Class III whitewater as the Sadlerochit Gorge transitions from the Brooks Range to the Coastal Plain. Photo by Dan Ransom
No Place for Novices
A rescue in the Arctic prompts consideration of where personal responsibility begins—and ends
Rumors had drifted south that Brooks Range pilots and land managers were annoyed with YouTube videos, blog posts, and maybe even books that featured the virtues of packrafts up north. The story went that people with too little experience and too much gear were showing up and getting into trouble in America’s largest wilderness complex. And somehow—the rumors continued—these mishaps could be traced back to Alaskan adventure ambassador Luc Mehl and me. Apparently, we had encouraged the inexperienced to go where novices had no business going.
But until the summer of 2019, I had dismissed the rumors as just that.
It was early July on the south side of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the deepest wilds of America. Four undergrads and I were camped in what felt like a boreal desert after walking three hundred miles along treeline for a research project on climate change. I’d been out a month and looked forward to getting home to my wife Peggy and
2,800 words to go
You’re just getting to the good part.
This story — and 42 issues of them — opens with a subscription.
Either one picks up right where you left off.
Join 7,000+ readers · Independently owned · Since 2008
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Adventure Journal — Print Quarterly
Stories like this, in your hands four times a year.
42 issues. 11 years. Independently owned. Printed on 70lb uncoated paper with a soft-touch cover, solar-powered, and shipped in a brown paper envelope. Free domestic shipping.
