After multiple reports of the Caribou herd sighted from the plane, I decided to chase them down myself. What I found was groups of Caribou numbering 20-50 moving amongst the lakes to the South of Arctic Village. Gretchen and I left Jack-Jack at home, for fear he would scare away the Caribou, hoping for some good photographs.
Within 200 meters of passing the last house we spotted 4 caribou in the trail. They quickly became aware of our presence and ran away. For the next hour we crossed a couple smaller lakes East of the airport, then turned due South. Our first contact with the larger herd was on Khaali lake. From at least 3/4 mile away, we watched about 50 caribou crossing the open frozen lake. With a bright sun shining low on the horizon behind them, only their silhouettes were visible.
Next we turned West and headed back towards the Southern end of the runway. Then found a side trail taking us even more Southerly and encountered "Caribou Cove". A small serene lake hidden by rolling hills and surrounded with snow covered slopes. Here we had a perfect vantage point to watch the caribou meander across the frozen space. Bedding down and munching on vegetation around the edges. Occasionally digging up snow looking for lichen to eat. Scattered across the lake was the entrails of several caribou shot days before. Attempting to sneak up on the small pack of 5 didn't go so well. They were very alert. Watching as I began moving closer, then darting off across the lake and into the black spruce trees. The caribou seem more timid now then I remember. Last year I rode in the school maintenance truck as we drove through the middle of them. Worried they would bounce off our hood. Today, they wanted nothing to do with human contact. Have they been over hunted the last couple days? Are they more self aware of the world around them near the end of winter? Or are they less safe in smaller numbers then the 1,000+ I witnessed last year?
At this point we were beginning to think about our way home. Fingers had become a little numb after stopping to snap photos for to long. We discussed a route back over the village landfill, down to the Chandalar, and home via a packed snow machine trail heading up river. It sounded great, but we would find out the packed snow machine trail didn't extend as far South as I expected. So we ended up bushwhacking and following caribou trails for another two hours before finally intersecting the packed freeway. Arriving back home with purple pink skies turning quickly darkness.
The total ski was 10.6 miles. Enjoy my short film, "Chasing Caribou".
Within 200 meters of passing the last house we spotted 4 caribou in the trail. They quickly became aware of our presence and ran away. For the next hour we crossed a couple smaller lakes East of the airport, then turned due South. Our first contact with the larger herd was on Khaali lake. From at least 3/4 mile away, we watched about 50 caribou crossing the open frozen lake. With a bright sun shining low on the horizon behind them, only their silhouettes were visible.
Next we turned West and headed back towards the Southern end of the runway. Then found a side trail taking us even more Southerly and encountered "Caribou Cove". A small serene lake hidden by rolling hills and surrounded with snow covered slopes. Here we had a perfect vantage point to watch the caribou meander across the frozen space. Bedding down and munching on vegetation around the edges. Occasionally digging up snow looking for lichen to eat. Scattered across the lake was the entrails of several caribou shot days before. Attempting to sneak up on the small pack of 5 didn't go so well. They were very alert. Watching as I began moving closer, then darting off across the lake and into the black spruce trees. The caribou seem more timid now then I remember. Last year I rode in the school maintenance truck as we drove through the middle of them. Worried they would bounce off our hood. Today, they wanted nothing to do with human contact. Have they been over hunted the last couple days? Are they more self aware of the world around them near the end of winter? Or are they less safe in smaller numbers then the 1,000+ I witnessed last year?
At this point we were beginning to think about our way home. Fingers had become a little numb after stopping to snap photos for to long. We discussed a route back over the village landfill, down to the Chandalar, and home via a packed snow machine trail heading up river. It sounded great, but we would find out the packed snow machine trail didn't extend as far South as I expected. So we ended up bushwhacking and following caribou trails for another two hours before finally intersecting the packed freeway. Arriving back home with purple pink skies turning quickly darkness.
The total ski was 10.6 miles. Enjoy my short film, "Chasing Caribou".
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