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Alaska's Arctic Landscape Then and Now Dispatches


In the Footsteps of Philip Smith

By Ken Tape · August 4, 2008 · comments 1 comment
NOATAK RIVER, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- Yesterday we floated through Noatak Canyon, but not before stopping on several occasions to relocate and rephotograph old Philip Smith photos. I added these excursions partly out of curiosity, but partly to extend the record of vegetation...
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And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

By Ken Tape · July 31, 2008 · comments 1 comment
NOATAK RIVER, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- Long, hot days on the river. We finished the sampling a couple days ago, and yesterday boated the remainder of the Nimiuktuk River, eventually reaching the confluence with the Noatak River. With our precious science bounty aboard...
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Ideas Crystallize

By Ken Tape · July 28, 2008 · comments 2 comments
NIMIUKTUK RIVER SANDBAR, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- Another solid day of sampling and mosquitoes. We are sampling areas documented in repeated photographs over time that show both expanding shrub patches and stagnant shrub patches...
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Take Me to the River, Drop Me in the Water

By Ken Tape · July 24, 2008 · comments 4 comments
NIMIUKTUK RIVER SANDBAR, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- If only it were that easy! Yesterday we made the strenuous portage from the lake where we were dropped to Seagull Creek, where the boating commenced...
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Science Under the Midnight Sun

By Ken Tape · July 23, 2008 · comments No comments yet
UNNAMED LAKE, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- For two consecutive days we have hiked several miles to the sample locations, where we have worked all day before returning at 11:30 PM. The mosquitoes are ferocious, and only the screen tent has spared our sanity...
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Into the Wilderness!

By Ken Tape · July 21, 2008 · comments 2 comments
UNNAMED LAKE, BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA-- We made it into the wilderness yesterday! Mike Hink of the National Park Service in Kotzebue loaded us all up, and we were promptly confronted with a dead battery in the Cessna 185 float plane...
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Greetings from the Alaskan Bush

By Ken Tape · July 16, 2008 · comments 4 comments
KOTZEBUE, ALASKA-- Greetings from the Alaskan Bush, and the village of Kotzebue, situated on the northwest coast. Luckily, you’ve missed the worst part of the trip – preparations and packing – and you’re here just in time for the science and adventure...
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