Outside the tent it is sunny and calm. There's caribou visible to the south and it's great to have breakfast outdoors again.
After breakfast, it's time to pack as the first 3 folks head out around 10:30 am. They are going to Arctic Village to wait for the afternoon flight back to Fairbanks. I'm on the 2nd flight leaving once the pilot returns back from Arctic Village in around 2 hours.
As we wait, there's a breeze building from the west. Enough of a breeze that our guide brings out her kite (one with handles for steering) and attempts to fly it. Unfortunately, there's not enough breeze to really keep it in the air but she does a great job in trying.
I take a butterfly walk to check out what might be up this morning - actually hoping to find that Sulphur I saw yesterday.
Finding the usual Alpines, Old World Swallowtails, Silvery Blues, Arctic White and Frits. But surprise, I find a Sulphur!!! What a great closing for the trip! I'm thinking Booth's Sulphur. (Northern species - unknown host plant) (Confirmed by BOAMA as Colias Tyche - Booth's Sulphur)
Soon the buzz of the Helio coming over the mountains can be heard. The plane is packed, people boarded and off it goes.
The trip is not over for me yet. I help pack the remaining camp gear and haul it down to where the plane will pick me and the guide up. Once that is done, it's just a waiting game.
I decide to take a walk around the meadow again - no camera, just looking and soaking in the landscape, examining the several caribou skeletons wondering how/why the animals died. Was it because of a wolf, a hunter (I did find a bullet shell earlier), sickness, old age - all part of the cycle of life.
A few more bflies are out now and on the south side of the meadow, I find another Sulphur (wish I had my camera now). I work my way back to the loading area as the plane, if on time, should be arriving in about 20 minutes. But no plane.
So I take yet another walk across meadow and then east. I don't get very far when I hear the buzz of my ride out of the Arctic.
The pilot has to refuel the plane with what he unloaded on the first flight. It's take time as he has to hand pump it into the plane. During the process the wind changes from a westerly wind to an easterly wind. The pilot wasn't too happy about the wind change (take-off reasons I guess) and tied some pink flags along the runway to help with take-off. Fortunately, we had no issues and off we went. My time in the Arctic is complete - what an incredible journey!
But the ride back to Fairbanks has just begun.
I'm in the front seat of the plane as we fly the Brooks Range. I can see the coastal plane, a frozen lake and unending snowy mountains.
Truly rugged and beautiful. Hard to image that caribou migrate through them. Wow!
As we fly along the pilot points out a location where herds of Mom & baby Dall Sheep hang out. At first, we don't see any but I do find them running under our plane. There's another smaller herd not too far away.
Our non-stop flight to Fairbanks ended up stopping at a landing strip along the Canning River for equipment check.
On our take-off, the pilot spots a grizzly. He circles but we can't find him. So onward we go towards Arctic Village to refuel again. As we near the Village, the pilot goes a little out of the way to point out an old caribou fence. It was used a long time ago to assist locals in their caribou hunts funneling the animals so they can be easily killed. The fence is obviously not used anymore but it's remains can still be seen if one looks hard enough.
We then land in Arctic Village, fuel up and are back up in the air. Soon we are in Fairbanks again. The trip is now sadly over.
It was an incredible experience - the vastness of the landscape, the flowers, the butterflies, the diversity of the landscape (tundra, ridges, scree, tussocks, wet, river valleys), and the curious but very cautious caribou around. I have to admit, despite those darn river crossings, my favorite hike/place was the river valley.
So happy I got the nerve to finally have the Arctic experience. I so wish I had done this years ago but it all worked out because if I had gone years ago, I wouldn't have had THIS experience.
