On July 20, 2024, I flew into the western Brooks Range, approximately 100 miles north of the arctic circle. I intended to live totally “off the land.” In fact, I brought no food with me, not even emergency food, only salt and pepper. I minimized the gear I brought as well: no hatchet, no saw, no grill, no frying pan, no chair, one warm jacket, one shirt etc. If things went reasonably well, I would fish, forage and hunt for my food until September 9.

We both wanted to fish the same spot.

Things are never quite how one imagines they will be. Some things turn out to be easier than expected, others are much more difficult. Weather is always a wild card, it’s “usually unusual”, that’s why people don’t say “it sure is average out there today!”

I’d hoped I wouldn’t see many people out there. Even in remote country it’s amazing how often you run across people: fisherman, hunters, adventurers. In this I was lucky. I didn’t see another human being for 41 days straight. That would have been a challenge for most people. For me, I didn’t get lonely at all!

It was a good berry year which was very fortunate. Early in the trip I scouted around and found a good blueberry patch about two miles away. Every fourth day or so I’d hike to that area and pick a gallon or so of blueberries. They were a staple of my diet.

There were other berries to eat as time passed. First came the salmon berries, also known as cloud berries.

Picking Blueberries

Salmon Berries

They had a unique, delicious flavor. Nangoon berries were the best of all, but were only available as single berries, sparsely scattered along the river banks. Other berries I ate in small amounts were high-bush cranberries, low-bush cranberries, bear berries, and crowberries. I ate a few willow leaves just for variety, following the suggestion to taste the leaves of various species to find the most palatable ones. I also dug and ate the roots of Hedysarum alpinum, Eskimo potato. It has been widely reported that a very similar looking plant, Hedysarum mackenzie, is poisonous. However, it is almost certainly untrue. I learned to accurately identify Eskimo potato by looking for veins on the underside of the leaves.

My main source of calories, though, was fish. When the fishing was good, and it was good most days, I would catch one or two or three or as many as four fish, and bring them back to camp to cook. Often I would just clean them then bury them in the coals of a campfire for about eight minutes for an 18″ fish, more for bigger fish. The skin would blacken, but the meat would be clean and delicious. If it was rainy or late in the day I boiled the fish for 10 minutes. That would result in thoroughly cooked fish that could be gently lifted out of the cooking pot without falling apart. Salted and peppered, it was delicious. I’d usually catch enough fish for dinner and breakfast the next day. Sometimes I’d get enough fish for the next day as well. In that cool weather it kept well for two days.

A good day of fishing, 3 grayling and a char

The most common fish I’d catch were grayling, and I’d usually catch them on dry flies.

Antler and Grayling

Grayling I caught hanging on a moose antler

They were very large grayling, usually 16-18″, with the largest being an enormous 20″ fish.

Grayling

The next most common fish I caught were dolly varden, a species of char. I usually just call them char. The Inupiat call them trout. They look similar to giant brook trout. The meat of grayling is white, that of char is orange. Both are equally delicious in their own way. I caught a few chum salmon, the biggest, most powerful fish that I caught. I’d only keep the ones in the very best condition.

Chum Salmon

There were a few pink salmon, although I only ate one or two. And I caught and ate one silver salmon.

Dolly Varden

Midway through the trip it started raining. And raining.  And raining. That region gets about 12 inches of precipitation a year. I got over 13 inches in about two weeks. The river rose a foot, then two more feet, then another foot. The water became unfish-able, and for six days I had only berries, roots and leaves to eat. But that was a whole lot better than nothing. I have often said that on my Admiralty Island “living off the land” trip, a vital piece of equipment was my canner. It allowed me to store windfalls of food such as a big halibut, venison, or multiple salmon to tide me over during the rough patches. On this trip I wanted to limit equipment so I left the canner at home. It definitely made things more challenging.

Some years caribou are in the area in vast numbers. This wasn’t such a year. There were a few moose around, but very few, and those few must have been nervous wrecks because grizzlies were plentiful.

Calf and Cow Moose

Twice I had grizzlies run at me.

Here He Comes! I’m grabbing for the shotgun

In both instances it was exciting until I saw they weren’t actually charging. I had grizzlies approach while they and I were picking berries. Neither were aggressive. Grizzlies walked by my tent numerous times and either ran when they smelled me, or never even noticed I was there. One night I heard two bears “arguing” nearby.
Several times grizzlies snooped around my separate “cook camp” and caused no harm other than knocking over my tripod and tearing up my plastic bag full of kindling. One curious bear fled when he knocked over my little solar charger.

Bear eating fish. Seagull waiting for leftovers.

It was full summer when I got there, and some days were pleasantly warm. Cloudy days predominated though, and most days it rained at least a bit. But oh, how glorious the sunny days were! I’d hang up everything to dry, oil my shotgun, gather dry firewood and stash it under my cook camp tarp, maybe even take a sponge bath and wash some clothes.

Fall colors came on fast, starting in early August.

Red bear-berry leaves and a caribou antler

By the end of August the leaves were golden and the blueberry and bear berry bushes were red and the berries grew sweeter. Most leaves had fallen by the end of the trip. When I arrived July 20 sunset was at 1:45 AM, and the sun wasn’t down far enough for it to get dark. At the end the nights were hours long.

Fallen Leaves on Tent

Summer is brief in the arctic. No wonder the bears feed all day long to build up enough fat for the long winter.

In early September I launched my packraft and headed towards the village of Noatak in a series of camps. It was fun to be on the water, to travel effortlessly, to fish new water. Once I hit the Noatak River I began to see a few Inupiat hunters heading up river to hunt caribou. Each gave a friendly wave as they passed. Many returning boats had caribou on board. One day I saw a magnificent musk ox bull. They have got to be one of the most impressive, primitive animals on earth.

Musk Ox Bull, Noatak River

The village of Noatak was kind to me. The villagers and I enjoyed many good conversations, and one family insisted on doing my laundry and setting me up with a hot shower. And what a luxury it was to walk into the village store and choose from a vast array of delicious food! How about a bag of chocolate donuts? Yes please!

Like most of my adventures, I was excited to begin, and happy to get back home.

Thanks for reading! Comment below if you have any questions.

Buck