2008 Trips

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Lower Kongakut/Icy Reef Rafting
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

If you've ever dreamed of being an Arctic explorer, or simply want an experience unlike any you've ever imagined, this is the trip for you. We'll start rafting on the lower Kongakut River, 25 miles from the Arctic Ocean, paddling from the foothills out across the coastal plain, through a spreading delta and immense icefield, straight to the Arctic Ocean itself. We'll then paddle another 5-10 miles down the coast, camping on the narrow gravel barrier reef littered with driftwood from Canada's Mackenzie River, watching icebergs, seals and rare Arctic sea birds float by, as well as stopping to explore the remains of century-old Eskimo sod houses and skin tent sites. The memories you'll have of camping and traveling along the shore of the Arctic Ocean itself, on the last sliver of land in a curving expanse of sky and light, will stay with you for a lifetime.

This exceptional Arctic experience begins with a flight from Arctic Village and ends with a flight back from Kaktovik.

Trip Details
We don't have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and water conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We're scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day's leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there's always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

We'll be doing a relatively short portion of the river on this trip, spending 3-4 days rafting down the river, with 3-6 hours a day on the water. There will be more layover days on this trip than some of our other river trips, where you can go for long or short day hikes or just relax in camp (not everyone has to do the same thing).