By Ned Vasquez

For many years, dating back even to my childhood, I have dreamed of spending time in the Alaskan wilderness. In August, 2019 this dream became a reality when my middle daughter and I spent 9 days rafting the Kongakut River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Our trip was organized through a guiding company based in Fairbanks. Our group consisted of 6 clients and 2 guides and we were fortunate to have a highly compatible group. The guiding company did an excellent job of orienting us to the nature of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ensured that we were as minimally impactful as possible.

The immensity of Alaska was quickly apparent as we journeyed to our put-in point, as it required a flight of more than 3 hours in a small bush plane from Fairbanks, initially flying over a seemingly endless expanse of rolling, open land and then navigating a narrow Brooks Range valley above the Kongakut. Once we unloaded our gear on a gravel bar and the plane departed, the isolation of the Arctic Refuge became palpable. For the next 9 days we saw no one except for 2 caribou hunters that camped near us on the first night. It was quickly apparent that we were very much on our own, especially if the weather should become adverse or one of our party was injured. Fortunately, neither of those things occurred.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the “fall” is notable for wonderful colors as the tundra vegetation turns many shades of red and yellow. Our days were chilly, with highs in the 40s to low 50s and with intermittent light rain and cold winds blowing south from the Arctic Ocean; the sun made only occasional brief appearances. We rafted north for 4-5 hours per day and had many opportunities to wander the tundra and abrupt mountains surrounding the Kongakut. Apart from game trails, the landscape is devoid of paths and hiking can be very challenging due to wet ground and ankle-wrenching tussocks. Once one starts to climb, however, the terrain is a bit smoother and easier to navigate. Gaining higher ground provided beautiful vistas of snowy peaks above and the braided river valley below.

Although our human contacts were minimal during our Arctic adventure, we were far from isolated from other life, which included easily caught and delicious Dolly Varden, golden eagles, a few caribou, a great bull moose, Dall sheep, large Grizzly bears, a massive musk ox, and evidence of wolves. On our last night, as we celebrated in camp, an immense bear settled down on the mountain above us and appeared to be scrutinizing our festivities! The bruin’s tracks were present near our take-out point the next morning.

Our last hike of the trip occurred on a wet, foggy day. As we crested our high point, the horizon cleared just long enough for us to see the coastal plain and the Arctic Ocean, a wonderful reward for our exertions.

As readers are undoubtedly aware, last month President Biden issued an executive order temporarily halting the Trump Administration’s oil and gas leasing program on the Coastal Plain of the Artic Refuge. Hopefully the Refuge will ultimately be protected.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is an unparalleled national treasure and it is incumbent on all of us to learn about it and do everything possible to protect it for future generations. Our country became the globe’s leading producer of oil in 2019 and we now produce more than we consume. Especially in that context (not to mention the myriad of other reasons), why would we desecrate the last best wilderness that our country possesses? I learned about “stewardship” from Aldo Leopold and that is what is required now for Arctic Refuge to remain in perpetuity. Now is the time for humility rather than hubris!


Ned Vasquez was born in Seattle but grew up in Kansas and Iowa. He moved to Montana in 1986, in part to fulfill boyhood dreams of wilderness, mountains, hiking, and backpacking that simply never went away. While practicing family medicine for nearly 35 years, Ned took every possible opportunity to explore Montana wildernesses (large and small case W) and continues to do so today. He has also been blessed to visit and hike in Alaska, Patagonia, New Zealand, Bhutan, and Nepal. Ned has 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren and delights in getting all of them into Montana’s beautiful landscapes. Ned retired from family medicine in 2019 and is applying some of his greatly appreciated flexible time to Wilderness Watch projects.

Editor’s notes:

“Wilderness Experienced” is our shared stories and musings about recent experiences in our nation’s Wildernesses. Stories focus on the virtues of Wilderness and/or challenges facing the National Wilderness Preservation System. We want to hear your story!

Commenting guidelines:

We encourage readers to engage the authors and other commenters through the comment feature. Please be respectful and thoughtful in your response, and focus your comments on the issues/experiences presented. Please refrain from personal attacks and harassment, using rude or disruptive language, providing misinformation, or promoting violence or illegal activities. We reserve the right to reject comments. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Click here to read another Wilderness Experienced story. See what you can do to defend America’s National Wilderness Preservation System here

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *