Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Dates: August 25 - September 2, 2010
Leader: Moe Witschard
Location: Fairbanks, AK
Cost: $5995

About the Workshop

The Brooks Range stretches 1100 miles from east to west across northern Alaska and into the Yukon. It is one of the wildest mountain ranges in the world. It is the land of the midnight sun as most of the range lies north of the Arctic Circle. The Brooks Range is mountains and river valleys covered by an ocean of colorful tundra vegetation. It is known for the abundance of its wildlife, which includes caribou, wolves, bears, muskox, lynx, Dall Sheep, moose, a variety of birds, and many other species.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge embraces the eastern Brooks Range, which is the home of the famous Porcupine caribou herd. Here, cutting through the tundra covered mountains and coastal plain, runs the Kongakut river valley, arguably the greatest river in the Brooks Range and the focus of this unusual and very special PAW photography workshop.

When I emerged 21 years ago from my first Brooks Range river trip, I felt changed and totally in awe of the incredible landscape that I’d traveled through and photographed. I knew I would be returning to the Brooks Range many more times in my life. I immediately researched and became familiar with the other Brooks Range rivers that people were running at the time. I quickly learned that the Kongakut held a very special place among Brooks Range travelers and I have aspired to experience it ever since.

This August, PAW is teaming up with Brooks Range expert outfitter Arctic Wild www.arcticwild.com , to offer you an unforgettable Alaskan photo experience. Starting in Fairbanks, we will fly into the upper Kongakut River with rafts and all of our equipment. We will spend 7 days floating, photographing, and exploring this amazing river valley. At the end of our Brooks Range river trip, we will fly to the Inipuit Eskimo village of Kaktovik, located on Barter Island. Here, we will spend a day and a half visiting and photographing around the community. The focus will be the polar bears that travel to the island every fall.

For a photographer, late August is a best time to visit the Kongakut River. Bugs will most likely be long gone and it is an excellent time for wildlife. We will see small bands of bull caribou roaming the Kongakut valley and nearby ridges. In the upper reaches of the river, there are sure to be moose heading to their wintering grounds in the mountains. Dall Sheep abound and can sometimes be seen right down by the river. Bears will be fattening up on berries and wolves will be hunting throughout the area. Most importantly, the arctic tundra will be turning into a sea of brilliant crimson and gold. The mountain peaks will be receiving snow which is likely to last until the following May or June. To travel in the Brooks Range when the tundra is turning color will always be among my favorite and most powerful of wilderness memories.

The Kongakut is a fast moving river with multiple braided channels. The river is steady Class II (easy, fast moving water with riffles), with a short (three-mile) canyon section with a handful of Class III rapids (very moderate, fun, splashy rapids that require some straightforward maneuvering). We will have oar rig rafts that will be captained by your two guides, Bill and Moe. You will have your hands free to photograph as we drift downstream and look for interesting places to stop and explore along the way.

For those who are interested, fishing for arctic char can be excellent on the Kongakut in August. Some pools erupt with the red and white of breeding char when the rafts go by. They are fun and easy to catch and very delicious.

After the river portion of the workshop, we will fly to the Inupiat Eskimo village of Kaktovik on Barter Island for a day and a half of polar bear photography and observation.

The Polar Bears of Barter Island

Each fall, polar bears from the Beaufort Sea travel to Barter Island, sometimes in great numbers. They travel off of the pack ice to shore seeking an annual food windfall. Barter Island is home to some 400 Inupiat Eskimos who each fall continue the tradition of hunting for bowhead whales. When all of the parts of the whale fit for human consumption have been harvested, the carcass is given to the waiting bears. This situation provides us with an unparalleled opportunity to safely photograph and observe bears feeding and interacting at the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Typically, twenty to thirty bears are on the island at this time of year. We will fly to the village of Kaktovik on Barter Island and stay at the one-of-a-kind “Waldo Arms Hotel”, Kaktovik’s finest eatery and hotel. Walt and Merlyn who own the “Arms” will show us our rooms, orient us to Kaktovik and hand us the keys to the vehicle which we will use to get to and observe the bears. The vehicle allows us to be close enough to the bears for excellent photography and observation without disturbing them or endangering ourselves. While observing bears you will be accompanied by a guide at all times, who can educate you about behavior, physiology and ecology. The guide is also on hand to ensure your safety and the safety of the bears. In addition to the polar bears, there are many other worthy photography subjects in Kaktovik including the landscape, village scenes, and migrating birds. As if this were not enough to satisfy the adventurous photographer, September is also a wonderful time to photograph and observe the Aurora Borealis. This is going to be a really unique and inspiring photography workshop.

The weather on this workshop is likely to be cool, but we get lots of sunny weather at this time. Snow is possible as are displays of the Aurora Borealis. This is a beautiful time of year in a truly enchanting part of the world.

You will be well taken care of on this trip. Your guides have many years of experience leading and caring for groups in the Arctic wilderness. Meals will be delicious, nutritious, and made up of mostly organic ingredients. Wine will be served with dinner and we will have a large, deluxe group shelter to lounge in if we wish.

How the photography Works

First, let’s talk about equipment storage. When on the river, you will need to have the ability to completely waterproof your gear. I use Pelican dry boxes for my camera and lenses. These boxes are strapped onto the frame of the raft so that I can get gear in and out of them when I need to. Another option is having a drybag within another drybag, but this is not as good of an option. My tripod goes in its own dry bag that I also strap down in a handy location.

On calmer parts of the river, we will have the luxury of floating with camera straps around our necks, ready to shoot wildlife, the landscape, or the other raft as we float downstream. Before the splashier sections of the river, we will make sure our gear is stowed and waterproofed securely back in our Pelican boxes and dry bags. As we travel downriver, we will make photo stops at the more visually interesting locations and make short forays with our gear to make photographs. When in camp, we will plan on hiking as far or as short as you desire with our photo gear in a photo backpack or daypack.

Gallery

Included in the Workshop

All transportation, meals, and accommodations north of Fairbanks.
Outstanding guide service.
Wholesome, delicious, and mostly-organic food while in the wilderness.
Stoves, cooking & eating utensils.
Repair and safety equipment such as firearm (guide will carry) and one bear spray per guest.
All boating gear, including boats and paddles.
The use of one life jacket and one medium-sized dry bag per guest.

Needless to say, your fees include the professional instruction of a PAW leader. All workshops have leaders, however a PAW leader is an expert on the location and has proven skills as a workshop instructor. Our instructors are there to help you make better images and fill your portfolios, not theirs. PAW leaders don’t photograph on our workshops; they teach.

Not included in the price of the trip:

Pre and post-trip lodging in Fairbanks
Personal clothing, and footwear.
Sleeping bag & sleeping pad (rental available from Arctic Wild)
Three-season tent. (rental available from Arctic Wild)
Large waterproof dry bag (rental available from Arctic Wild)
Waterproof camera case.
Fishing gear and fishing license.
Gratuity for Arctic Wild guide(s).

Arctic Wild rents high quality gear at affordable rates. Rental gear includes:

Three-season tents
Sleeping bags
Sleeping pads
Rubber rain gear bibs
Rubber rain gear jackets
Rubber boots
Large dry bags

Weather & Bugs

Temperatures vary dramatically in the Arctic. It could be warm, but it isn’t likely to be. Temperatures will range from the 20s to 60s. When the wind comes from the north, the temperature can drop to below freezing. Cold rains and snow are possible, frost is almost guaranteed, but the Kongakut gets plenty of sunny pleasant weather this time of the year. Mosquito season should be long over but...bring a small bottle DEET repellent just in case.

PAW workshops: the best leaders, locations, and instruction.

Transportation and Lodging

Getting to Fairbanks

You’ll want to fly into Fairbanks International Airport (FIA). The airport is located very close to the city center and a short taxi ride will deliver you to your pre-trip lodging.

VERY IMPORTANT

Your travel plans MUST have you arriving in Fairbanks by 2pm on Aug 24th. Ideally, plan to arrive in Fairbanks by the evening of the 23rd so that you can adjust to the time change and be well-rested to start the trip. You should not plan on flying out of Fairbanks before 8pm on Sept 3nd, just in case our flight from Kaktovik to Fairbanks is delayed a day due to weather.

We recommend you stay August 24 in Fairbanks at the Ah Rose Marie Bed and Breakfast, located at 302 Cowles Street (907)-456-2040. Rooms have been blocked off for workshop participants for August 24th at $70/night-single, $97-double. Please call John at the Ah Rose Marie to book your room as soon as you sign up for this workshop. Please tell him that you are with Moe and the PAW photo workshop group.

Schedule

The following is a general itinerary for the trip. Modifications to this itinerary may be made due to weather or opportunities that arise during the trip.

Aug. 24: Pre-trip meeting- 4pm Fairbanks.

Aug. 25: Fly 200 miles north from Fairbanks, across the Yukon River and the Arctic Circle to the Gwich’in Athabascan village of Arctic Village. From there, we board a smaller plane and carry on through the Brooks Range to a river bar alongside the Kongakut River. Once there, we’ll settle into our new surroundings, go for a photo hike, and enjoy a delicious dinner while we scan the horizon for wildlife.

Aug 26-30: Here we are, in the mountainous headwaters of the Kongakut River! It’s not a big river at this point, but it will get bigger and bigger as water is carried into it by several lovely tributaries. Once we load the rafts and give a safety briefing, we will launch into the current. Most of the time will be spent floating, photographing, and soaking in the awesome scenery. Moe will do short topic photo presentations along the way and will be there to coach you with your photography while on the river and when we are exploring around camp.

We will plan to enjoy 2 layover days on this trip, moving downriver on three of the days. This will allow lots of time for exploration and photography. As we travel, we will see the many faces and moods of the Kongakut. There are areas where the river course narrows and the river swings from valley wall to valley wall, cutting rugged bluffs. Sometimes we pass through great fields of aufeis (ice that builds up as the river freezes layer upon layer during the winter). From each night’s camp we can hike off to photograph and explore our surroundings - quiet cottonwood glades, small waterfalls, willow forests, and jutting outcrops above the river. There are often impressive runs of Arctic char in August. With any luck the clear pools will be full of fish.

Each of the layover days will start from a camp at the base of a mountain. This will give us lots of options for the day’s activities. At each camp, we will have choices of easier photo rambles to longer, more strenuous photo hikes. The guides will lead informal photography and natural history hikes on moving days and on the layover days.

Aug 31: Weather permitting, our bush plane will arrive by noon to fly us to the Inupiat Eskimo village of Kaktovik on Barter Island. We will spend the afternoon/evening observing and photographing any polar bears that might be around. Night at the Waldo Arms Hotel in Kaktovik.

Sept. 1: Polar bear watching and photographing around Kaktovik. Night at the Waldo Arms Hotel in Kaktovik. During early September bears generally lounge around or nap during the day. The best time to watch and photograph them is during the evening hours when they are likely to interact and feed. We will spend our day exploring the village and island both by vehicle and by foot. We may get to watch the locals bring in a bowhead whale. Each evening we will spend as much time as possible watching bears from the safety of our vehicle. When it gets dark, we will point our gaze skyward and look for the Aurora.

Sept. 2: Return flight back to Fairbanks

Equipment and Gear

Upon reservation or request, we will send a River Trip Equipment List.

As far a photography gear, we recommend that you bring the following with you on our Arctic National Wildlife Refuge workshop:

Digital SLR with back up camera that will fit your lenses
Enough charged batteries to shoot for a week. Bring a battery charger to recharge once we get to Kaktovik
Memory cards (bring plenty!!!)
A device to download and store your images- Moe uses two Hyperdrive memory card backup drives. That way his images are always backed up on two drives.

Lenses

12-24mm (for the 1.5x sensor size cameras) or 17-35mm (full frame)
28-105mm lens or similar
70-200mm , 100-400 or similar
teleconverter (opt.)- nice for wildlife and polar bears
Polarizing filter(s)
Lens hoods for all lenses
Lint-free cloth to clean lenses and air blower for dust
Lensbaby if you have one (opt.)
Other
Tripod
Cable release
Small headlamp or flashlight
Photo backpack or bag
Camera manual
Waterproof case for use on the rafts- Pelican box

The Leader

Moe is a commercial and editorial photographer specializing in adventure/outdoor lifestyle, travel, and landscape images. His adventure and travel images celebrate people living in, traveling through, and recreating in beautiful and inspiring places. Landscape photography was the magnet that drew him to this field and it continues to form the core of his fine art work. Moe’s photographic travels have taken him all over western North America from Baja to Alaska, to the Canadian Arctic, Patagonia, Ecuador, East Africa, Thailand, and most recently to the Himalayan country of Bhutan.

Moe loves teaching and working with groups. Prior to his career in photography, a 20 year career in outdoor education gave Moe extensive experience working with enthusiastic learners of all ages. In addition to doing private photography instruction, Moe has instructed photography workshops in Death Valley, Alaska, the Tetons, Glacier National Park, the Smokies, and several other locations. He is known for his contagious enthusiasm and his ability to explain concepts clearly and simply.

Contact Moe:

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Moe's Website: www.moephotography.com
Skype: paworkshops
General Info: 877.384.PAWS (7297)
Cell: 406.570.3505

Final Thoughts

The fact is, if I only had one more wilderness photography trip in me, I’d most likely pick a river trip in the Brooks Range. Join us for this unforgettable photo experience.

Your boat won’t wait long! ~ Sign up today!