The Brooks Range, the northernmost reach of the Rocky Mountains, extends about 700 miles through remote parts of northern Alaska. The highest point is Mt. Isto at 8,976 feet. The Brooks Range was named after Alfred Hulse Brooks, the chief USGS geologist for Alaska from 1903 to 1924. The range is famous for its annual caribou migrations. Every year nearly half of a million caribou traverse the entirety of the range. In contrast to other Alaskan mountain ranges that receive as much as 500 inches of snow per year, the Brooks only receives about 50 inches of snow per year. In the winter, however, temperatures become extremely cold. The average high temperature in a Brooks Range winter is only - 8 degrees Fahrenheit. |
