Day 3 in ANWR: Sheenjek River, 10 Miles from Arctic Divide
Wolf sighting and more kind weather and terrain
Part of an ongoing series documenting 20 days in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
August 5, 2023
Day 3!! Another calm and soon-to-be warm blue sky day, though very hazy especially south and east, I assume from the wildfires near Fairbanks and yesterday’s south winds pushing it here.
Conked out hard at 8pm last night. Woke at midnight to see a faint red glow to the the north-northwest as sun was below horizon. At 5am was 39.6 degrees. As expected winds died down right around 8 and was calm all night.
Slept much better with pad doubled up under hips. Will definitely do rest of trip. Dew and condensation inside tent this morning, especially on top of sleeping bag, assume it’s body moisture condensing.
Just a few mosquitoes around and only when there’s a breeze. Luxury!
Body not as sore as expected though I feel it in my upper legs/hip/butt.
Planning on hiking another 5 miles up Sheenjek to next significant confluence. Valley starts to narrow from here so terrain a bit of a wild card.
So peaceful, only sounds of river behind me, the mountains so striking in front of me. Different shades of gray and tilted layers, some with a thin veneer of pale green, especially lower down. Watching a bee on fireweed flowers right in front of me.
Wonder where the closest person is? Many miles probably. The farther I get from the Sheenjek airstrip the more out there (and exposed) I feel. Everything still feels so dreamlike.
1250pm. Lunch break! Slow and steady over more excellent hiking terrain. Up Sheenjek gravel bars for ~half mile, then onto hard tundra low rolling hills.
Saw a wolf (!!) after cresting the first rise after the gravel bars. The wolf was by the river and saw me first unfortunately. Trotted quickly into the willows then came out on a small rise ~200 yards away to check me out then disappeared in the willows. Very cool! It was light and dark grey.
Also saw possible wolverine tracks in gravel bars, plus more of the bear tracks headed upriver. Very hazy down valley but ok in upper Sheenjek now that it’s turned northwest. Narrower but still broad and lush valley. Very pretty and nice.
715pm. Lounging with the few mosquitoes that come out in the evening. Sky went from blazing, burning sun—watch left in shade put the temp at 80 degrees! – to abruptly darker thicker clouds at ~6pm coming in from the west. At first glance looked like potential rain soon so put on the tent fly for the first time. Also cooked dinner asap in case it rained. Mashed potato gravy cheese jerky goulash…we’ll see what it does to my gut!
Traveling up valley was a mix of hard tundra low rises to boggy tussocky sections which were arduous. Feeling pretty gassed but kept going to the confluence with significant north-south tributary. Flowing clear water has been surprisingly variable and sometimes hard to find so followed one down to main river bed right near confluence.
Gravel bars have clearly seen higher water recently. Lots of mucky and still damp channels.
Found a large and very deteriorated sheep horn near camp.