Arctic

Kaktovik musher and son retrace route across the Arctic

The end of the Iditarod is here, but for one father and son team from Kaktovik, the adventure is just beginning.

As reported last week by the Arctic Sounder, Ketil Reitan, 55, and his son, Vebjorn, 20, were making their way along the trail to Nome by sled and snowmachine, respectively. Ketil had run the race a number of times before and for Vebjorn, this was a chance to learn the trail should he choose to run it with his own team down the line.

"I've been running dog races since I was 4 years old," Vebjorn said, lamenting the fact that he had to take a sno-go this time instead.

Like his father, he's comfortable out in the wilderness. He grew up in Kaktovik and spent time in Norway, his father's home country, as a child. He graduated from high school last year and has spent the interim mushing and hiking, learning to hunt and fish and survive in the backcountry, and working for his father's polar bear sightseeing company.

However, in August, his life is going in a new direction.

"I got drafted to the Norwegian Army," Vebjorn explains.

He doesn't seem too nervous about the big move: "It's been something I've been thinking about for a while. I think it's something I could benefit from and I think I'll learn a lot and probably be a better person because of it."

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Before he leaves, his father wanted to give him one last, great adventure in Alaska. The pair is making a quick turnaround in Nome and then heading out on a new trail, across the Arctic to Kaktovik, following in Ketil's own footsteps from almost 30 years ago.

"That's special because that's how I met my wife, in Kaktovik on that trip, and had my sons, and now we will do that trip together on almost the same route," Ketil said.

The year was 1987. Ketil was fresh out of college in Norway and looking for something to do next. As a youngster, he'd done quite a bit of mushing and skiing in Norway's backcountry and wanted to return to nature.

"I had a friend that had been living out in a cabin in the Bush near Ambler. He asked me if I wanted to cross Alaska by dog team," Ketil said. "I decided to go with him, so I flew to Alaska."

He and his friend didn't have much money. They didn't have any new, fancy gear. All they had were dogs, ingenuity and a sense of adventure.

"We had read some books about polar explorers and how they traveled a hundred years ago and it was an inspiration. We wanted to see if we could do the same thing and be self-sufficient and try to live off the land as much as we could," said Ketil.

They didn't bring much food along, figuring they'd be able to hunt what they'd need. They designed and built their own sled, stitched together a tent, and sewed animal skins into warm clothes. They didn't bring fuel or many amenities and planned to do all their cooking with firewood they'd gather along the way.

"That was in the middle of the winter and it was a long time ago," he said. "We didn't have GPS or anything. We were just traveling on our own."

They set out from Ambler with their dogs and went through Anaktuvuk Pass, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik, to the border and across into Canada's Yukon, finally ending their journey in Aklavik, Northwest Territories.

"When we started our trip, we didn't have any connections in the villages. We just traveled," he said. "We found the route with a map and compass and we had no radio communication. So that was very special to come to the villages. We met some people and then they had relatives in the next village and so on, and that turned out to be my (future) wife's family."

He's kept in touch with those connections and plans to take his son back to meet his extended family, some for the first time.

"Back then I did not have much experience with hunting. I learned a lot how to get comfortable. We didn't have many meals but we could make it very comfortable along the way. We had the wood stove in the tent. Sometimes it was probably 40 or 50 below, but it was comfortable."

A good fire and hot food made all the difference. He and his friend would start off every morning with a bowl of oatmeal.

"We had the same menu almost every day," he said with a chuckle.

For dinner, they'd have dried strips of caribou, or they'd cut the meat into chunks and fry it on a pan in the tent.

"Eating some fried caribou meat with rice," he said, "that was being comfortable when it was cold and windy outside."

He reminisces about the types of challenges they faced on that first journey. They had enough knowledge and preparation to stay safe, most of the time, but there were a few harrowing moments that pushed them to their limits.

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"Once, it was really cold, maybe 40 or 50 below, and we were out on the frozen river," he remembered. "It looked like it was good conditions and then, when we went into it, it was just slush. It was so thick that the dogs could not pull through it. We had to jump out and shovel the way out of the ice slush. I was worried when we got our feet wet in that temperature."

It was flat country with wide, sweeping views on all sides. They weren't sure exactly which direction to go. They were worried that if they got too cold and too mired in the slush, they might not be able to get out in time.

"That was the scariest part of the trip," he said. "But, we made it. And we had some dry clothing and socks. You just have to keep going, try to make smart decisions and have a way to get out of whatever situation you get into."

Having grown up hearing about that first trip, Vebjorn said he is a bit nervous heading out on this expedition.

"But I think a little bit different from my dad and together we came up with a good game plan for solving any problems that come up," he said.

"He has lots of things that I don't have," Ketil agreed. "Like if something breaks down on the snowmachine, he has much more technical skills than I do. We are learning from each other. We are working well as a team and having a great time together."

One of Ketil's motivations for bringing his oldest son along this time is to give Vebjorn a chance to learn more about his Inupiaq heritage, through traveling to the other villages, seeing where his ancestors lived, meeting family who still live there.

The villages have changed a little since that first trip, and so has Ketil's preparation. They'll have GPS this time, though they'll bring a map and compass as backup. They'll have a snowmachine along with the dog team. They'll have some modern gear.

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However, they'll still hunt and gather as they go, and they hope to bring back some meat for the Thanksgiving feast in Kaktovik this fall.

"It was very good to do that trip back then," he said. "It was interesting to see how the old ways of traveling work very well. Now I want to show my son the old ways because I have learned them from his grandfather and now it's my turn to bring some of that knowledge to the next generation."

From Nome, they plan to head to Koyuk, then through Buckland, Kotzebue, Ambler, Anaktuvuk Pass, Deadhorse and, finally, to Kaktovik, the village Ketil found so many years ago and the place his son has always called home.

This story first appeared in The Arctic Sounder and is republished here with permission.

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