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ACTIVITIES
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Sheenjek River Rafting Tour |
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 Originating from extensive glaciers in the Romanzof Mountains, this river travels south 200 miles to join the Porcupine River near its junction with the mighty Yukon. The river flows through a wide variety of arctic habitats and scenery. Portions of the Porcupine Caribou Herd occasionally winter in the Sheenjek Valley.
The Sheenjek River is a jewel in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, well known from the studies made by Olaus and Mardy Murie in 1956. The Muries' trip to the Sheenjek River valley, was one of the first scientific parties to record the plants, birds and wildlife found in the Brooks Range.Their work ultimately resulted in the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (originally called the Arctic National Wildlife Range). In 1980, the Sheenjek River was designated a National Wild and Scenic River.
The upper Sheenjek River in Alaska's Brooks Range offers outstanding scenic hiking, as well as a wonderful paddling trip. July offers long summer days and nights and the last of the season's flowering plants. In August experience the best of autumn. This is a time to eat berries at their plumpest, and, on clear nights, to see the Aurora Borealis, as the arctic summer draws to an end. The land is ablaze with color. Photographers can hardly sleep this time of the year, as there is so much to focus the lens upon: the macro lens is busy on the tiny details of tundra, while the telephoto focuses on wildlife moving conspicuously through the landscape - caribou, having shed their velvet, migrate southward, moose go into rut, grizzly forage on plump ground squirrels and blueberries, Dall sheep move in scattered groups over precipitous crags.
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SAMPEL TOUR ITINERARY 
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Fairbanks to Sheenjek River
Meet your group at Fairbanks Airport, where we pack all gear onto a small commercial plane and fly 100 miles north, over the Steese and White Mountains and the Yukon River, to Fort Yukon. Fort Yukon is the regional hub for northwest Interior Alaska. About 700 people, mostly Gwich'in Athapaskans, live here at the confluence of the Yukon and Porcupine rivers. We have time to explore the town, and a chance to dip our hands into Alaska's longest river, the mighty Yukon. Or, we may fly to Arctic Village, a small Gwich'in settlement (100 people) situated on the banks of the Chandalar River on the 1.8 million-acre Venetie Indian Indian Reserve. Arctic Village is 118 miles northeast of the Arctic Circle on the southern border of the Arctic Refuge.
We meet our pilot and load up a small bush plane, and fly north into the Brooks Range. By afternoon, we should be deep in the heart of the Arctic Refuge, and ready to explore our surroundings on foot. The process of getting into the wilderness may take up most of the day.
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Rafting the Sheenjek River
We spend a couple days taking day hikes from a base camp, exploring the high alpine country inhabited by caribou, Dall sheep and grizzly bears. The hiking in this area is outstanding, and we take full advantage of the long days. Then we pump up the rafts, go over paddling technique and safety and launch our boats! After a few days, we turn our attention towards the south and begin our river trip down the Sheenjek. We intersperse paddling with lining as we navigate our boats over shallow gravel bars. As we pass Double Mountain and the junction of the West Fork, the river slows, deepens and begins to meander back and forth across the valley. Numerous small lakes and sloughs provide excellent habitat for waterfowl; loons, ducks, geese and swans. Territorial arctic terns hover over our heads, entertaining with their acrobatic flight. Darting through the clear water beneath our boats, we watch arctic grayling as they scatter for the shadows. When the grayling are feeding, which is fairly often during the short arctic summer, fishing can be excellent. We pause again for a couple days of hiking. Here the valley widens considerably, and the river moves into a single meandering channel. The paddling becomes more leisurely, as we drift down the river, stopping to camp on gravel bars, and hiking up into foothills and valleys.
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Return to Fairbanks
From our last camp, we're picked up by our bush pilot in a floatplane and flown back to Arctic Village. Then we catch a larger plane back to Fairbanks, arriving there in the evening.
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RATES PER PERSON IN US$
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Days
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Rafting Class
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Departures
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Rate
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Sheenjek River Rafting Tour
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10
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II
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on request
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on request
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