Behind the Scenes: Kobuk Valley National Park Superintendent Interview

HAPPY TUESDAY PARK PEOPLE! Today our conversation with Ray McPadden, Kobuk Valley National Park Superintendent is LIVE. I LOVED my conversation with Ray — not only did I learn so much about Kobuk Valley, a park I previously knew almost nothing about, but we also get to talk about his experience in the military, earning a Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars, and a medal for valor during his FOUR combat tours. Ray’s humility and experience is unmatched, and I will cherish this conversation for a long time. Listen NOW on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts 🪩🎉

Keep reading to hear my favorite moment from the interview, a new thing I learned and an interesting fact about Kobuk Valley National Park, all from my interview with Kobuk Valley Superintendent, Ray McPadden!

Favorite Moment from Interview with Ray — Listen here

• 10th Mountain Division: I am still so honored to have chatted with Ray and am in awe of his bravery and service to our country! He was a part of the 10th Mountain Division on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Ray shares the history of the 10th Mountain Division (stemming from WW2 where we had to build up a division to fight in the Alps, due to the US realizing we needed “ski troops”). The first set of folks serving in the 10th Mountain Division were a lot of olympian skiers, which is insane! It was so cool learning more about the history of the 10th Mountain Division and also learning about Ray’s experience serving in this division, fighting in altitudes upwards of 19,000 feet in the Himalayas.

One Thing I Learned Interviewing Ray

• Ranger & Biologist Pilots:  Alaska, given that a lot of the state is not on any highway system, is very dependent on “bush” pilots. Meaning a common way for folks to get around is flying. And that is no different for the national parks in Alaska. Kobuk Valley has a dedicated pilot, which I believe is quite unique in the park system. And in Alaska, in general, they have ranger pilots, meaning they have commission law enforcement officers who can enforce federal regulations and are also qualified pilots. Quite a spectrum in the park service — you could be a law enforcement officer enforcing traffic laws or doing patrol via airplane 🤯. The park also has a biologist who is a qualified pilot and gets around via plane — so cool!

Interesting Fact About Kobuk Valley National Park

• The Onion Portage: The onion portage is a historically significant section in Kobuk Valley where a caribou herd of 500,000 (yes you read that right — a single herd with ½ a million caribou) have crossed for millennia. The herd’s migration traverses the size of California every single year and every year they return to the onion portage, a mile wide section — so crazy. There is a really profound archeological record dating back 11,000-12,000 years of people hunting caribou in this spot! We also talked about how, because of arctic amplification (the idea that the Arctic regions by virtue of the way the earth works are warming three or four times faster than the rest of the world), the migration pattern that has been in place for thousands of years is changing pretty drastically, so not as many caribou are passing through the onion portage as they used to 😞.

Maddie’s Outdoor Obsessions

This week I am highlighting Instagram accounts I’ve come across that I am really digging — they all create fun outdoorsy content that leaves me inspired & itching for an adventure (which candidly, is not that hard to do lol). I am not one to go on rabbit holes, but these accounts have me hooked…

• cambostock: Cam is currently documenting his PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hike. The quality of his content is hard to beat and seeing him document the PCT makes me want to do it, which arguably is crazy because they hike almost a marathon every single day 🤯

  

  His page is looking dreamy!!

• the_adventureaddicts: Zoe and Kelby are an adventure couple who provide a ton of fun camping recipes, gear recommendations and honestly are just fun inspiration for living an adventurous life. They are based out of Tahoe but are always getting off somewhere for an adventure! They have an awesomeeee gear closet that makes any REI fan drool.

• itsxisaabel: I learned of Isabel’s account through Shelby Stanger’s (who you have heard me talk about a lot) podcast, Wild Ideas Worth Living. I would loveee to go on an adventure with Isabel someday! I am in awe of her boldness to go adventuring and backpacking on her own (I think I would go crazy because I need human interaction hah). She even took her dad on a quick backpacking trip which was so awesome, and the pictures/videos she captures are beautiful!!

Love y’all — see you all for our next episode release July 2nd!! (Any guesses on what park we will visit next????)

Maddie

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