Filson in the Field: Searching for Muskox in the Alaskan Arctic

As a company founded on equipping folks headed into the frozen desolation of the Klondike goldfields in 1897, we knew that we needed to do something that was a bit off the beaten path. With this in mind, we decided to head to the western edge of Alaska, above the Arctic Circle to tell the tale of the remarkable rebirth of an animal that was hunted to extinction in North America over a century ago, the musk ox.

Joining the Filson team on the trip was Kiliii Yüyan, a remarkable photographer with an infectious spirit and a ready smile. Known for cutting through the chaff and discovering the soul of the landscape, creature, or person he shoots, he was the perfect individual for the project.

Flying into Kotzebue, the land below was swathed in ice and snow. The boundary between land and sea was impossible to discern. Sea ice, its yearly arrival celebrated by the city’s residents, stretched out toward the horizon. Soon all were swaddled in jackets, boots, gloves, facemasks, and other layers for the three-hour snowmachine trip. Heading out over the frozen Kotzebue Sound, the sleds headed north up the iced-over Noatak River forty miles inland where the musk ox had been seen.

For four days, the team ventured forth from a basecamp established by Arctic Wild, the expedition leader. Tucked into a small ravine at the base of a pile of hills where the musk ox was thought to be present, the sizeable main cook tent was where routes were plotted, plans made, and stories swapped each night. The temperatures routinely hovered between -15 and -30 degrees, and a spring blizzard blew in, dropping almost a foot of fresh snow and reducing visibility to near nil. Yet, that did nothing to stop the group from heading out. Discomfort is the norm this far north.

Following the lead of guide Seth Kantner, an Alaska native who has spent untold hours with the musk oxen, each day would see the snowmachines climbing to treeline, searching for the unmistakable black dots of the creatures in the distance, high above. Reintroduced to Alaska almost a century ago, musk oxen have spread across its wild terrain. A prehistoric creature wreathed in long hair that can withstand extreme cold, they keep their movements to a minimum to conserve energy. Subsisting on grasses, lichens, and other strata that are kept uncovered by blowing wind, they are found in high areas where the weather can be brutal. Shooting them required an almost unnatural resistance to the cold. Yüyan stated that “it was pretty brutal at times, and I had to keep being reminded to smear snot on my exposed skin so it wouldn’t freeze, but I had to endure the elements and be there to shoot these beautiful creatures. I had the right gear, and going back to the tent was the farthest thing from my mind.”