GATES OF THE ARCTIC: Journey to the Midnight Sun (Expedition #81)

Experience Alaskan life on a remote lake located 250 miles north the the Arctic Circle. This lake is visited only by Xavier Expeditions and, therefore, remains unnamed! The views from the float plane over the edgy, volcanic ridge lines of the Brooks Range on the way to our basecamp location is stunningly and purely wild! Our camp along the lake affords us the opportunity to see and hear wolves, migrating caribou, and grizzly bears that appear to have little or no experience with humans! It is the remotest of remote that America has!

This is the remote experience is about community and wellbeing! Imagine flying by floatplane into Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, the least visited of all the National Parks because access is limited to floatplane only. Imagine setting up a basecamp on a lakeshore far north of the Arctic Circle! Imagine not seeing any humans other than our group and our pilot for the entire week! Imagine that your home is also shared by caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, porcupine, wolverine, eagle, Dahl’s sheep and a host of migrating birds. The opportunity to learn communal survival techniques are lessons that you will take with you for a lifetime. Experiences of drinking from a lake so clean that the water need not be filtered. Imagine your first experience of fly fishing or gathering foods (like berries) done in such a majestic, vast, quiet space where the sun rarely sets. 6 CORE CREDITS (THEO 388 and PHIL 200 or 250) for all undergraduate degrees. LIMIT 12 Students. Registration Deadline: February 1, 2026.