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Article: Stories in stone: ancient trail markers, caribou drivers, or artistic echoes of a nearly lost connection with the land? Alaska's Gates of the Arctic holds hundreds of mysteries set in stone.(PARK MYSTERIES)(Gates of the Arctic National Park's inuksuits)
- Article from:
- National Parks
- Article date:
- June 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 National Parks Conservation Association. 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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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Like an avalanche of mist, a fogbank spills off the hillside as we climb above the Killik River in Alaska's Gates of the Arctic National Park, cutting off our vision as surely as a shroud. Moments ago we could see for miles; now, it seems we have stepped into a cloud. Fogbound, we move cautiously and silently toward what appears to be simply a pile of rocks near the crest of a ridge. Only slowly, as slowly as the drifting fog, does it dawn on us that what lies ahead may be much more than a simple gathering of stones.
In a land where the open wings of vast horizons can leave a hiker reeling, Arctic travelers have for thousands of ...