BCJ_SUMMER18 Digital Edition

to have a captive audience over an extended period of time, especially
with teenagers. But he says while wild public lands are
the perfect setting for it to happen, it is rarer still for people to
experience wildness.
“If every person in our country had the chance to spend a single
night and day in the wild once in their lifetime, how would America
be different?” he asks.
Hall distinctly remembers an encounter with a grizzly bear on
their first trip. He says he’d been afraid of bears, but that encounter
made him think: If that bear was spotted near a city, it would
be killed or relocated. But in Arctic Refuge, he was in the grizzly’s
home. They aren’t scary, they aren’t trying to hurt anyone – they
just want to be left alone. Hall says in that moment, when he understood
his place, he felt like he too belonged in the wildness.
Barry Whitehill photos
trip wasn’t easy, Whitehill believes the tests passed by the Soul
River crew show why people need wilderness.
“Unless a group can overcome a challenge with the resources
they have, help can be a very long way away. It forces people to
‘sink or swim,’” Whitehill said. “In our case, our teenage participants
rose to the challenge. A couple of them transformed into
leaders that we all followed without hesitation. Wild areas challenge,
strengthen and empower.”
Like Hall, Whitehill also saw the second trip as a greater challenge.
The group was to make its way from the Gwich’in community
of Arctic Village to the Venetie village along 146 river miles
of the Chandalar River. Whitehill said logistical challenges for remote
Alaska travel are amplified whenever operating in and out of
remote Alaska Native communities. Connections are important.
So, he invited his good friend, Paul Williams Sr., an 80-year-old
U.S. Army veteran and former chief of Arctic Village. Whitehill
says Williams’ greatest connection is to the land, making him an
incredible educational asset.
For Paula Barretto, a U.S. Navy veteran and group member
on the second Soul River trip, learning from Williams about the
problems facing indigenous tribes was one of the best parts of the
trip. In the Lower 49, she says, it’s hard for people to break out
52 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SUMMER 2018
of their routines and really put themselves in other people’s shoes.
Being in Arctic Refuge with a tribal leader helped the Soul River
group move toward a better understanding.
“Everything we do down here has an impact on those extreme
locations,” Barretto said. “It’s easy for people to take advantage.”
Now that Barretto has one trip under her belt, she’s excited to
take part in the third Arctic trip this summer. She says Soul River
challenges youth and veterans to step up and be present. After
those idyllic days of fly fishing and backcountry floating, many of
the kids now want to pursue science and environmental studies
degrees in college.
Hall is one of them. He plans to take biology and ornithology
classes at the College of Siskiyous, where he’s committed to play
football next year. If he doesn’t have summer workouts, he’ll be on
the third Soul River Arctic trip, too. He’s passionate about these
expeditions and showing the world that we need to protect places
like Arctic Refuge.
“I feel like the easiest way to explain to others that we need to
protect the ancient lands before they’re gone forever is to take
them up there and let them experience it,” Hall said. “It’s just
really hard to explain what happens up there.”
Whitehill agrees. He says in our society it is a rare opportunity
www.CampChef.com | 800.650.2433
Featuring Slide and Grill Technology,
switch seamlessly between Indirect
and Direct Flame mode to achieve
two delicious flavor profiles all on one
grill. Smoke your wild game or slide
the grill knob and toss a few burgers
on for some direct wood-fired grilling.
The new SmokePro SG features a
taller cook chamber, Camp Chef’s
patented Ash Cleanout system, and
SUMMER 2018 BACKCOUNTRY stable temperature JOURNAL regulation. | 53