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Article: A sobering view from near the top of the world.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 3, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Sam Cook
GATES OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, Alaska _ I sit in my down sleeping bag, listening to a cold rain peck at the tent on this August morning in Alaska's Brooks Range. I have not been outside the tent yet and do not want to go out. Rain has now fallen for the past 31 hours.
I set my thermometer just outside the tent to get a morning reading. Thirty-five degrees. I try to imagine what it might be like if we are to paddle the rain-swollen Nigu River in these conditions.
Five of us will soon begin our descent of the Nigu through Alaska's Gates of the Arctic National Park. We have been camped on this headwaters lake ...