Flying in the bush plane flight over the Brooks Range in June 2007 was not my first time traveling into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. But, weaving though river valleys past treeless peaks below an ominous grey ceiling of clouds, I was struck again by the vastness of the wilderness below and the remoteness of our destination approximately a hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle.

I first visited the Refuge in 2003 and since that time I have been drawn back every year to explore this vast wilderness and experience the 24 hour daylight of the boreal Summer. This past June I guided a 60 mile trek for the Sierra Club Outings Committee in a seldom-visited area of the Refuge north of the Brooks Range and west of the Kongakut River. I chose this area not only to give the trip participants a true wilderness experience, but also hoping to witness the migration of the 130,000 strong Porcupine Caribou herd from their Winter range in western Canada to their ancestral caving grounds on the coastal plain adjacent to the Arctic Ocean. We were fortunate in both regards, seeing thousands of migrating caribou together with moose, bear and other wildlife, and not seeing another person from the time we left the landing strip by the Kongakut until we saw the bush plane coming to pick us up almost 2 weeks later.

Our trip started during the first week of June, a time of transition between Winter and Spring and when the weather can range from warm sunny days to rain or snow driven by storms off the Arctic Ocean. Pre-trip preparation is of utmost importance for an extended trek in Arctic Alaska, and one key is to take only high quality gear and clothing that will work and hold up in a wide variety of conditions. Because our trip was self-supported, our group of 6 had to carry everything we needed for our 12 day trek, requiring that each person carry approximately 20 pounds of food, fuel and common gear in addition to their own clothing, sleeping bag, pad, tent and other personal gear.

To help keep the weight of my pack manageable, this year I took a Sierra Designs Baku 2 tent, even though I had some misgivings about how a single-wall tent would fare in the far North. Having the experience of being tent-bound by torrential rain and high winds of an Arctic storm for 5 days on another trip, I knew that a secure and dry tent was one of the most important pieces of gear I would be taking. Moreover, the space in my tent has always been very important to me, not simply as a shelter from the elements but also as my mental refuge from the enormity of the outside. Wilderness travel bares you down to the essentials, and I never sleep better than when I am dry and warm in a well-pitched tent, listening to the sounds of the wilderness.

Fortunately, I was very pleased with the performance of my Baku 2 tent. The weather on our trip displayed the variety one can expect in this part of Arctic Alaska, from very strong winds from the East for the first three days, warm days, cool evenings, cold rain and chilling fog, and near-freezing temperatures at higher elevations. Notwithstanding its lightweight construction, my Baku 2 stood up strong against the winds, was bone dry in the rain and fog, and adequately warm for me to be snug in cold temperatures. Moreover, the ease of setting up and taking down the Baku 2 saved me at least a half-hour a day compared to other tents I've used, and its light weight allowed me to enjoy the roominess of a two-person tent, a luxury when your tent is your home for weeks at a time.

A visit to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is for many a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I have never known anyone who has visited this remote area to return without a new appreciation of its beauty or unchanged by its wildness. But, whether or not you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit the Refuge, I hope that you will take a few minutes to learn about this remarkable area and will support efforts to protect it and other wilderness areas.

Click here to see how Sierra Designs was used by Andrew G. Ogden and other people in the know.

Doesn't get much better than this!

Caribou clan

Aichilik River

Miles and miles of caribou