COAST-X 2026

It’s 3am and we’re winding down after a long day of travel by skidoo, with the northern lights moving overhead tonight. We had a good visit in Kotlik, meeting with corporation board members to talk about erosion, flooding, permafrost thaw, and other ongoing challenges. We also traded muktuk from Gambell for beluga from Norton Sound, and made plans to return this summer. From there, we covered about 125 miles through a wide range of terrain with volcanic cones, stretches of shrubs and rock, sea ice, and long sections of driftwood frozen into the coastal slopes from Halong. Some sections went quickly and others took a bit more patience. At our planned campsite, we were met by someone who had been following the traverse, parked out on the frozen river with his Super Cub. We’ve now left the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and are moving into a different tundra region of western Alaska. Onward to Unalakleet and the Iditarod Trail tomorrow!

Some days out here feel like they stretch time. Today was one of them. It felt like we packed an entire week into a single day. We started the morning at the Hooper Bay School, where we spent four hours that went by in a flash. It is hard to fully capture what happened in that time. The conversations, the curiosity, and the shared stories all stood out.  After a quick 2 p.m. lunch, we were back on the trail. Members of the Hooper Bay community and the ACTION team guided us out, traveling with us over the rolling tundra hills and safely handing us off toward Scammon Bay. That kind of handoff from one community to another is something special out here. From there, the day shifted into full expedition mode. Phillip Wilson and I followed existing tracks where we could and made our own when we had to. At times, we found ourselves a bit turned around in the maze of the Yukon River Delta. Ten more hours on the machines, navigating terrain that keeps you humble and alert. By the end of it ...

Camp pack-up was smooth and easy this morning, with light winds, blue skies, and a clear view of our meetup point on the mountain east of Chevak. We linked up with friends there and traveled into Chevak together. We met quite a few folks around the gas pump before heading over to Hooper Bay, arriving just in time for the 5 pm po tluck coordinated by the ACTION project. It’s an incredible effort that truly brings people together. Grateful to be here with Chris Maio, Matthew Balazs, and Casey Ferguson.  Tomorrow morning we’ll meet with students at the school in Hooper Bay, then get escorted out of town as we head toward Scammon Bay and beyond. The ACTION effect is in full swing.

We couldn’t have asked for a better first travel day. The visibility was about perfect. The wind was constant from the same direction or thereabouts. I prefer navigating using the wind. I think the planned route versus the track we laid down is just us traveling into the wind.  We put on 120+ of our planned 1600 miles on the first day out.  Tomorrow we’ll be meeting up with friends a bit north of where we’re camped and then we’ll travel into Chevak and Hooper Bay to visit with folks for the next two days.  Here’s some photos as we left Bethel and traveled the great white yonder to our first camp of the expedition. 

Thanks UAF for the shoutout about COAST-X today! https://www.uaf.edu/news/coast-x-arctic-research-traverse-alaska.php Another -40 degree windchill day here in Bethel but we made some great progress for our departure tomorrow. We packed and tied down three sleds and gassed up our machines at the pump.  We'll pack up the last sled tomorrow and plan to head north starting around midday!

Today was just about perfect in Bethel for knocking out the last of our shopping and crossing items off the list. I think we found everything we needed across six different shops. We started the morning with that, along with getting our (very cute) propane bottles filled (see if you can spot the moose in the photo). After lunch, we filled all of our Rotopax fuel containers, packed them into Zarges cases, and loaded everything into an Alaska Gear Company sled officially kicking off sled packing. It feels good to finally be putting things into sleds and getting close to tying them down after months of planning. It was also a good day to get some cold into our bones. Wind chills sat consistently between -30 and -40°F, and we spent about five hours outside working through it today. It's kind of the best way to get calibrated for COAST-X. Tomorrow we head out for a shakedown run to test machines, sleds, and ourselves before starting the expedition on Saturday!

We’ve officially landed in Bethel, Alaska and COAST-X 2026 is underway! Touching down just after noon today after a smooth run out of Anchorage on Alaska Airlines, we were ready to hit the ground running. And for once, travel logistics were on our side. Every single checked bag made it. A small miracle and a great way to start. By early afternoon, things were already moving fast. We checked into our rental ahead of schedule, regrouped, and by 2 PM had tracked down all of our cargo at Alaska Airlines. From there, it was straight into the heart of what makes this kind of expedition possible...community support. We stopped in to connect with our friends and collaborators from the NSF-Funded Permafrost Grown project, the Meyers, who are generously helping us stage sleds and gear here in Bethel. Their support is a big part of what makes this launch possible. Next stop was Everts Air Cargo. By 4 PM, we had our machines, sleds, and a stack of beautiful, shiny Zarges cases in hand, gear tha...