I read a couple of posts from PGPete about this park and I'm wondering if anyone else has been and has stories and/or pictures to share. I have this wierd "must go north into remote lands" attitude and this is one of the places that looks absolutely incredible. Since I'm not experienced enough to go it alone, I'll probably join an organized 9-day adventure trip, but thought I'd get some feedback first.
Here's the website if anyone's interested:
http://www.nps.gov/gaar/index.htm

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Chaos, Panic & Disorder----my work here is done.

Hi Calix,

I'm not sure you really need to book with an adventure company. If you've been backpacking for several years, have taken a wilderness first aid course, and feel confident with being out where you don't have an easy bailout ... then you're pretty much set!

I would get two other people to come with you however. My wife & I went alone, but a group of three would be better - if you don't have a solid partner you've been hiking with for a lot of years. Anything more than three would seem too busy to me (but I like my solitude).

In my opinion, the best way to do a trip in the Arctic is to base camp it, and dayhike from that point (versus a thru-hike trip). Ask the flight company of good areas that they recommend - that's what we did. We asked them to recommend an area where the caribou would be migrating through, and a place with lots of non-technical scrambling opportunities. They dropped us off in a perfect valley. Basecamping makes things a lot safer as well.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I come by this website on a fairly regular basis, and will be happy to help out with any questions.

Is there a Canadian equivalent to this park?

That place looks amazing, and after seeing images of that and recently images of Greenland, I'm curious what Canada has to offer in that vein.

Thanks PG!
Unfortunately I don't have enough backpacking experience to go anywhere alone just yet. So for now, I'll stick with CT groups or organized trips. Meantime, I'll be working on getting in some short trips and gaining general experience and working on the fitness level!

This is the company that I'm looking at right now as a possibility, but I know that I have lots more research to do first:
http://www.equinoxexpeditions.com/gates.html

I'll probably pick your brain more as I continue planning. Thanks a lot!


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Chaos, Panic & Disorder----my work here is done.

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Chaos, Panic & Disorder----my work here is done.

RE: Is there a Canadian equivalent to this park?

Ivvavik is the closest I think. It's the park in the upper northwest corner of the Yukon. Explore magazine did an article on it a few months back. Sounds like a fascinating place - albeit brutal for backpacking.

Before I go back to the Gates, I'm going to be looking at what it would cost to get to Ivvavik. I suspect it will be really close to the same cost as the Gates though. The other thing I'd want to research is the weather during late July / early August there. From what I've seen so far, Ivvavik would tend to be more brutal that time of year because it's closer to the Arctic Ocean.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/yt/ivvavik/index_e.asp

I hitchhiked up ther in 1991. Unfortunately the weather was horrendous, blowing snow and zero visiblilty, it felt like the wind was blowing off the Arctic ocean (which it probably was) I wasn't equipped for the weather as it was July and I was inexperienced so I didn't get to see too much of the park. The Brooks Range is a beautiful bit of mountains though. Road access should be good but I think to get to the best of the park you need to fly in.

As to Canadian equivalent, Tombstonenorth of Dawson CIty, while still subarctic (there are trees!!) is easier access than some of the other northern Canadian parks.

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Nature is my inspiration