Brooks Range

This end of winter trip was everything we could have ever dreamed of and more. We packed up every single dog in the kennel (25 sled dogs + 1 Nona) and drove about 12 hours north, above the arctic circle at the foothills of the impressive Brooks range.  Our friend Emily joined us and took her job as pupparazi very seriously so we were able to get some really amazing pictures - thanks Emily! We were also joined by our friends from Trail Breaker Kennel. Tekla and Elena and 14 TBK dogs made a total of 5 bada$$ ladies and 40 dogs! To further add to the chaos over half of those dogs were yearlings and this was their first big multi day back country trip. 

The fun part about the Brooks range is there are no set trails, just wide open tundra. With it being end of season we had warm temps during the day that would still freeze overnight, setting up ideal conditions for spring time “crust mushing”. Areas with heavy snow fall that dogs and sleds would previously sink into now have a firm crust that lets us run pretty much anywhere. Very fun dog training that really hones in on gee (right) haw (left) commands. So we packed up 3 heavy sleds, hooked up 3 teams and took off to find a camp spot!

 We found a camp spot nestled in a small bowl sheltered from the wind and set up camp. Our tent is a Nordic tent with a small wood burning stove inside to keep us cozy. This area of country does not have much in the way of trees, so we would run a team about 1-2 miles away from camp to a patch of willows we found to cut branches for firewood. Pro tip: the dead willows burn a lot better and warmer than the alive ones! 

Our camp set up for the dogs involved a super long cable picket anchored on either side with snow hooks or a “dead man”. This was the first time the humans had traveled with this many dogs so there was a learning curve, some controlled chaos, and maybe a few bad words before we got everyone settled. Remember this is a warm time of year, so the dogs were not too cold not having a dog house for shelter. We did put jackets on the older dogs for an added cozy factor but the young naughty puppies would chew on those very expensive jackets so they just got a little bit of straw. 

With camp all set up we then took off towards the foothills in search of caribou! There’s a large herd who’s migratory pattern takes them close by this time of year. About 10miles away from camp we found lots of tracks and evidence of caribou but did not find any caribou until the second day. It was pretty incredible seeing their highway of tracks all over the mountain side. 

While our hunting party was out adventuring, exploring and trying to get a caribou we always left one person behind at camp to be the “homestead honey”. The HH would collect/chop firewood, give Nona pats, melt snow for drinking/dog water, prepare dog meals, tell Nona she’s a pretty girl and get dinner ready for when everybody else returned. It may sound like a chore but I think we all enjoyed our turn as homestead honey. We lucked out with gorgeous sunny weather for almost the whole trip so it was the ideal time to Sun ya Buns. It was peaceful and grounding to be somewhat “alone” in this vast country as you went through the motions of chopping, melting and cooking. 

We ended up doing 2 days of active hunting and harvested 3 caribou total to be evenly split between all 5 of us. Emily (also a bass ass veterinarian that travels all over remote Alaska providing services) and Annette nerded out over the harvest process and meticulously harvested all of the meat into game bags, pelts were saved to be used for bed rolls after tanning them and bones went to the hounds! We dug a hole in the snow, placed the meat in there, covered with snow and placed a tarp over it to keep the meat cool and keep the dogs from getting into it. We still had a few more days in camp before we packed out. 

After about 9 days at camp it was time to pack up and go home. The caribou was dug up out of our snow box, the Nordic tents came down and stuffed back into their bags to be dried out once we got back and the dog pickets were rolled up. Beautiful clear skis and sunshine greeted us every day we were there except for our last pack out day. It was cloudy and misty and some light snow/rain drizzles. The run back to the car was more snow mush than firm crust mushing. Seems we timed our trip perfectly. The seasons were changing and pretty soon this area will be buzzing with hoards of mosquitos! Till next year Brooks range, cannot wait to go back