Splendor in the Wild

I just returned from a trip to the Arctic Circle. Only 5% of all who visit Alaska take advantage of this amazing opportunity to cross the magnificent Yukon River to see the end of the world. That is a terrible shame as the Arctic tundra looks likes no where else on earth.

We left behind the beauty of the millions of black spruce trees that served as a back drop to the lemon yellow poplars and silvered birches and moved onto the skinny poles that alone could grow on the perma frost. Then we got to the Arctic tundra where no trees grew at all and the mountains were brown and lifeless. The starkness was disconcerting and dramatic.

The ferocious wind, which no foliage above ground could withstand, bit our faces and drove down our heads. It was then that I noticed the beauty below my feet. The ground cover that blanketed the floor of the tundra was striking.

The fire weed, which makes the best jelly, was cherry red. Cranberry and blueberry plants that fed the birds and squirrels painted the ground burgandy and blue, and pumpkin orange seeds dropped from a trailing vine that seemed to have no beginning or end. The expanse of color of that ground cover was so gorgeous that it looked painted. The artist's strokes were course and convoluted but made for an unforgettable masterpiece.

On the way back from the Artic, we crossed the Yukon again. Despite knowing that danger lurked around each corner in the form of bears and wolves, the compulsion to explore was so great that I had to hike down to the banks of the largest river in Northern America. It was massive, deadly cold and a watery grave for so many fisherman who had waded in, but it was beautiful and the home and food source to many native groups.

Traveling to and from the Arctic on the Haul Road was an experience I will never forget. The road, which is the only one to the Arctic, was built by the brave men and women who built the Pipeline, a true engineering miracle that required the worst kind deprivation and difficulty in living to bring us the oil still found in the depths of a state that is so rich in so many natural resources.