Adventures in Onionism

I realized that Your Creek on the south side of the Divide yesterday is not in ANWR, hence the hunting cabin. The CalTopo baselayer I'm using the most doesn't show property delineations. ANWR is mostly north of the Divide.

First full day. Took my time packing up. Phone GPS still wasn't working, but navigation is relatively easy in these huge valleys.  I messed around with settings, and found some sort of location setting that uses nearby Bluetooth devices. My watch and InReach knew where they were--I don't know if that's what did it, but it worked. Hallelujah!  Went up to the first pass. The mosquitos were out but not terrible--didn't need to wear my headnet. Then skeeters went away and we got to the snow. I lost a trekking pole basket in one of the very first drifts I crossed. Only noticed it a few drifts later. I went back to look but it was hopeless.  Saw the heel straps from a pair of Crocs. I'm not the first person to hike here. Wonder how the croc person did on this terrain without sport-mode engaged!  The pass was steep, and slow, and my pack is much too heavy. The upper 500 feet or so had snow, but it was mostly avoidable by climbing up r...

Shuttle up the Dalton Highway wasn't bad, except for the one guy who would NOT stop talking. Loudly. Literally the entire time. C'mon man, let's just enjoy the views, OK? I put in earplugs and was able to nap a little bit but not much. I was the last one to be dropped off. I'd turned off my phone all day to save battery. I turned it on to find exactly where I should be dropped off, and GPS wouldn't work. It still isn't.  I am too tired to adequately express how frustrating this is. I'll turn my phone off again to sleep now, and hope that it works tomorrow. I can see the pass above me. There's a ton of snow. The low route I've been on is easy walking. Well, easy in that there's no brush to speak of. It's still a soggy tundra in the Brooks, so it's not easy generally. Just saying that if my main route is too high, there's plenty of lower stuff to do.  My pack is so heavy! ...