Paddling near Anaktuvuk Pass, AK

Anaktuvuk Pass sits at a 2,100-foot mountain pass in the central Brooks Range, within Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, straddling the divide between the Anaktuvuk and John Rivers. The area is the starting point for the John River, a 135-mile arctic river run south through the Endicott Mountains to Bettles — one of Alaska's most accessible remote river trips, reachable by scheduled flights rather than expensive bush charters.