To Meet a Mountain

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I've only got a couple weeks left in Denali, but lately I've been feeling much more spontaneous than usual. Yesterday this newly rediscovered spontaneity took me thousands of feet into the air to finally meet up with the mountain I have been working under for the last several months. 

I called the air taxi company in the morning, intent on asking about flights for the next day, but instead they said they had a spot open on the noon flight and to be there in an hour. I threw together a quick lunch and snacks, grabbed all the camera gear I could stuff in my backpack, and made it down to the bus stop just in time. 

Village of White Mountain

Tuesday morning I found myself seated in the front of a bush plane, cruising due east under a high cloud ceiling, my flat hat sitting primly on my lap. I watched the landscape under me morph from light rolling tundra to the hunter green of dense coniferous forests. I was headed to the Native Village of White Mountain to give a Junior Ranger program to the local youth.

First forest I've seen in months!

We landed on a dirt airstrip at the top of a hill overlooking the gorgeous, colorful village. An older man in a rickety red pickup truck with mosquito screens for windows picked us up and somehow all 5 of us from the flight crowded into the cab.

One man who had come in on our flight asked the pressing question: "So where IS the 'White Mountain'?" The driver laughed. "It's not actually a mountain. It's that dirt hill over there. It reflects white when the sun hits it the right way. That's how the village got it's name." In fact, the dirt hill to which he was referring was even smaller than the hill with the landing strip, and looked about as mundane as you can get. He dropped us off at the Tribal Hall, where we were to give our program.

As it turned out, the village had no received our advertisements in time, and so word had not been spread that we were coming. Everyone was very friendly though, and began calling whoever they knew with kids and telling them to come to the Tribal Hall. Although we planned to start at 1:30pm, we were told that most kids would still be sleeping (Alaskan children have strange sleep schedules in the summer).

Nonetheless, eventually a few children filtered in, just 9 in all -- much fewer than the usual 30-45 we get for village programs.

Our topic for the day was the Ice Age, a program we've been developing over the last few weeks among our staff. It's a huge challenge to teach a topic like that to children ranging in age from 3-15, most of whom have never even heard of it, or have the same concept of time and history as they might have been taught in the lower-48.

We focused on Ice Age wildlife though, and after some indoor activities, we came outside into the mosquito-laden sunlight for some active outdoor games.

Playing Ice Age twister in the schoolyard

Making fossil crafts

Overall the program went well and the kids seemed to enjoy it, despite having such a small crowd. It was interesting talking to some of them and seeing what a strong influence the Fish River has on their lives. In the summer, they spend all their time with their families out fishing, hunting, or swimming. There looked to be more boats than 4-wheelers, and pretty much no cars at all in the village.

Afterwards, we had about an hour to kill before our plane arrived again, so we took the time to explore the forested village.

Tribal hall

View of town from Tribal Hall, and the Fish River

Main street through town

The Fish River

Inside the Native Store (the only store in town)

Dilapidated building

Cute little church

Fish drying

I found White Mountain to be at least as friendly as Shishmaref. Everyone seemed so happy and welcoming (perhaps also because they might have thought we were State Troopers or cops, as many people do!).

View from top of White Mountain

We found our way to the village's namesake and climbed up. I could clearly see why the town was named for it -- not only did it have abundant white rocks, but you could see all of the land for miles around from its low peak.

View from opposite direction of the village

Yours truly, on top of White Mountain

I don't like to pick favorites, but I have to say that White Mountain definitely won me over. Maybe I'm just tree-deprived, or was swayed by the warm sunlight that we've been lacking in Nome, but this village left a lasting impression on me. It felt like more like the imagined "Alaska" that everyone thinks of when they conceptualize the rural parts of the state, so it was fascinating to see and experience.

Alaska video montage

I've only been home a week and a half, but already Alaska seems almost as distant in memory as it is in miles. I'll be totally honest, as great as it was to experience a "real" Alaska winter in one of the harshest environments on earth, it feels damn good to be able to just walk out my door barefoot now that I'm back in Florida. No more spending 10 minutes to put on enough layers to step outside. I've even started to get a tan again (currently in the form of sunburn, but hey).

It wasn't quite as hard to adjust to living in "civilization" again as I thought it would be. It's nice to see affordable prices in the stores once more, and have more choices in products. The harder part has been getting used to living at home after being on my own for so long. I miss that freedom already, but I keep telling myself it's only temporary. Because I know it is. Hopefully within the next month I'll be on my way to a new job, whatever it may be (fingers crossed that it will be in Alaska again).

I hate this period of limbo where I have no idea what I'm doing with my life. But in between job-searching and car-searching and freaking out about the future, I've managed to finish putting together my video montages of all 9 months in Alaska. Just watching them over again gives me the travel bug, so maybe it'll inspire you to get out on your own adventures as well. :)  Enjoy.

Shishmaref

This week I spent 2 days in Shishmaref, the village I visited last November just before Thanksgiving. The purpose of my trip was essentially the same: to talk to local youth about Serpentine Hot Springs and get their perspectives on the area, but this time the experience was far more successful and fulfilling.

On my way there, I was once again the only one on the flight. There was a seat open in the back, but the rest of the plane was packed with cargo -- boxes of milk, orange juice, canned goods, and produce. The pilot asked if I wanted to ride copilot instead: Heck yes!! He even ran inside and got me a headset, and we spent the entire flight talking cameras and aviation. He was pretty excited I had a GoPro and a good Nikon.  

Trying out the GoPro

Off and away!

Off to Shishmaref for a couple days tomorrow! High of -5 for the week, lows in the -30s. Bring it on!

A day in a village

The sky is just beginning to get light as I walk into the terminal for Bering Air to check in for my morning flight to the village of Deering. I'm only going for the day, to help out a park ranger from the region and speak to the high school class, but as always, I'm prepared as best I can for the unexpected. My pack is stuffed with classroom materials, extra warm clothes, my camera, a few survival essentials, and a satellite phone for emergencies. It seems a strange combination of things to pack, but necessary, I suppose. 

It turns out I'm the only one on the flight besides the pilot, so we walk out together across the windy tarmac to the little 9-seater Navajo charter plane and I settle in for the 45 minute ride. 

Sunrise from the morning flight

Week in Serpentine, part 2

Wednesday was by far our worst day, in terms of weather. We all awoke in the morning to wind rattling the entire building and rain pounding at the poorly insulated windows. When I decided to brave a trip up the hill to the outhouse, it felt like being on a boat in a small storm, the whole structure rocking back and forth and a cold draft coming up through the hole, bringing with it all the wonderful aromas an outhouse has to offer. Lovely experience.

Week at Serpentine, part 1

Monday morning I found myself once again traveling the long, dusty dirt road to Quartz Creek, the airstrip where we were to meet our bush plane to be dropped off at Serpentine Hot Springs in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. Also known as Iyat in Inupiaq (meaning "cooking pot"), Serpentine is one of the most visited areas of the preserve, as it has an old bunkhouse and bathhouse pumped in with water from the hot spring, and has for centuries been known as a place of healing and spiritual energy. 

First night in the backcountry

Made it back from my first two-day-one-night stay in the backcountry. Headed out again tomorrow morning so I will attempt to be brief with the highlights from my 530 photos I took. 

Travel limbo

Today has been both exhausting and disappointing. And it's only 3 o'clock.

Obviously, since I'm writing this, I'm not out in the field like I was supposed to be. Everything started out as planned this morning -- we were out of the bunkhouse by 6am, on the road, and heading 80 miles into the fog to a landing strip about 30 miles from the preserve.

Into the Unknown

Super stylish flight suit

I don't even know where to start! Tomorrow at an ungodly hour of the morning, I'm taking my first trip into the Alaskan backcountry for the work assignment I've mentioned before to the village of Wales and Ikpek Lagoon.

Preparations swung into full gear today when our NPS media specialists arrived from Utah. We had a long meeting to go over flight procedures, gear allocation, filming and photography shoots in the village, and pretty much every logistical detail you can imagine.

Overflight trip

Yesterday was our long-awaited overflight tour of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, and this time it went off without a hitch. 

Our ride was a Cessna 208 Caravan, which just fit out 8 staff members, plus the pilot and copilot. I was seated in the front left, directly behind the pilot. 

Our excited crew

Take off was smooth and the ascent to our 500 ft altitude was thrilling. With a huge window all to myself, I felt like I was just hanging in the air, bobbing over bumps in the air turbulence and leaning into the tight banking maneuvers around mountains and hills.

Banking out towards Salmon Lake

The mountains

Grizzly bears

Our first exciting find was a pair of grizzly bears -- the first bears I've ever seen! -- galomping across the tundra. The pilot did three tight turns over them so we could get photos, but unfortunately mine didn't come out well, as I was battling the churning of my stomach and the shakiness of the plane.

After that, my stomach turned for the worse and after the flight I found out that pretty much did everyone else in as well. At the time though, I assumed I was the only one feeling sick, so I toughed it out in silence. Fortunately, the scenery was spectacular enough to keep me distracted.

Kuzitrin River

 The Kuzitrin River was fascinating -- strange curves and oxbows formed serpentine patterns through the tundra, some parts of the river not even connected. Amazing geology and hydrology going on there.

Kuzitrin River bend

Lava fields

Our next landmark was the Imuruk lava fields. The black once-molten rock stretched for miles, as far as the eye could see.

Our wing, perpendicular to the ground

 Above is the main lava dome, from where most of the lava in the field came out.

Serpentine Bunkhouse 

 This is where I'll be staying starting on Monday. It has its own landing strip, and a bathhouse where the hot water from the spring is pumped. I'll be helping with maintenance and hiking to get photos of the preserve.

 The rock formations around Serpentine are called "tors" and are made from volcanic activity underground. It somehow pushes up the rocks in this area.

Plane wreck on a hillside

BELA is also known for its maar lakes. We have the largest maars in the world, which are formed from lava  underground coming in contact with the permafrost layer and creating a violent explosion.

A moose

Along the bank of one of the lakes was a moose! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a good picture of this guy either, but it was cool to see.

Research camp on Devil Mountain Lakes

Devil Mountain Lakes, THE largest maars in the world

 From the maar lakes, we headed to the coast of the Chuckchi Sea. This was a long stretch of very interesting wetland formations, small native villages, and we even got to see the Russian island of Big Diomede through the incoming fog.

Unfortunately we were running behind schedule so we had to cut out our last flyover and head back to Nome through the mountains.

Heading into the mountains

More mountains

Glacial valley

By the time we landed, everyone was quite queasy, but I think we all enjoyed the trip immensely -- I know I certainly did! I feel like I understand the preserve a lot better now, and can't wait to explore it more in-depth this summer.

Fortunately, I will starting this week so I'll be totally out of touch after tomorrow for about a week and a half.  I'll try to post at least one more update before I leave, and then lots more when I get back.

Aviation training

Over the last two days at work I feel like I've significantly increased in my preparedness for life in the Alaskan wild -- although I am still undoubtedly oblivious to the many things that can and will go wrong. Nonetheless, B3 Aviation was probably one of the most interesting courses I have ever taken.