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SOLSTICE: ARCTIC REFUGE BASE CAMP
Wilderness Wildlife & Birding
June 20-25
6 Days - $2,750

The northern edge of the Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) next to the Arctic Ocean is a wondrous place. Like the Porcupine Caribou and countless breeding birds, we migrate each summer to this far northeastern corner of Alaska for a hiking, birding and wildlife viewing trip based out of our Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) basecamp.

This trip offers Alaska wildlife viewing at its finest. Over 120,000 caribou migrate from their wintering grounds in Canada to bear their calves on the coastal plain in May and June. Large groups of caribou normally frequent our base camp vicinity and are often followed by their predators: grizzly bears, wolves, wolverines, arctic and red fox, and golden eagles.  Musk oxen browse the tundra and a multitude of tiny flowers flourish in the brief summer. An intricate chain of life maintains an exquisite balance in this land of extremes.

June on the coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a busy time for birds and other wildlife. As the mercury climbs and the amount of daylight increases, snow and ice rapidly melt away and grasses, sedges and wildflowers burst from a long, cold, dark dormancy into lively color. About 74 species of birds migrate from far reaches of the globe to the Arctic Refuge each summer to nest; Yellow Wagtails travel from Africa, the American Golden Plover from Argentina.

We'll fly to a spot well out on the coastal plain in the northeastern Arctic Refuge to camp. This area is part of what is often referred to as “the biological heart” of the Refuge because it is a significant and concentrated breeding area for multiple species of birds and mammals. Whether day-hiking across the tundra or hanging out in our base camp, we'll explore this rich habitat during the period surrounding summer solstice.

A sampling of possible wildlife in this corner of the Arctic Refuge: Parasitic, Pomarine and Long-tailed Jaegers, Lapland Longspurs,  Willow and Rock Ptarmigan, Gyrfalcon, Yellow-billed, Pacific and Red-throated Loons, Tundra Swans, Snowy Owl, Sabine’s Gull, a couple species of eiders and a variety of shorebirds – among others. Caribou, grizzly bear, musk oxen, wolf, Dall sheep, moose, wolverine, red and arctic fox.