way north searching for the deeper parts of the creek and hugging the bluffs to duck out of the frequent northeasterly winds.
Regardless of how easy or hard the miles are to cover, we have lots of time to explore the area and to consider it’s wildlife and flora. At 70° degrees north and with no mountains to the north the sun will shine brightly for most of the night.
August 10
It would be fun to paddle to the Arctic Ocean but native lands and industrial development prevent us from paddling Fish Creek to the sea. Instead we meet our pilot on a sandbar and fly south.
We hope to arrive back in Fairbanks about 6 pm, but the weather sets the schedule.
