Across
the
Slope
In July 2023, my friend and I set off to canoe the Ikpikpuk River through the heart of the National Petroleum Reserve. The following short film and images are the start of a larger, more complex story.
The Shuffle
Joe unloads our gear from a Cessna 180. Just one time in the seemingly endless gear shuffle.
The Midnight Sun
The sun nears the horizon, just to kiss it before rising again, while Joe journals inside the protection of the bug tent.
Taking its Tern
An Arctic tern pesters a caribou and her calf.
The Labyrinth
Deceived by a low quality map, we wandered a mazed of sand and shallow water on our way to the trickle that was considered a river.
Live to See Another Day
Small flowers narrowly escape the hooves of a passing caribou.
Bloody Clouds
A clouds of mosquitoes swarm Joe on the shore of the Ikpikpuk River.
Caribou Highway
A few days too late, we reached a shoreline on the Ikpikpuk where hundreds of caribou had recently crossed during their migration.
Side Eye
A caribou stares down the camera for encroaching on his path across the tundra.
Snack Break
After a cold and wet stretch of paddle the wind-whipped Ikpikpuk, we rewarded and nourished ourselves with a snack of chili mangoes.