COAST-X 2026

  Meeting up with people along the trail has been one of the most meaningful parts of the COAST-X expedition. We started the day in Kivalina, where we met with Janet Mitchell at the NANA office to talk about flooding, erosion, permafrost thaw, and food security challenges. We are already looking forward to coming back for a future community gathering. Huge thanks to Carsten Thies for making the connection. From there, we fueled up and rode 75 miles round trip to the Project Chariot site to meet Guy Omnik from Point Hope. Standing in the valley once considered for atomic testing to create a deep water harbor near Point Hope was surreal. Even more impactful was spending time with Guy, talking sea ice, tundra travel, and hunting. Truly great to connect in person! We also scoped out the next leg of our route toward Point Lay. Getting closer to the North Slope and excited for what is ahead.

We traveled north, then west, and then north again on our way out of Kotzebue, making incredible time over the 120-mile run. We followed a trail for a while, but ended up breaking our own and it was much smoother going forward that way. We’ve set up camp in a great spot, giving us easy access to visit folks in Kivalina and Point Hope tomorrow before continuing farther north toward Point Lay.  

We had a really rad day in Kotz. The weather’s been on a roll. We did an interview at KOTZ mid-morning, then headed out to catch the start of the snowmachine and sprint dog sled races. Later in the afternoon, we visited the snow cave site being prepped for MrBeast, and wrapped up the day with some great tuttu stew with friends at their camp about 20 miles outside of town. We’re all set and reenergized for the push north tomorrow!

The weather was spectacular in Kotzebue all day. It was truly a perfect travel day. But we used the time to pick up our cargo resupply that Melissa sent up, grab a few local supplies, fix a broken part on one of the sleds, and get everything refueled. We chatted with more than a dozen people who were curious about what we’re up to and also ran into some old friends. Everything is now packed and ready for us to continue northward on Sunday. Tomorrow, we’re planning to go sheefishing with some local folks, followed by dinner at our friends’ cabin across the inlet. We might even get a chance to meet MrBeast, who is apparently in town working on something. Great Kotz vibes as always!

We got a late start from the hot springs today since Sebastian was receiving a service award and needed our internet connection. Once we got moving, though, we made great time to Kotz, breaking trail most of the way and traveling through mountains, hills, sea ice, and some seriously bumpy tundra. Along the way, we spotted a few seals on the ice, about half a dozen musk ox on the tundra, and a herd of caribou. We also met some really nice folks in Deering. We crossed over the Arctic Circle around midnight and arrived safely in Kotz around 1am. An amazing day of travel and over 1,250 miles on the traverse so far!

Is by far my favorite school mascot! We had an easy commute on skidoos into Shish today and then spent all afternoon and into the early evening talking with elders, friends, and new friends.  We decided to trend back to the hot springs to regroup for our travels northward from the Seward Peninsula   We’ll be headed for Kotzebue tomorrow afternoon after an award ceremony for our colleage Sebastian Zavoico that he needs our Starlink internet for.

We had a wonderfully relaxing morning at Serpentine Hot Springs, complete with a well-deserved soak in the tub and spectacular views across the granite tor–studded valley. At 1 pm, we connected via Zoom with a group of about a dozen undergraduate students from the UAF GeoLC cohort. It was great to share what we’re up to. Later, we traveled over to the South Fork of the Serpentine with the Tundra Beaver crew, before heading towards the Stenek’s cabin. We’re looking forward to arriving in Shishmaref tomorrow afternoon and meeting with local high school students. There’s an incredible aurora forecast for tonight, though the skies aren’t cooperating at the moment.  Up and over a 1000 miles on the expedition!