Anaktuvuk Pass

I was up and about at 5:15 this morning. I showered, made coffee, and packed. I caught the shuttle to Wright Air at 6:30. I was the first customer through the door. I placed my pack and work gear on the scale. It read 79 pounds. I stepped up on the scale wearing my full winter clothing. 175 pounds. I’m 160 pounds after a good meal. So, I’m packing around about 95 pounds of extras at -40, more or less, in the “virtual dark” of Interior Alaska … again. I’ve done this for awhile. I’m beginning to believe there’s something seriously wrong with me.

I sat at Wright Air for about 1.5 hours watching a few other flyers come through door. A few of the Wright pilots and cargo handlers were in and out talking with the ladies at the front desk. About 8:10 a pilot walks through the lounge and announces “Allakaket”. An Alaska Native man and his wife get up and follow the pilot out the door. I hear the plane start up. Looking at my watch, I’m thinking that they should be “calling” my flight soon. Usually Anaktuvuk (AKP) goes out at around 8:00. Sensing something strange, I grab one of the baggage handlers coming from the plane outside and ask him when the AKP flight is set to go. He tells me that the “already started” plane on the tarmac is going to both Allakaket and Anaktuvuk this morning. They’ve “combined” the flights, but the pilot only announced "Allakaket" on his way out. Smooth move! The cargo handler and I fly out the door and onto the tarmac, and signal the guy to cut his engine. I open the right front door. I climb into the cockpit next to the pilot and he quickly apologizes. Apparently, the gals up front forgot to add my name to the flight manifest. My personal gear was on the plane, but I was not. Most “less experienced” Bush flyers likely would have not had that "weird feeling" that something wasn't right. Those of us that do this for "fun and profit" are mutants.

I slept most of the way to Anaktuvuk. This flight is one of the most beautiful mountain flying experiences in Alaska, during the fall and spring. It’s very dark and boring in the dead of winter. Anaktuvuk is located in a valley between several very high and nasty peaks. You really don’t want a lot of wind when you are landing at AKP. That really adds to the “pucker factor”. Today, descending from 9,000 feet to the valley floor was relatively smooth and visibility was unlimited. Nice conditions.

Anaktuvuk Pass is the home of the last Nunamiut people. The Nunamiuts are Inupiat, but settled in the interior regions rather than the northern coastal areas. In earlier times they subsisted on caribou, moose, bear, freshwater fish, and berries; while their northern relatives were hunting whale and seal. Caribou hunting is still a big part of the culture. Anaktuvuk is roughly translated to mean “area of the caribou droppings”.

Amanda, from the school, picked me up at the airstrip and dropped me at the “itinerant apartment”. I like Anaktuvuk when I’m traveling alone and there are no other visitors. I don’t have to sleep on the floor, and if I’m really lucky, I get to overnight in an apartment with running water, a bed, a TV, and access to wireless internet from the school next door. For those of you unfamiliar with Bush Alaska, the school is the “hub’ of the community. Most schools are open 16 hours a day from breakfast to midnight. The families in each village generally have the “run of the place” so they can use the library, have access to internet, and play basketball in the gym. All important village meetings and activities occur at the school. The village school has become the contemporary version of the “Native Lodge” from the past.

I take five minutes to shed my winter gear at the apartment and head off to work for the day. It’s ten o’clock and still dark. I return to the apartment at 6:00. Dark again. Somehow I missed the few hours of precious semi-daylight. I haven’t eaten all day, so I throw a ramen meal in the microwave and sort through some of my other stuff. I turn on the TV to watch the Channel 2 News Hour from Anchorage. It’s feeling comfortable. My ramen meal tastes pretty good. I throw two packets of “Greens to Go” in my Nalgene bottle and add water…“instant vegetables”, and a “complete meal” with the noodles. My hunger satisfied, I lie down on the sofa, watch the news for a few minutes, and fall asleep. Kind of like snoozing on the beach in Mexico…not!

The photos are of Anaktuvuk with the exception of the bottom one. That pic is leaving Fairbanks in the dark today. The other "flying pic" is arriving in Anaktuvuk this morning. The daylight outdoor photos were taken in October. The indoor photo is of the itinerant quarters and my junk.