Find me a route
The morning chill begged me to stay in my sleeping bag. But my legs were cramped from a night spent in the coffin like pup tent. I awoke to the pilots lament, ìthe weather is still bad up North. We may not get out today eitherî.
Ears covered with a fury winter hat, and fingers protected by thick gloves, I wander the little village of Beetles. Many small bush aircraft dot the little town which is no more than a landing field and refueling stop for adventurers wandering the high Arctic. ìJust bought an old aircraftî Jim from Seattle tells me. ìI’ve been flying most of my lifeî. We exchanged adventure stories and tales of our almost forgotten time during the Vietnam War.
It is 10 AM by the time my guide, Michael, and I began consulting maps searching for an alternative route for me to walk. We were betting that we still would not be able to fly into the far North along the Arctic coast to Lake Teshekpuk as originally planned. Being socked in at Bettles for another night would have put us too far behind schedule to meet the aggressive distance that we had set out to walk.
And then Anaktuvuk Pass, a remote tundra area by the river by the same name, meandering precisely along the Continental Divide, seemed like a good place to start this continuing phase of My Dream Walk from Point Barrow Alaska to Key West Florida. An hour later we were in the air again scaling the Brooks Mountains headed towards what seemed to be the majestic Anaktuvuk.