Snow on the Kelly River

I’ve finally finished my summer guiding season. It was a demanding and rewarding. I visited some extraordinary places, met some remarkable people, and had at least three separate days so beautiful I was actually brought to tears. (I’m a softy when it comes the landscapes I love.)

My final trip of the year was a week long trip down the Kelly River in the far northwest portion of the Brooks Range. I was guiding for Arctic Wild as I have throughout the summer. The river is a tiny little thing that seeps out of the mountains and flows south into the lower Noatak River. It was as clear as glass and filled with a huge run of Chum salmon that darted away from the bow of my canoe as I paddled like an endless flock of aquatic birds.

Strangely, a highlight of the trip was waking up one morning to three inches of snow on the ground. The storm had begun the night before, but in my persistent optimism I assumed the snow would not stick. I was wrong. The morning brought with it a series of increasingly broken cloud banks that rolled through scattering sunlight on the newly snowy mountains. I was awake before the clients and spent that hour scurrying about with my camera making images. It was completely spectacular.

More from this trip, and the rest of my summer to come. Over the next few weeks I’m going to be posting as often as I can and sharing some of the stories of my summer in Alaska’s awesome Brooks Range. Check back in for more in the near future.

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