Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - Kongakut River Trip?

[louie]

Hello all,

 

I'm considering a rafting trip on the Kongakut River in the Arctic

National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) this summer. I'm looking at a trip

from June 30th to the 10th with Equinox Expeditions. I've also looked

at trips on the Hulahula.

 

Has anybody done a similar trip or have experience with Equinox

Expeditions? I'm trying to catch the migration of Porcupine Caribou

herd. Any tips/experiences in photographing this region?

 

I've searched for information, but am having trouble wading through

all of the politics.

 

Thanks

[pvp]

No experience, nothing of value in response to your question. Just envy, encouragement and one suggestion: Make this trip quickly, before the oil derricks start sprouting.

[steve_kaufman]

I have no experience with Equinox nor with rafting on the rivers in ANWR, but I have spent

a number of months in the refuge during the summer time on several different trips. The

caribou generally pass through the area of the Kongakut around the 1st of July, so the

timing is good. That said, the caribou are not always dependable in the routes they take,

and weather doesn't always cooperate either. I would choose the Kongakut over the

Hulahula at that particular time. I also have the impression that the Kongakut trip might

be more scenic than the Hulahula. Enjoy the trip!

[paul beiser]

About 5 years ago, I did a Sheenjek River trip with Alaska Discovery, and had a stupendous time.

 

In terms of photographic tips, I would say take everything from a wide angle to a 500mm (if you have space), because you will want to do both landscape and wildlife shots. The hardest part will be getting sleep with the amount of light you will have, and to catch any of the "golden light" will require being awake a lot in the wee early hours :-).

 

Seach on "Sheenjek" in Google, lots of hits, and have a great time.

[louie]

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

My considerations with regards to equipment has more to do with weight than with space. I'd love to bring everything, but I'm trying to keep the total weight of camera gear and camping gear to under 45 lbs., which is proving hard to do. I should be able to cover 17mm to 400mm (28mm to 640mm equivalent), including a tripod/head, and two digital bodies.

 

With regards to light - what hours tended to be best for shooting at this latitude? I'm figuring the best hours for shooting would be around 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. I'm basing this on the notion that at the time I'll be there, the sun will be lowest in the horizon around midnight.

[paul beiser]

Your setup sounds great, I'd also recommend a Lowepro DryZone pack - they did not have them when I did my trip, and it was a hassle to get into and out of my gear.

 

I remember it seemed to be light all of the time when I was there :-), but the 10pm-2am window should do it. Looks like you will need to sleep on the raft :-).

[lancemcvay]

One thing to keep in mind is that the further you get from the equator, the longer the sunset and twilight hours are. you're not going to have much of anything in the way of darkness, but your best shooting "golden hour" windows are going to be considerably longer than they are down south.

[steve_thompson]

Louie, it has been my goal to get their one day. I envy you.

 

Not sure how much help it will be due to lag time on the data but this site does use satellite collars to track the herd. Maybe just prior to leaving you can get some idea of where they are/were at. Have a great time.

 

http://www.taiga.net/satellite/index.html

[Two23]

I have not yet been to that location (intend to--hopefully there'll be roads some day!) I have been that far north in Canada though. I think the time you mention is the peak time for biting flies and mosquitos. I've been to the Arctic with my family several times now (always on our own, never a tour thing,) and we wear mesh suits to keep from going crazy. Don't know about ANWR specifically, but many places on the tundra have biting insects in astounding numbers! Also, if you will be on tundra, a pair of Gore Tex hip waders are very nice to have.

 

 

Kent in SD

[matthew_green]

Louie,

 

My friend is doing a trip like this to cover teh migration as well. It is a fantastic event that I woudl love to cover with him. He plans on bring two rafts which will allow for more gear. But that should like a great opportunity and good time. I would totally take advantage of that and go.

 

Matt

[Two23]

After reading my own response above and thinking a bit, I realize I didn't communicate my point very well. As someone who has experience in Arctic family vacations, I believe that the biggest mistake first time visitors make is concentrating on what photo equipment to bring instead of concentrating on what CLOTHING and boots to bring. I've noticed that on my own trips, the gear I used most on the trip was the same gear I used most at home. It doesn't seem to change. Don't worry about gear. Find out specifically how many billions of mosquitos and (even worse) biting flies you are likely to be dealing with in that place at that time. Repellants don't seem to work with biting flies; I always rely on mesh clothing.

 

 

Kent in SD

[louie]

Kent,

 

I understand what you were getting at. I've done my homework on the mosquitos and bot flies, and other insects. (Let's just say that I'm glad I'm not a caribou!) I've got a headnet and knee-high rubber boots in my gear closet. I'm also looking into ordering permethrin-impregnated clothing (e.g. BUZZ OFF brand clothing) to deal with the insects when I'm not wearing multiple layers.

[louie]

Kent,

 

One thing you might be able to help with - how do you keep mosquitos off of your lenses when you're shooting? I had a number of photos from Katmai that turned out bad because of mosquito spots.

[lancemcvay]

Don't forget coverings for your hands against the mosquitos, too. I've come back from fishing for just a few hours with my hands <i>covered</i> in mosquito bites because I forgot to pack gloves. And I don't even live in the part of Alaska where they're all that bad.

[tom_walker1]

I concur with Steve Kaufman's reply. I have been there about eight times. Expect lots of mosquitoes - and the caribou have been coming from the EAST, out of Canada, the last couple of years, and not out of the south as was the pattern.

 

Send me a personal email and I will have a private reply that you NEED to know.

 

Tom Walker

[Two23]

About the only thing that seems to work is to blow them away and quickly snap the shot. There are clouds of biting buffalo gnats here in South Dakota and in wet years mosquitos can reach tremendous populations in the glacial lakes area. My strategy is to set up my tripod, focus, shoo the bugs off the lens, then quickly step about 6 feet away from it. Usually the bugs will come my direction, and I then quickly go back to my camera and get the shot. This works with static subjects best, obviously. If you are shooting with a shorter lens, you can simply waft them away with your left hand and get the shot.

 

THere are mosquito proof gloves called Rhyno Skin. I think www.cabelas.com carries them and a bunch of other stuff. Flies can't go through jeans, but mosquitos certainly can. Every square inch of you must be protected. Pray for days with moderate wind! The new 3M UltraThon liquid repellant is the best and longest lasting. The liquid lasts longer than the spray. Don't let it touch any plastic though (e.g. camera body)--it will dissolve it!

 

 

Kent in SD

[louie]

Tom - tried to get your e-mail, but photo.net isn't giving it up. I get an error. You can

reach me at escog<AT>hotmail<DOT>com.

 

Kent - the idea of the gloves sounds good. Last time I was up at Katmai, the only place I

really got bit was on my hands, and that was because I didn't want to get bug repellant on

my camera.

[greg s]

Sounds like you might be able to make use of a long cable release, for the 'mosquitos prefer photographer over camera' situation. I believe I saw a 'how they did it' nature movie doc where they had a fan blowing across the lens (obviously only an option for big budget enterprises :) Good luck at ANWR!

[barbara_kelly]

Hi Louie,

I did a rafting trip on the Kongakut with the company I work for, Alaska Discovery, in June 2003. I would recommend going earlier in June to better insure seeing large numbers of the Porcupine Caribou herd on their migration back from the Coastal Plain. They normally have their calves around the first week of June, and then start heading inland. The dates of my trip were June 15-24 and we saw more and more caribou as we got further downriver and closer to Caribou Pass, where the trip ended. This is also a great time to go because there are normally very few to no mosquitoes at this time in June. Once you get into July, the mosquitoes definitely become a factor to contend with. The Kongakut is definitely better than the Hulahula for seeing the caribou.

 

I had great luck photographing caribou and dall sheep at fairly close range. I was shooting digital (Canon 10D) with a Canon 70-200 mm zoom and Canon teleextenders. I used a duffle-type dry bag with my regular camera bag inside that. I was able to quickly open the dry bag when on the raft and access my camera gear. It worked great for protecting my gear and giving me peace of mind, but allowing me to get to it quickly .

[karen_jettmar1]

Louie,

Last year (2005) our Equinox Wilderness Expeditions trip on the Hulahula around the

Solstice encountered tens of thousands of caribou over several days, as well as a muskox.

Our two Kongakut trips encountered many smaller bands of caribou, totalling in the

thousands over the course of 9 to 11 days, as well as wolves, grizzly bears, bald and

golden eagles.

 

On our August Kongakut trip, we saw several caribou, but not the large numbers that may

be seen in June to early July.

[mark_chappell]

A reminder to be careful up there. In case anyone has forgotten, or hadn't heard: two people

were killed by a grizzly while camping on the Hulahula this summer. It appears they did

most of the things one is supposed to do in bear country, in terms of setting up a 'safe'

camp, but were unlucky enough to encounter a bear that was in a predatory mood. They

even had a firearm, but it didn't help them.

 

These sorts of things happen very rarely, but they do happen. So be careful.

[wildernessqueststudios]

We did the Kongakut River on our own this summer (June 2006) and had an amazing trip! I am just finishing up a "professional" 4 volume DVD set of our trip that shows the amazing scenery and wildlife we experienced. Each DVD also has over 120 photos included. We saw thousands of caribou, a den of wolves, grizzly, Dall sheep, muskox, and moose. We had many sections of aufeis since we took an early trip. We were also one of the first groups to go all the way to Icy Reef and the ocean was still solid ice! This is a great video set for anyone interested in one of the Arctic National Wildlife rivers or has an interest in the Kongakut River specifically. Feel free to email me at WildQuestStudios@aol.com to inquire about this great DVD set.<div></div>

[louie]

Thought I would just follow up to my own thread. For various reasons, I delayed my trip out to ANWR until this year. I went with Alaska Discovery, a fairly well-known and reliable company for Alaskan trips, and I was very pleased with how the trip went. They are a bit pricier than a number of the other operators, but Alaska Discovery (now owned by Mountain Travel Sobek) is very reliable and I felt comfortable booking with them.

<p>

I did their 10-day Kongakut River trip near the end of June. Unfortunately, we didn't see the caribou migration. It seems that for the last few years they've been migrating later and later, and we didn't see sign of the herd at all, nor had any other trips ahead of us. As far as we could tell, we were the last trip until the fall. We saw a couple of caribou, some bear, dall sheep, and quite a number of birds. The weather was variable - lots of sunny days, along with pouring rain and hailstorms. Mosquitos were bad early on, but grew tolerable later in the trip.

<p>

Alaska Discovery is a good company - the guides were excellent, food was great, gear was topnotch. Also, AK Discovery had initially set a weight limit of 35 lbs. per participant. This was because of all the small plane flights. I talked to them about my camera equipment, and they said 50 lbs. would be fine. I probably exceeded that by 5-6 lbs., but in the end it didn't matter that much. They want to make sure you don't overpack because they have to pay quite a bit for all the weight they take into the refuge, but as long as you don't go overboard and warn them upfront, camera weight shouldn't be too big a deal.

<p>

Photographically, I needed to put in more effort to get better photographs. We had 24 hours of sunlight, which did not make for good light during the day. One basically had to get up and shoot from around 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to get great light. Otherwise, you were basically dealing with a sun high in the sky. We did a lot of hiking, and I needed the rest afterwards. If I had been in better shape, then I probably could have put out a better effort.

<p>

Equipment-wise, I did fine. I brought my 17-40mm, 24-105mm, 100-400mm, and tripod. I would have taken a macro lens instead of my super-wide. The wildflower opportunities are tremendous - I'm not much of a macro photographer, but this trip would have made me one had I the patience. I had about 20 gigs worth of CF cards, and two Nexto PSDs, and everything worked flawlessly. I used a LowePro Dryzone 200 to carry my camera gear, and while it did the job of protecting my equipment from the water, I found the zippers on the thing to be rather problematic. Perhaps I needed to do a better job of keeping them clean, but doing that on a trip where one camps on gravel bars is tough. with 20-20 hindsight, I would have just taken my big pelican case. It would have been a lot easier to deal with.

<p>

Here's a link to my photos:

<p>

 

<a href="http://escoberphoto.smugmug.com/U.S.%20National%20Parks%20and%20Monuments/352352">Arctic Refuge Rafting Trip</a>

<p>

I left a number of photos of the participants in the gallery in case they want them. Otherwise, I would have pared things down considerably.

<p>

A photographer who did much better than I did was Jim Goldstein, but then, I wasn't traveling with Art Wolfe:

<p>

<a href="http://jmg-galleries.com/articles/ANWR_arctic_national_wildlife_refuge.html">Jim Goldstein</a>

[paul beiser]

Thanks, Louie! I was on a Alaska Discovery trip from June 22 - July 1st on the Marsh Fork, Canning River (western side of ANWR, and had very similar experiences. Agree with your assessment of Alaska Discovery - we had GREAT guides and a fantastic time.

 

My shots are here: http://www.pbase.com/pbeiser/mfork

 

I had a Dryzone 100 and yes, you really have to keep the zippers clean (I cleaned and lubed mine beforehand, and had no problem).

 

The critter highlight for us was wolves, but we saw no bear or caribou. Oh well, next time :-).

 

Paul

[louie]

Paul - Looks like a nice trip. I'm considering doing the Alsek with AK Discovery next year. They are a good outfit.<div></div>