Rafting and hiking in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is simply a trip of a lifetime. ANWR is one of the least visited and remote areas left in North America, and, despite the media attention it receives, it offers the opportunity for unparalleled exploratory adventure. Though the exact number is unknown, it is estimated that the 19 million acre refuge – an area the size of South Carolina – receives approximately 1500 recreational visitors a year. It is this type of trip in this type of wilderness that inspires Alaska Alpine Adventures, and we will visit the refuge again in 2010 to lead this spectacular trip down ANWR’s Kongakut River. ANWR lives up to its description as “America’s Serengeti” and this vast area supports more species and habitat diversity than any conservation area in the northern hemisphere. The US Fish and Wildlife Service calls the refuge, "The only conservation system unit that protects, in an undisturbed condition, a complete spectrum of the arctic ecosystems in North America." Caribou, polar bears, grizzlies and muskoxen wander the north slope of the Brooks Range and the highest concentration of nesting golden eagles in Alaska make the Kongakut River corridor their summer home. Humans also have a long history in the Arctic and the Gwich’in people of northeast Alaska and northwest Canada have depended on this vast area and its porcupine caribou herd for thousands of generations.

Want to take this trip? Visit http://www.alaskaalpineadventures.com/trips/kongakut-river-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge.html for details!