Heading out on an 8 day Hiking/Packrafting trip in the Arctic Circle with 3 friends (couldn't talk the family into it....My wife spends too much time reading these types of articles.)
We plan to hike in the Brooks Range and float the Ivishak River.
USES FOR A PACKRAFT:
- Allows you to cross a river too dangerous to try on foot.
- Hauls out your sheep or caribou.
- Carries you to that hot fishing hole on the other side of the creek.
- Running whitewater on a river that would otherwise be impossible to access with a larger boat
- Fits easily into your suitcase for a trip to the lower 48 or abroad.
- A shelter for a heavy downpour or during an all night rain.
- A soft ground pad for an afternoon nap or full night’s sleep.
- Allows you to sit down during endurance races and travel fast on river.
- Carries your bike or skis during a multisport adventure.
- Ferries you around a pristine alpine lake.
- When filled with water and left out in the warm sun -- your very own hot tub
- And others we haven’t thought of yet.
The brooks range stretches 700 miles from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada. While mostly uninhabited and not accessible by road, the range is transected by the Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, both of which pass through Alaska's highest roadway pass, Atigun Pass and on to the North Slope and Prudhoe Bay. The Dalton Highway was built to service the construction and maintenance of the pipeline.
