The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Perfect

Hiking in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over the weekend, I saw stunning rock formations, streams, flowers, sheep and what was purported to be a musk ox, and not a single gum wrapper.

There aren’t even man-made hiking trails here. Our 6.8-mile wander through the Atigun Gorge to a waterfall included a lot of careful steps on tundra and scree (and, at one point, a rockslide pretty close to where we were standing).

I stopped walking at one point with friends far enough in front of and behind me that I was all alone, and all I could hear was wind and water.

More pictures below.