Arctic Brotherhood enjoys thrill of manly adventures

A group of Windermere men has adopted the adventurous spirit of the Gold Rush-era fraternal club Arctic Brotherhood and have bonded over 22 experiences that have taken them atop mountains, below ground in caves, through many national parks and to other countries around the globe.

Don Lake is the self-appointed grand poobah of the traveling friends group — after all, he is the one who does all the research and planning for these immersive trips. They have hiked through national parks all across the United States. They have traveled to Patagonia, Iceland and Chili. And they have bonded like the manly men they are every time.

Who are they? Lake calls them FODs — Friends of Don’s — and you must be one to go along on these journeys.

Their bios on the Arctic Brotherhood website are very tongue-in-cheek — and they don’t take themselves too seriously. Why would they? No one else does either.

They have had a good run with close to 20 years of amazing journeys, but all good things must come to an end. They are in their 60s now, and they want to end on a high note — with no serious injuries or deaths.

The final adventure is next August, when the friends will be trekking the remote Brooks Range in the most northern and second-largest national park in Alaska’s Arctic Region.

THE FIRST ADVENTURE

The modern-day Arctic Brotherhood actually started because of Lake’s father’s genealogy work. He discovered Lake’s maternal grandfather was a pioneer stampeder of the Yukon Gold Rush in Dawson City, in the Yukon in northwest Canada. They later moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, where Lake’s mother was born.

A huge depression in 1893 left residents vulnerable and panicking. When, in late 1896, gold was found in the Yukon, folks were scrambling to find their own gold and dig their way out of poverty. His great-grandfather was one of those people.

“I became kind of a historian of the Yukon Gold Rush,” he said.

Once Lake learned of this fascinating family story, he made a vow to go and discover the areas in which his ancestors lived.

“That was like the story and the premise and why we wanted to do it,” he said. “I grabbed my two best friends, Rick Allen … and my college roommate, Dave Farwick. We said, ‘Let’s go do this.’ Again, it took seven years, but in 2005, we put it together and we did this trek.”

The trio traveled to Skagway, Alaska, where the original stampeders landed, and hiked 33 miles over the mountain peak. They stopped at the original Arctic Brotherhood building and snapped a photo — not realizing this was the beginning of the Windermere Arctic Brotherhood and a series of adventures that would take on a life of its own.

“We had the time of our lives; it was so great,” Lake said. “We were not outdoors guys. It was so far out of our element. We got our supplies, met a lot of people. We did this trip and got back and said, ‘Wait a minute, we bought all this gear. We’re not going to be one and done.’ The next year, we went to Glacier National Park.”

‘WE’LL HAVE LITTLE MEETINGS AND PRETEND WE’RE IMPORTANT’

The trio grew as other friends heard about the amazing adventures and wanted in on it.

“I’m like the grand poobah,” Lake said. “We’ll have little meetings and pretend we’re important. We take ourselves so unseriously. None of us are true outdoors people. I like to say, for once a year, we get to pretend that we’re real men. We’re all married with kids. … Once a year, we get to pretend. And then after a week, we get to come back to our soft, cushy lives. … We’re bankers, engineers, we’re office people.”

The brotherhood has adopted its own code by which to live. No. 1 is the group must explore spectacular places.

“We don’t camp just to go camping,” he said. “We do super cool stuff, like Glacier National Park, Yosemite, Iceland … Canada, Patagonia, Chili. It’s got to be badass spectacular, or we won’t do it.”

These annual trips usually take place in the summer, although the men have ventured to warm-weather locales in the winter: Oregon Pipe Cactus National Monument, Zion National Park in Utah or Guadalupe Mountain National Park in Texas.

“We’ve been to Yosemite (and) Smokey Mountains a couple times,” Lake said. “If it’s a major national park, we’ve been there.”

The brothers, as they call each other, trust Lake’s decisions and always know the next trip will be spectacular.

“We haven’t had any bad ones,” he said. “One that was the most spectacular was one that no one had ever heard of — Katmai National Park in Alaska. It’s right off Kodiak Island. … Each one is so unique. … Everyone kind of has their favorites.”

Perhaps the scariest trip was to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, when they arranged a private ranger tour that required a helmet and kneepads.

“They take you places the public won’t go,” Lake said. “Huge drop-offs … it was super cool.”

He also called the experience in Glacier National Park “puckering” and “adrenaline pumping” when they saw grizzly bears.

The coldest trip was a spring excursion to Zion.

“We almost froze to death,” Lake said. “It was not supposed to be that cold.”

Lake was proud to report there haven’t been any serious injuries on all the adventures.

“We’ve had several near ones,” he said. “I fell and thought I broke my arm. But no deaths or dismemberments.”

Lake spends up to a year planning the epic trips. His friends know they are investing in something over-the-top yet humbling — a fantastic experience on a shoestring budget.

“We’re really rugged and spartan when we do this thing,” he said. “We do not stay at nice hotels. We stay in hostels or in the back country; we’re backpacking, everything’s on our backs. What’s fascinating about it … it’s that part of it, the austereness of what we do. When you get in that back country, you’re putting one foot in front of the other to get through it.”

Lake said there are times when each of the participants has struggled, “but it’s not like you can quit,” he said. “We’re three days away from civilization, and you have to continue on. You find this inner strength, and there’s something about this. … You really find yourself when it takes all of your being to keep going.”

Rule No. 4: No complaining.

“We don’t tolerate complaining,” Lake said. “It’s going to be rough, it’s going to be hard, it might be raining. There will be no complaining.”

And at the end of the day, they share fine conversation, fine cigars and fine whiskey.

Group members hike in matching T-shirts and hands out handmade Arctic Brotherhood lapel pins to “honorary members.”

“The young people are fascinated about who we are,” Lake said. “We will gather them over and make them an honorary member and make up this fake ceremony … and pin the pin on them. We’ve given so many of them everywhere.”

Once they return home, they know Lake will make the best compilation video, complete with music to perfectly complement the experience.

FINAL DESTINATION

In August 2025, the FODs are heading into the wild: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

“There are no roads into it, no trails in it,” Lake said. “We have to fly to Fairbanks, then take a small Cesna plane, and then we’ll fly into a native Eskimo village, and we will hike out of there. … It’s above the Arctic Circle. It’s the second largest national park in the U.S. … We figure we’re going to finish this thing with a bang.”

He said the whole Arctic Brotherhood experience has been rewarding.

“My friends are telling me their kids are now wanting to do these trips, and these guys have said it’s changed their lives,” he said.