Teshekpuk Lake

July 5: We just flew in from Coldfoot, Alaska where it was 80 degrees and sunny. On the Kealok Creek it’s sunny, but windy with a high of 65. As I got off the plane, I was filled with memories of previous expeditions out on the Arctic slopes. Each of the adventures was unique in their own way and the memories were fond ones. This trip will be a little bit different not only because we’re going to a completely new area of Alaska, but we’re also paddling a creek (which means a lot less water/no white water). It empties into a beautiful lake called Teshekpuk Lake. As we got off the airplane, I got overly excited because there was not a mosquito in sight, boy was I wrong! Once the wind died down, the mosquitoes emerged in heavy masses and were eager to take our blood.
They swarmed around us as if they were little black flies hovering over a dead carcass. When we were in Fairbanks on our way into Coldfoot we met a group that had just come off the Canning River and had informed us that the mosquitoes were worse than they had been in 20 years. Uh oh, this meant that they were extra bad, but hopefully there will be a nice steady breeze for most of the trip, thus keeping the “masses” of mosquitoes away. As we started to unpack our gear, I noticed that I had accidently grabbed part of my parent’s tent rather than my tent. Since the pilot could only take the first 3 people with gear that meant that there would be two trips coming in. So it’s my Mom, Mark, and I on the first trip.
The plane ride in had gone quite smoothly and I had used an hour of our ride to take a much needed nap. As I started to set up my parent’s tent I noticed that they didn’t have the fly (part that goes over the body to keep the rain off), which could be a potential problem. I asked my Mom if she had remembered to grab the fly on our way into the plane and she said no. So the other possibility was that the second group had it back in Coldfoot, which was the likely scenario. To make sure, we thought we should call them on the Satellite phone just to reconfirm they had it with them. Now since my mom is completely challenged when it comes to technology/electronics she asked for my help. We called and they confirmed they had it. All was well so far.
Our camp area is sandy and flat. The ground is covered with wildflower and holes. There are no trees, or bushes. The tallest plants are a few inches high. It looks like we are on a huge plain, no mountains or hills. In trips to the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge, we would start in the mountains and paddle out to the coastal plain. For this trip, we are starting on the coastal plain. The coastal plain is much wider here, so we don’t have views of the mountains of the Brooks Range. It is subtle, but beautiful landscape.
When the second group flew in around 10 pm, we finished setting up camp and ate dinner, washed dishes and went to bed. We were all tired for we had had a long day packing to get ready to go into Kealok Creek and Teshekpuk Lake.


What’s really special about these trips is that throughout the trip you learn not only a lot about the native land and the culture that surrounds you, but as well about yourself. As I look up at the scaling mountains that engulf us on our flight into Teshekpuk Lake, I remember a quote that defines the essence of why we take these kinds of trips. “Most people stand in sight of the spiritual mountains all their lives and never enter them, being content to listen to others who have been there and thus avoid the hardships” (2 Pirsig). As I soak in the words of this quote my mind races to the time when my dad and I flipped our canoe on the river, which could have been fatal (hypothermia), luckily we survived. Even though I was scared s_____ when this happened, later I learned that my communication could have been better with my dad, which is what created the problem in the first place. Point is that I grow and mature as a person each time I take adventures like these. If you never go out of your comfort zone (your home/town), you will miss out on the opportunity to find yourself, strengths and weaknesses, and you will miss all the wonderful aspects that life had to offer.