North of the Arctic Circle: Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic National Parks

We've all heard it be said ...

"Go Big or Go Home"

Well, with our van stuck in the repair shop, “home” wasn’t exactly an option. After a few nights in an Airbnb, the timing worked out perfectly for us to trade wheels for wings and catch a flight from Anchorage. We headed north to check two of Alaska’s most remote national parks off our travel bucket list.

Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic National Parks both lie north of the Arctic Circle, and neither one has any established roads or trails leading into them. While there are a few creative ways to officially "visit" these two national parks, I quickly decided that being dropped off by a bush plane for a few days of back-country camping or doing a multiple-day river rafting tour, while beautiful, would not be my preferred methods. 

  We decided to take the "easy" ... but not necessarily the "inexpensive" route.

Step #1 ... Book a commercial flight from Anchorage to the remote village of Kotzebue, Alaska which is located 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Cost: $400-500/person round trip

Step #2 ... Make a one to two night stay in the village's only hotel. Cost: $300/night

Step #3 ... Schedule a four hour bush plane tour that shows you a snippet of both parks by air and will land for a 15 minute "visit" in each national park. Cost: $1750/person.

And, you guessed it ... this all involves a bit of advance planning because their summer tour season is busy and short.

You will all be proud of us ... we actually (kind of) planned ahead!

But as we found out, a visit to Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic also involves Mother Nature agreeing to provide adequate flying conditions.

Yes, there is always that "weather" variable ... and that came into play when we arrived at the Anchorage Airport last Wednesday morning. A few minutes after reaching our gate, they announced that the flight to Kotzebue was cancelled. Seems that a huge volcanic ash cloud from an eruption in Russia had found its way across the Chukchi Sea and was hanging out over northern Alaska. Always trying to make "lemonade out of lemons",

... I was able to work on a blog in the airport's quiet and scenic observation deck,

... and Doug found another craft brewery to add to his list.

After re-booking our flight, hotel, and flight-seeing tour for Friday, we scurried to find lodging in Anchorage. With the Trump-Putin summit quickly approaching, our Airbnb pickings were slim and expensive ... but thankfully, not as expensive as the $700+/night that they were charging for hotel rooms,

... and our Airbnb came with some adorable pugs who were very willing to help "cheer" us up!

The weather forecast on Friday was favorable, and we were more than grateful to get out of Anchorage before the two world leaders arrived. One and a half hours later, we arrived ...

North of the Arctic Circle

... in the land of permafrost and muskox.

Kobuk Valley National Park

The sun was shining and the winds were calm when we arrived, so we checked in with the tour company when we arrived in Kotzebue. After a bit of "hurry up and wait", we got into their ten passenger flight-seeing plane.

Most of our fellow passengers were national park "geeks" like us, on a quest to "at least" step foot in all 63 of the United States's national parks. There were a few who were a bit more "hard core" and were being flown in and dropped off for a multi-day backpacking adventure ... a little too adventurous for me!

As we left Kotzebue, tundra, winding rivers, and an occasional small village could be seen from the air. 

Then the landscape changed. Ahead of us lie an immense stretch of sand that make up the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. Left behind by retreating glaciers many years ago,

this stretch of sand would become our makeshift landing strip.

And thus, we had our 15 minute visit to Kobuk Valley National Park complete with a picture with the "mobile" national park sign 

along with photos of some of the hardy plants

that call Kobuk Valley "home".

Gates of the Arctic National Park

Taking off from our sandy air strip, we found ourselves in the air enjoying the twisty array of the rivers that weave through the valley. Gradually the landscape began to change as mountains appeared on the horizon. As quickly as I began to wonder where we were going to be able to land among these mountains, we touched down on the gravel bar alongside the Ambler River.

We stepped out of the plane and marveled at the sheer beauty of the mountains in the distance. We were at the entrance of Gates of the Arctic National Park. The 8.4 million acres of this national park provide a protected habitat for grizzly and black bears, musk oxen, caribou, Dall sheep, and more. 

Another photo op with the "unofficial" park sign, 

... and numerous pictures of the untouched beauty that surrounded us

... completed our short visit to this beautiful and remote piece of paradise.

Four hours later, we were back in the village of Kotzebue. A stop at the national parks visitor center to get the Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic park brochures and check out the park displays made our visit "official" ... at least in my mind.

It was now time to find our way to our home for the next two days ... the Nullagvik Hotel. And although we were still pretty much in the middle of nowhere, we enjoyed some seriously luxurious accommodations. The hotel is an Alaskan Native owned company, and their pride in ownership was evident from the clean surroundings, top-notch restaurant, and friendly and hard-working staff.

Kotzebue, Alaska 

Kotzebue is the largest village and the central hub for commerce, education and health in northwest Alaska. The Iñupiat people have called this place home for many centuries, and still maintain many of their subsistence traditions that include fishing, whaling, seal and caribou hunting and berry picking. We were grateful to be able to talk with a few locals and hear their stories about how they embrace the often difficult life north of the arctic circle.

Summers are spent hunting and gathering nature's food. In a land where roads are rough or non-existent, their mode of transport is the ATV. In order to reach the surrounding villages, they have to depend on a boat or bush plane.

During the winter months of October through April the cold temps freeze the waterways that separate the villages making the "snow machine" the popular transportation choice. One young lady that I talked to said that winter was her favorite season, because it was so much easier to hop on her snow machine and visit her grandmother in a nearby village as ... "I can't afford to fly there to see her in the summer".

Walking around town, we saw many structures in disrepair, and heaps of garbage because it is so difficult and expensive to get supplies in and garbage out of this remote village.

Yet, despite these extreme hardships, the people maintain a great love of family, community, and the nature that surrounds them.

Some highlights of our visit to Kotzebue included ...

Easy access to the seaside boardwalk where we were never quite able to see a sunset unless we stayed up until almost midnight,

An absolutely fabulous honey-garlic glazed salmon dinner

accompanied by beautiful views of the Chukchi Sea from the hotel dining room,

And the chance to slow down for a few days and experience the beauty and culture of this remote community north of the Arctic Circle.

When we started thinking about visiting these two very remote national parks, I wondered why an area this large and this isolated would be designated as a national park. And after spending time north of the Arctic Circle, the answer is clear ...

Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic National Parks preserve not only the region’s remarkable Arctic landscapes and wildlife, but also the cultural heritage and traditions of the Indigenous people who, for centuries, have called this land home.

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