2013 Expedition Update

Posted on February 25, 2013 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

Wow! Joe’s 100-day solo expedition is on day 46 already and I haven’t written a blog post with updates since I announced the start of it! Sorry I kind of dropped the ball. It’s been a busy winter.

Joe has been reporting waist deep snow and this entire time the ambient temperature has been hovering right around -55°F. The windchill has frequently dropped that number down to the -70°F to -90°F range. That’s cold in its rawest form.

Evidently, the foxes have been causing a little raucous coming in to camp trying to play with the dogs and maybe attempting to steal a little kibble. I wonder if Joe is trying the scarecrow technique he discusses in his book Malamute Man: Memoirs of an Arctic Traveler to deter them from their campsites.

The dogs have been doing great. They’re all pulling with a lot of heart. Even the rookies (Luna, Ben, Roxy, Bear Jr. and Jim) are pulling like old pros. Rumor has it Roxy was kind of a wild child at the start of the season, but it didn’t take her long to settle into expedition life. She learned very quickly the value of conserving her energy and maintaining focus on working.

Of course Joe has no way of getting photos from this season to me, so we’ll all have to wait to see them until he returns. But until then, here are a few from expeditions past.

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The Forgotten Ones

Posted on January 6, 2013 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

There is a group of men and women that have been overlooked in Arctic exploration history. They were hardy folks that didn’t seek fame or fortune and weren’t backed with enormous budgets by the royal family or the government. They didn’t dine with the king or queen, or the president, nor were they glorified for discovering a new land. They weren’t honored with large memorable sites after their deaths like many of the popular explorers were, and in fact, some were just buried in a wooden box built of ship lumber and placed on the frozen tundra only to be visited occasionally by a wandering Arctic traveler a century later.

These people who assisted the popular explorers in their endeavors to explore a new land spent their lives fending off bears and ravaging wolves, battling famines, and traveling in the Arctic in their perpetual search for game. They were humble individuals, fiercely independent and self reliant residents of the Arctic. Although they may not have fared well monetarily from their struggle living in the Arctic, they were rewarded with freedom, and an indescribable strength and strong will which are two characteristics that money cannot buy. And I am certain these forgotten men and women had traveled more miles in the Arctic than many of the most popular explorers ever dreamed of. Many of these folks that the explorers relied on for assistance and guidance include local natives as well as men and women from around the world, whom for one reason or another, took residence in the Arctic.

Often, while traveling on the Arctic coast, I have found frozen in the sand many century-old artifacts, like dog sleds, ship lumber, bottles, house logs, and rusted wood burning stoves. These items are evidence of the people who lived along the coast. Further proof exists in the photographs captured by individuals traveling through the region. However, as I travel in the mountains I am surprised that the same evidence of people isn’t found there. And there aren’t many historical records of the popular explorers venturing into the mountains either, and I don’t blame them. Traveling in the mountains is tedious, slow and extremely exhausting work. You can struggle all day and cover only five miles. Yet, on a few occasions I have found old tent sites and other artifacts high on windblown ridges in some of the most inhospitable mountainous regions. It’s my guess that these Arctic residents spent their long days in spring awaiting the migrating caribou on these ridges. I find it astounding that these folks traveled and made a living in this harsh mountain country as well as along the Arctic coast. To me, they were certainly the true explorers.

Photos and captions from the US Geological Survey Photographic Library.

Dan Sweeney and Shagavaichiak. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Native Eskimo. Okalisuk and puyuk (dog). Anglo-American Polar Expedition.district, Canning Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Ernest de Koven Leffingwell, in cabin, Flaxman Island. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Native Eskimos, Sheep hunters’ camp on the Canning River. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Triangulation signal erected over Astronomical Observatory Pier at Flaxman Island. Used from KUG Station 20 miles inland. It looks eccentric but was lined up O.K. for KUG. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Pete Bernard feeding his dogs at Collinson Point. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Sledding up Canning River in April. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Ernest de Koven Leffingwell (left), Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen (center) Dr. G. P. Howe (right). Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1906.

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Eskimo [native] summer camp on Arey Island. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1908.

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Natives at Flaxman Island. Anglo-American Polar Expedition. Canning district, Northern Alaska region, Alaska. C. 1910.

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Big Ben’s Golden Opportunity

Posted on January 3, 2013 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

Finally, after waiting his chance to join the team, the time has come for our Ben to hit the trail with the rest of guys and gals of Team Malamute for the 2013 expedition.

With paws larger than my arms and a young, hormonal body full of adrenalin to pull, Ben is a handful, to say the least, especially since he thinks my caribou fur parka is a chew toy.

Of course there’s always that smack-on-the-lips token of gratitude from a malamute for letting him join the team. I’ve got my work cut out for me this season, as does Ben. But no doubt, he will come home in the spring, a changed man.

Then and Now

Posted on December 16, 2012 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

A lot of time has passed since our last blog post, but as the expedition season approaches, we hope to post more regularly.

Thanks to everyone who has become a sponsor for the upcoming 100-day solo expedition. Your support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to presenting all our sponsors with exclusive expedition updates and photos. A portion of your contribution will go to two outstanding malamute rescues that we support. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please visit this link to learn more.

In a land as vast and untouched as most of Arctic Alaska, it is interesting to see evidence of just how little things have changed over the course of a century. As I was looking through some of my old photos the other day, I realized I had a perfect then and now shot.

The black and white photo below was taken by Ernest de Koven Leffingwell in 1906 while he was exploring the rugged Brooks Range in northern Alaska. One hundred years later, as I was retracing his route with my dog team, I had taken the overlying color photo unknowingly from the exact same location. Notice that my team is running exactly parallel and just a few feet to the right of Leffingwell’s tracks. Amazing!

Here’s a photo of Leffingwell’s camp around 1906 on the Hula Hula River.

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Here’s my camp in 2006 a few miles from where Leffingwell had taken the photo above.

Stay tuned for more blog posts and again, we invite you to join Team Malamute by becoming an expedition sponsor.

Behind The Scenes

Posted on August 5, 2012 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

Welcome, friends! You may have seen many photographs and videos of our expeditions on our website, Facebook and elsewhere on the internet credited to Angus Mill, and I’m sure some of you have often wondered whom this photographer/adventurer is that has followed me across the Arctic capturing some of these fantastic images of me and the dogs. Well, let me introduce you to the man behind the scenes - Angus Mill

Angus, capturing images of the dogs in their environment.

Here’s a shot I took of Angus last year at the beginning of his five week expedition with me and the team.

Here he is in front of his tent on a fine spring day.

Here’s a shot of Angus participating in the evening chores. Yes, that is dog crap he’s scraping off the bottom of the sleds. A must-do chore every evening!!