Horseplay on Aufeis

July 11th, 2010 by Carl D
Hikers enjoying horseplay of aufeis, Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Alaska.
Hikers enjoying horseplay of aufeis, Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Alaska. Please click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a shot from our recent trip down the Canning River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You can see we had a lot of fun, great spirits, great weather, spectacular scenery and a great, great group of folks. What more could we ask for?

Aufeis is a German word to refer to overflow ice, that typically melts out during the summer, and re-accumulates in the winter. It’s pretty common along most waterways in the Arctic. Here it provided a platform for some tom-foolery. Good fun all the way around.

Minutes earlier we’d been watching a mature bull caribou wander along the ridges of Aufeis; caribou often hang out on the ice to keep cool and stay away from the oft-present mosquitoes during summer’s brief madness. Fortunately this year the bugs were largely gone by the time of our trip, and we all had a great time with no insanity from the mosquitoes.

Cheers

Carl

Expeditions Alaska
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