Gates of the Arctic National Park

Gates of the Arctic National Park, covering much of the Brooks range in northern Alaska, is one of the finest wilderness areas of the world. With a surface area of 8.4 million acres (336 thousand squares kilometers), it is four times the size of Yellowstone, and only slightly smaller than Switzerland. What is remarkable is that such a large chunk of land has remained one of the most remote and unspoiled places in the world. No roads lead into the park, and there are no established trails. One has to find and earn his way into the tundra, immensely vast but still subtle in the texture and wetness variations of its miniature habitats.

On my first trip to the park, in 2000, Shosh and I were dropped off at Circle Lake by a bush pilot. My backpack weighted 70 pounds. In eight days, we reached the base of the Arrigetch Peaks, a sanctuary of gothic black granite spires and pinnacles reaching haphazardly into the clouds, and explored three of the surrounding valleys (pictures of backpacking). In 2012, encountering daytime temperatures below minus 30F, Regis and I made the hazardous drive up the Dalton Highway in winter to observe the northern lights at the outskirts of the park. In 2023, Tommy and I flew on a mail plane into the Eskimo settlement of Anaktuvuk Pass. Once our newly found Nunamiut friend left us, we didn't see a single person nor even a trace of human activity such as a footprint or user trail for all of our days in the backcountry.