Hi Larry,
We really like the SOARs in our wilderness fleet. They allow all
kinds of paddlers to go to some very wild and interesting places with safety
and comfort.
I am attaching pictures from a trip we took last June in the far
Western Brooks Range in an area seldom visited. I have never seen an area so
rich in wildlife after guiding in Alaska's arctic for nearly a decade. Daily we
saw Golden Eagles, Gyr Falcons, and rough-legged hawks. We also saw wolves,
musk-oxen and grizzly bears.
The best part of the trip was on the 8th day when as we were
setting up camp the ridge-line to our east became covered with caribou. We
stared in awe for the next 4 hours as the valley filled to overflowing with
animals. Caribou walked through our camp they swam the river both upstream and
down stream of camp. There was not a single place in this huge valley we could
look and not see caribou. I think we saw 70,000 animals that evening. We could
hear there guttural snorts and bleats. The river became covered (literally) in
caribou hair (see picture). It was truly awesome.
The only way to access this wild country is by small plane. The
only practical was to cover any distance is on the water and our SOAR
inflatable canoes handle a great variety of conditions and are suitable for all
paddlers. I can't say enough about these boats.
Michael Wald
Co-owner Arctic Wild LLC Fairbanks, AK