Category: Visiting the Refuges

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Friends Sponsored Trip to the Arctic Refuge

Caribou, Mountains and the Marvelous Marsh Fork: Friends First Sponsored Arctic Refuge Trip a Blast

By Poppy Benson, Friends Board Vice President

A very compatible and interesting group of eight lucky Friends members from California, Oregon, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Homer signed up quickly enough to get on this trip (it filled in two hours after newsletter publication). pc: Jerry Britten     

Just go!  Just go to the Arctic Refuge.  Our trip was too much fun.  Caribou every day, the tundra in full bloom, mountains more magnificent than any of us expected, wolverine tracks in the mud, coral fossils from an ancient sea on every gravel bar, floating the splashy Marsh Fork of the Canning River, a golden eagle camp flyover, Marv and Jerry’s first grayling, springs and a secret canyon.  This trip exceeded all of our expectations.

 
We flew over the Continental Divide in a 4-seater Cessna 185.  The Marsh Fork drains north, to the Arctic Ocean. pc: Nancy Deschu

Our adventure started at refuge headquarters in Fairbanks where Arctic Refuge Wilderness Specialist and sage of the Arctic, Roger Kaye, filled us in on the history of the Refuge.  This was a Friends trip so getting the inside scoop on the Refuge was part of the deal.  Later, we spent an hour with Arctic Refuge Manager, Merben Cebrian.   Next, we met our wonderful guides, Aaron Lang and Chris Mannix from Wilderness Birding Adventures who knew every bird and flower and were a real comedy act.  Then two flights in progressively smaller planes before we landed on a bouncy tundra strip to spend our first night beside the river under the midnight sun. 


Paddle raft teamwork is fun.  We took turns paddling or riding in the oared boat which was better for photography. pc: Poppy Benson

For the next 10 days we alternated a day of river rafting with a day of hiking with great weather and minimal bugs.  There was work – dragging the boats across the aufeis to get to the river the first day, hauling gear, repairing the gravel bar “landing strip” so our pilot could pick us up at the end; and there were joyous experiences  – wading into the cave to discover the stream did not spring from the earth but fell from the sky into the cave in a hidden waterfall, watching a caribou succeed in crossing the river after a long struggle against the current, seeing the big blonde grizzly swim the river and spotting the northern shrike chick its parent was noisily defending.   It was heaven.

Flowers, birds, views and loafing were highlights of our hiking days  pc: Poppy Benson

This was the first time Friends attempted to “sponsor” a trip to a remote refuge.  The point was to get Friends out on the Arctic Refuge so we had a chance to form our own bond with the land and its wildlife.  All of us felt touched by the grandeur of the place.  The landscape was incredibly vast and wild and needs our care and protection. 


Carol Harding from Homer said “Seeing the caribou moving north every day,“ was the best part of the trip for her. For Marv Ritter of Oregon it was watching the lone caribou fight the river current.  Caribou were part of every one of our days.  pc: Poppy Benson.

Based on this trip’s success and the demand to get out on refuges, we are planning a summer 2024 Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge raft trip.



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Canoeing Yaghanen; Canoe Trails of the Kenai Refuge

Presented by Dave Atcheson author, fly fisherman, canoeist
3/21/23, 5-6PM


Dave will be in person at the Kenai Refuge with a book signing at 4:30 pm, talk at 5 and reception at 6.  A watch party will be at the Alaska Maritime Refuge in Homer with Dave’s books available for purchase.

Come learn about the vast canoe country of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge with Dave Atcheson, author of the newly released book, Canoeing Yaghanen.   Swan Lake and Swanson River canoe trails, just north of Sterling, Alaska, cover over 100 miles with more than 70 lakes, two river systems and portage trails.  These routes are a national treasure having been recognized as Water Trails within the National Recreation Trail System.  The Swan Lake trails and most of the Swanson River trails are within designated Wilderness, closed to motorized equipment and boats.  All you will hear will be loon calls, beaver tail slaps, swans honking and wind in the spruce.  Dave will share his images and thoughts on what makes this place so special, its wildlife and waterbirds, incredible trout fishing and of course, how you can plan your own adventure into this wonderful network of wilderness trails and waterways. From easy family weekend trips to weeklong adventures, paddlers of all abilities and ages will enjoy this unique wilderness experience.

Portages varying in length from a hundred yards to nearly a mile connect the lakes of the canoe system.  Dave Atcheson portaging. pc Cindy Atcheson

Dave Atcheson is an avid canoeist, sports fisher and hunter and has spent much of the last 30 years exploring the Swan Lake and Swanson River canoe systems.  Dave writes that the canoe trails are one of his favorite places, not only in Alaska, but anywhere.  He also writes that “this still-water wonderland contains some of the finest lake fishing Alaska has to offer.” (from Canoeing Yaghanen) Dave has written for a variety of periodicals from Outdoor Life to Boy’s Life to Alaska Magazine and is a past contributing editor to Fish Alaska.  He is the author of the memoir of his commercial fishing days,  Dead Reckoning, Navigating a Life on the Last Frontier, Courting Tragedy on its High Seas.  He also wrote National Geographic’s Hidden Alaska, Bristol Bay and Beyond and the guidebook Fishing Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. Dave teaches fly fishing and has run the Kenai Fishing Academy at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Kenai Peninsula College.  Originally from upstate New York, Atcheson has traveled all over Alaska and lives in Sterling close to the canoe country. 

Dave Atcheson with Kenai River rainbow.  pc: Lee Keuper

Canoeing Yaghanen (the Good Land): A Guide to Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s Swan Lake and Swanson River Canoe Systems was published by Alaska Geographic and is available from their online store here or at the Alaska Geographic bookstores at the Kenai Refuge and Alaska Maritime Refuge Visitor Centers.  



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