The Spine of the Arctic: A Solo Canoe Expedition through Alaska's Brooks Range - Paperback

by Geoffrey McRae Smith (Author)

This book describes a solo Arctic Canoe Expedition completed through Alaska's Brooks Range from June 30--August 19, 1985. It covered 650-miles and took 51 days. I traveled through extensive parts of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and the Noatak Preserve. I started the journey at the oil pipeline haul road (Dalton Highway) just south of Coldfoot and above the Arctic Circle where I got on the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River. I floated down this to the town of Bettles. Form Bettles, I went on to the mouth of the John River. I headed up the John River then turned up the Malamute Fork of the John, portaged to the East Fork of Henshaw Creek, and after three days of misery, I reach the Malamute Fork of the Alatna River. This took me to the Alatna River proper. I pushed up this river for almost 200 miles to its headwater lakes near the Continental Divide. I crossed the divide at Survey Pass and then moved down the North Slope on the Nigu River, part of the Colville River drainage. I floated down this for about 30 miles then portaged to Etivlik Lake. After paddling across this, I portaged over another divide into Noatak National Preserve and to the headwaters of Flora Creek. After a long struggle with the creek's shallow water and rocky bed (it completely dried up at one point), I reached the Aniuk River. This flowed into the Noatak River. I floated the Noatak River to the Chukchi Sea and crossed a ten-mile stretch of open ocean to reach the Baldwin Peninsula and the end of the trip at Kotzebue, Alaska.