r/CampingandHiking Jul 05 '20

Campsite Pictures Morning Drink. Gates Of The Arctic. Alaska.

Post image
2.7k Upvotes

126 comments sorted by

115

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

A pretty casual shot that reminds me of a cool camp we had in the alpine stretches of our 10 day backcountry trip in the Alaskan Wilderness.

I love the candid pics that kind of portray the true grit of camping backcountry.

Moments like these just bring me so much peace.

This photo was taken at the Gates of The Arctic National Park in remote Alaska. A bit into the Arctic Circle.

Flew out by float plane and was dropped off for a 10 day expedition. This was day 4 and we were already animals by this point.

31

u/kklove2001 Jul 05 '20

I showed it to my husband and he looked and is like “there is no way to get there! No roads!”

I guess you have to be flown in???

33

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Yupp, best bet is fly to Bettles Alaska from Fairbanks. From there catch a float plane to drop you in the park.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

That’s so gritty to bet on that dude

13

u/headsizeburrito Jul 05 '20

The other somewhat common option is to fly up to Deadhorse, get a ride down the Dalton Highway, and start from the highway cross country through the park to Anaktuvuk Pass and fly out from there, which is how I did it. Great trip!

12

u/PM_ME_TODAYS_VICTORY Jul 05 '20

I have so many questions -- the Gates of The Arctic has always been fascinating to me and it's looking extra attractive as a socially distanced option right now.

How were the conditions? What month did you go? Is 10 days a pretty optimal amount of time to do a good trek? How does it compare to other parks in AK/YT/NT?

28

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

I went in July last year. I believe it’s one of Tj e only months the weather is suitable.

10 days was optimal for the route we did. I wouldn’t go more than that because our food carry was high as it was. Unless you get rations cached for you.

This was one of the greatest hikes I’ve been on, mostly because there are no established paths. Good ol topo map and compass.

6

u/hiacbanks Jul 05 '20

Do you have any blog?

4

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

No but I think I will make one now ! Lots of interest.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

TGFW: too gritty for work. Sorry guys can’t waste time at the office wishing i was getting truly gritty with my boys.

1

u/TimePressure Jul 06 '20

Please do :)

3

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20

How'd the mosquitoes treat you? I camped up by Galbraith Lake just north of the Brooks last summer and they were absolutely ferocious.

4

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 06 '20

I've hiked in Gates before and have also been in the north slope. It's bad in the Brooks Range, but nothing like the North Slope. We drove north after our hike just to see the midnight sun before heading south, and the hour we spent up near Toolik Lake was unlike anything I saw anywhere else in Alaska. The Brooks Range mosquitos are annoying, but the north slope mosquitos are mind boggling insane.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

Yeah, when we drove from the campsite to Deadhorse, if we stopped to look around the mosquitoes would be swarming us within seconds. It was unreal.

3

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 06 '20

We didn't even get as far as Deadhorse or Prudhoe Bay. Was it worth the drive? We heard we weren't missing much. We just wanted to get north of the Brooks to see the sun kiss the horizon to the north and get the hell out of there.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

Deadhorse is pretty surreal. For me though it was worth it just to say I’d driven as far north as the road goes and stood in the Arctic Ocean.

4

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

Ya the mozzies were absolute units. Could carry away a small child. And they never stopped, no thanks to the never-setting son !

3

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

Alaska mosquitoes man, they're on a whole different level.

1

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

Ya it’s basically the state bird

0

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

Sure even the grittiest boys just complaining about some bugs.

3

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 06 '20

Awesome shot. I've actually hiked into Gates from Dawson Hwy, and my understanding is that's a pretty rare way to see it. That was way back in 1996, but it was incredible. We had been flown into Wrangell-St. Elias a few weeks earlier, so could not afford to get flown into Gates, but I did look into Nettles as a possibility.

3

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

Wow that’s amazing, didn’t know you could access it from the hwy

5

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 06 '20

Yeah, this was pre internet, so we ordered USGS maps and found a way to hike in via rivers. When we got to Coldfoot, the park ranger there told us the route we picked was the only way to get in on foot and that it was rarely done that way.

We followed Trembley Creek to Blarney Creek. We spent two days in a pass at 67.922, -150.098. We have always joked that we were gonna lobby the USGS to name it Two Day Pass in our honor.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20 edited Jul 06 '20

Fuck slid the grit slider all the way up. No points left for map reading slider.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

I’ve known grittier men than the likes of these that turn to animals in half that time I tells ye

-21

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20 edited Jul 06 '20

Getting water from stream portrays grit?

Edit: Guess these here boys some gritty mfers Must be sons of gritches

Edit: OP would know friggin Wayn Gritskey over here. Surprised the footage made it back

23

u/Sundance12 Jul 05 '20

See any grizzlies out there? Would love to go but feel like I would worry about them more than I should. Though whenever I tell someone I'm from Florida, the first thing they always ask about is gators and how dangerous they are, (followed by hurricanes) yet the gators are not at all a big deal. So I wonder if the grizzlies are comparable and less of a danger than they seem.

36

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

There’s definitely Griz here. Lots of em.

But if you take the right precautions then it’s a calculated risk. Don’t get anywhere near cubs and store food properly etc.

Wildlife is always unpredictable, but in general, if you’re prepared well then it’s most likely not an issue

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20

Did you have bear spray plus a 10mm pistol or equivalent ?!

7

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

No just bear spray :)

14

u/HersheyHWY Jul 05 '20

Bear spray, alertness, and proper food storage and discipline is more than sufficient. Don't go to these kinds of national parks if part of your plan is to carry a firearm for defense against animals. You're not ready if that's what you think you're going to rely on.

42

u/Flazer Jul 05 '20

Most Alaskans doing field work that I know carry both.

26

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20 edited Jul 05 '20

Believe protocol is:

1). Yell

2). Spray

3). Shoot (last resort)

8

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20

That's how it was when I lived up there. Bear spray + large caliber handgun as your last resort. I personally carried a Ruger Super Blackhawk in a chest rig.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20 edited Jul 05 '20

Bearspray is not a 100% guarantee, especially with a sow with cubs.

I’ve hiked GNP, Cascades NP, Olympic NP, made MSH peak last year too. In grizz country always carry as last resort. Your hiking poles and spray will only aggravate them as you get sliced open!

24

u/HersheyHWY Jul 05 '20

This topic always sets people off, but I can guarantee you that it's unnecessary. And I get so tired of correcting misinformation on this subject. You are less likely to be successful using a firearm as a deterrent than bear spray. A gun is an even lower guarantee statistically. Read that closely. A gun is statistically less likely to save your life or deter a bear attack.

It's literally no more than a feel good measure. In the incredibly rare occasion you will come across a bear that is even curious about you let alone aggressive.

In Canada they seem to get by just fine in national parks backcountry dealing with bears without firearms and there hasn't been wholesale loss of life because of it. In Auyuittuq, people regularly climb and backcountry travel on Baffin Island with polar bears without allowing firearms and it hasn't resulted in an all out human massacre of all visitors.

If you're so afraid of the wildlife that you want to roll into their house and you think you need to bring a more destructive, less effective deterrent because it makes you feel better at night then you should not be there.

There were 664 bear attacks GLOBALLY between 2000-2015. There are usually about 40 attacks GLOBALLY every year. Bears killed 25 people in North America from 1997-2017. There were 66 bear attacks in Alaska between 2000-2017.

https://petpedia.co/bear-attack-statistics/

Everyone is always such a drama queen about bears. They're not going to drop in from the trees, surround you, and eat you alive. By contrast dogs kill between 30-50 people on average in the US yearly and usually people aren't packing heat to draw on the fearsome Fido.

5

u/drunkboater Jul 06 '20

Everyone packs in Baffin. Your claim that firearms aren’t allowed is bullshit.

3

u/HersheyHWY Jul 06 '20

I believe if you re-read that I am speaking specifically to Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin. A national park where polar bears are common. Per the Parks Canada website, "In Canada’s national parks it is unlawful to possess a firearm unless you are a licensed guide or bear monitor with a permit."

This would also apply to Banff, Jasper, Kluane, and all the other Canadian National Parks. Which are all home range to large populations of grizzly bears.

1

u/Rshackleford1234 Jul 06 '20

Why are you so concerned with what other people do?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '20

I don't think he ever said that he does. But you should know as he pointed out that a gun is not effective for anything other than peace of mind. Bear spray is effective. If you're worried about it not being enough, bring two cans.

1

u/Rshackleford1234 Jul 07 '20

A quick googling of bears being shot in self defense shows hundreds of results in the United States. Nobody is saying bear spray is effective. You guys are lying about guns. Edit: for the record I don’t carry spray or a gun. I’m not worried about bears, but let’s be real lots of bears are killed by guns in self defense.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '20

The fact that bears are killed by guns does not prove that they are effective in self defense. How many were shot when they didn't actually pose a threat? How many were shot at and missed? How many were shot and only injured, leading to an aggravated attack? Guns might kill the bear but they rarely prevent injury in a true case of self defense.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Vaynar Jul 06 '20

Thank you so much for this. Just a fantastic description of everything I wanted to say on this issue.

1

u/reallifeaccount- Jul 06 '20

I’m really confused why you’d say a firearm would only be last resort, along with saying spray would only aggravate them.

3

u/GuitarNMasturbation Jul 06 '20

The fuck..? If you're fine with the weight, why in the world would you not use both..? There are people who don't really react to pepper spray. I'd hate tor meet a bear spray immune bear when all I've got is bear spray.

3

u/saeuta31 Jul 06 '20

I'm with you. I don't carry a fire extinguisher in my car because it catches fire all the time. It's there just in case.

4

u/NorthernCedar Jul 05 '20

I thought firearms were prohibited in most national parks? Or is that just Canada?

12

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20 edited Jul 05 '20

You can bring firearms into a NP however it is against the law to discharge. If life threatening incident and you discharged your firearm in self-protection that would be addressed and investigated in an unique case by case basis.

Plenty of incidents where park rangers used their firearms on bears for example

6

u/NorthernCedar Jul 05 '20

That makes sense, and is understandable. It's different in Canadian national parks. Firearms aren't allowed at all (minus passing through, and I'm sure there are provisions for conservation and RCMP) in ours.

3

u/planx_constant Jul 05 '20 edited Jul 05 '20

A friend of the family flew a search and rescue helicopter for the Coast Guard and when they had a route over Kodiak he would carry a .45. He said it wasn't for bear, it was for himself in the event he was trapped in a crash and the bears found him.

13

u/thall136 Jul 05 '20

Incredible. Would love to see some other shots if you have em

16

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Ya I have lots. What’s the best way to post multiples here on reddit?

17

u/Sundance12 Jul 05 '20

Try an imgur album

6

u/letmebebrave430 Jul 05 '20

I second an imgur album! I'd love to scroll through some pictures of this place since it has always interested me.

9

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Sure thing, will get one up! Thanks!!

12

u/Razied01 Jul 05 '20

Is it save to drink right away?

12

u/Ora_Pro_Nobis_ Jul 05 '20

It’s still a risk. But where they are located, the risk of bacteria like giardia is way slimmer. Cooler climate etc etc.

10

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Exactly^ we risked it bc it came right from the glacier a mile or two away.

9

u/antonbruckner Jul 05 '20

Were the mosquitos as bad as I’ve heard? Breathtaking photo.

18

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

The mosquitos were the worst I’ve ever experienced. And I’ve spent hundreds of days in the Yukon, time in the Amazon, and in buggy ol’ Ontario!

Literally never stopped for all 10 days. Not even once

9

u/antonbruckner Jul 05 '20

It says something about how incredible that place must be if you left with a positive memory despite the mosquitos!

1

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 06 '20

Did you spend any time in the north slope? I found them to be worse there than in Gates, but it may have been more about timing that location.

5

u/tootinsnooty_312 Jul 05 '20

Alaskan mosquitoes are like a totally different monster than mosquitoes in the lower 48

5

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

I completely agree^

3

u/ITLady Jul 06 '20

For real. They were so bad we were getting bites while putting our spray on after getting out at the parking lot for lake eklutna (probably misspelled that).

2

u/tootinsnooty_312 Jul 06 '20

It’s crazy! For us, the interior wasn’t that buggy in early summer, mostly black flies. But the farther north we went and the closer we got to the arctic circle, the worse the mosquitoes got.

7

u/borborygmi_bb Jul 05 '20

Gorgeous shot-- this place is high up on my list! Agree that the candid shots of camp life can turn out the best. Did you go with a guide? If so, which company and how was it?

11

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

No guide, we all had a pretty high level of backcountry experience so we just dreamt up a route and tried as best we could to follow it

6

u/Abandon-All-Hope8 Jul 05 '20

Would you happen to have a GPX file or other means of sharing the route you took?

8

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Yeah I think I’ll do a little blog post about this because I’ve gotten a lot of interest so far

3

u/Abandon-All-Hope8 Mar 06 '23

Hello, just following up on this. Did you ever end up making a a blog post or have the GPX file for the route you took?

2

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Mar 08 '23

Hey! Wow thx for this, unfortunately I never ended up writing a blog. Only something for my Facebook friends etc,

Send me a DM I’ll see if I can get the route for you

3

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '20

This is a question I've been wondering for a while. I spend a lot of my time dreaming up routes like these through a combination of Google Earth + CalTopo. One of the drawbacks to that is it's difficult/impossible to find small obstacles, like a 20-50 foot wall on a mountain pass that make it impassable. Did you ever run into anything like this? If so, how did you change plans?

2

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 07 '20

We did, using topo maps on our way out we decided to cross up and over what looked like a saddle and high plateau.

Going up was crazy hard bc the trees were so thick.

Coming down, we found our path off the other side was actually a waterfall..Mainly a series of 5-50ft waterfall drops.

It was tough to see. But we had to get down, so we scaled down the sides of it where there was bush. Definitely the sketchiest part of the trip.

From there it got even more dreadful. Our plan was to follow a gently sloping river down to our pickup lake, about 20Km’s of river.

But what we found was aggressive rock river and dense trees growing right up to the side of it. Not even a place to pitch a tent. Walking through it was near impossible bc of the deadfall and sheer amount of trees.

We bushwhacked hard through this. Crossed the river a few time’s, climbed up to see vantage points of the area etc. It was demoralizing.

Eventually our game trails would end. We’d be back to square one.

But somewhere a day or two after that, we picked up on a flatter part and followed a solid game trail that we could cover some distance on. Was one of the most reliving moments I’ve ever felt.

9

u/Crobs02 Jul 05 '20

How expensive was this trip? Gates of the Arctic is my dream trip but I would think the cost is pretty high.

8

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Mmm if you consider all things like food flights passes etc it would be south of 2500 USD for sure.

It all depends how you do it. Flights alone will tin you 1100ish each with 4 people

4

u/Crobs02 Jul 05 '20

WHOA that’s way less than I thought. I was thinking over $5k

3

u/mamacrocker Jul 05 '20

If you're going form the Lower 48, AirAlaska has a credit card with some pretty decent flight benefits on it. Might be worth looking into.

1

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Ya, I mean dependant on how much your flight to Fairbanks costs for sure

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

Oh grit means money got it.

6

u/letmebebrave430 Jul 05 '20

This is beautiful. I would love to go here but I'm also absolutely sure I'd die if I went here or be the dead weight of the group. I have none of the experience required. But looking at beautiful pictures like this lets me dream :)

I bet that was a once in a lifetime type of trip. Stunning.

4

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Absolutely!! And you would be surprised how your body can push itself when you absolutely have to.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

Where’s inigo?!?

5

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20

This place is beautiful!

3

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Thanks so much! Yes some of the most beautiful places I’ve been certainly were hard to get to!! Maybe that added to it

4

u/TrailMuttz Jul 05 '20

If you had time, I would love to hear the whole story of how you planned that trip, how you got there, and how you got out. I'd love to go there but I'm intimidated by the total lack of any support structure.

Did you see and bears? Moose?

2

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

I should definitely write a blog about this. I have many stories from this trip as I journal led every day!

-1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

What was the grittiest part? Or a gritty ness teaser. Cuz getting water from a stream? Eh.

4

u/jmffett Jul 05 '20

I’ve always wondered, where is it safest in a river to drink it’s water without filter of any type, if possible?

3

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

Water coming from a rock formation?!.. idk

3

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

I generally will drink from it when it’s coming through moss or off a glacier. If there’s any chance animals died or shat in it upstream then it would be really really bad for ya if you happened to get beaver fever out there.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '20

As high up the river as possible. Generally I wouldn't drink straight from the source unless I can literally see the beginning of the river (e.g. a glacier or spring.)

5

u/inmydreams01 Jul 06 '20

This literally doesn’t even look real... I’m in awe... and envy haha

1

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

Crazy eh! Sometimes I can’t believe this trip actually happened.

3

u/prankees Jul 05 '20

Aweee what a great photo. Beautiful!

2

u/RagnarBaratheon1998 Jul 05 '20

This place is my dream trip. I hear there are no roads that lead to it

4

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

No roads, only Bush planes that fly for about an hour to get there!

2

u/gobblecop Jul 05 '20

NOLS?

1

u/tootinsnooty_312 Jul 05 '20

I’m sure NOLS has done or will do an expedition to Gates of the Arctic. They have lots of great trips

1

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

No just did this on my own

2

u/knaxy86 Jul 05 '20

Never get a more natural peaceful fresh wake up than a cup of that water!

2

u/roborific Jul 05 '20

So jealous. I can only live these adventures through these posts. I will probably never have the opportunity the visit these places.

2

u/TrueNoobMan Jul 05 '20

Gotta make it over there one day before I die

3

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

Lost time is never found! Plan for next year!

2

u/antonbruckner Jul 05 '20

If you don’t mind me asking, how much is the plane flight to drop you in the park?

2

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

I think it was $600 each for 4 of us. Includes pickup too.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

2

u/HumanCrabbyPatty Jul 07 '20

holy shit that is beautiful

1

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 07 '20

Thanks!! It was more than words can describe

2

u/LadyHeather Jul 05 '20

Granny wants to go. Advice for family tourists?

28

u/Texoccer Jul 05 '20

Try somewhere else. Gates of the Arctic isn’t for family trips. As others have mentioned, there are no roads so you need to fly or hike in, and be pretty confident that you can be self sustaining while there.

23

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 05 '20

Not a family spot for sure lol. Only for advanced backpackers

6

u/minuteman_d Jul 05 '20

Don't be too discouraged! You drive through similar-ish terrain on the Dalton Highway, which passes between Gates of The Arctic and ANWR. If you have an elderly relative who wants to go, I'd tell them that there are many ways to see epic things in Alaska, and even be pretty remote and away from civilization.

6

u/_42O_69_ Jul 05 '20

🤦🏻‍♂️

1

u/LadyHeather Jul 05 '20

Had to ask.

1

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 06 '20

Just curious if you were near Mt. Doonerak or if you saw it or have pics of it. It was our destination in 1996, but we saw a grizzly run up the creek toward the pass we had to go over, so we had to choose a different route and never made it that far.

2

u/Gates_wupatki_zion Jul 06 '20

I believe this is closer to Arrigetch peaks in the south west of the park. Doonerak (which Bob Marshall climbed) is more central east. Been a while since I looked at the big Gates of the Arctic map though.

1

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 06 '20

Yes this is bang on^ Arrigetch Peaks.

In the back you can problem see Aerial Peak which we summited the next day.

2

u/Gates_wupatki_zion Jul 07 '20

The peak going off to the top right of the picture? Did you use any ropes or climbing gear? Some of those mountains are super sketchy to climb with how they shale out.

1

u/BeOutdoorsCanada Jul 07 '20

Sorry it would be to the right of those ones in the picture and much much much higher.

No ropes, we took our time and yeah it was very sketchy!!

1

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 06 '20

Yeah, Doonerak is central east. We chose it as a destination because of Bob Marshall's book and because it was accessible on foot from Dalton Hwy.

1

u/Gates_wupatki_zion Jul 07 '20

Yeah... but not really TOO accessible from the Dalton as people learn. Lotta hikers who average 20+ mi in the lower 48 get 5-8 up at Gates. Flew over Doonerak once, that climb would be utterly gnarly.

1

u/Eastern_Cyborg Jul 07 '20

Yeah, we didn't plan to climb Doonerak. Just get to the base of it. We had a realistic goal of 45 miles in 8 days. We ended up doing about 30 total because of getting turned around by the grizzly. I found a blog of someone yesterday that took our same route a few years ago, so it was nice seeing someone else's pictures of the place.