Summer Flying

Eric is removing his tie down straps on his plane.

Eric inspecting his plane.

Eric going through his pre-flight.

Food and supplies that need to go to the villages.

Eric loading food and supplies in his plane.

The supplies are loaded in Eric's 207

Aerial view of Atmautluak, Alaska

Gettin' ready to land in Chefornak. That brown line in the distance is the "runway", and the village is on the right.

People flocking to Eric's plane to pick up mail, food, etc.

Eric unloading his supplies. Everyone comes out when the plane arrive.

This woman waits for the planes every day. She saw me taking pictures, and posed for me. Eric learned that she is mentally disabled, and years ago her parents were killed in a small plane accident. This woman is waiting for them to come home......

Village of Kasigluk

Western Alaska in the summer

Berry Picking

Eric berry picking on the tundra

Blueberries on the tundra

Eric enjoying a nice day of berry picking

Karen and her bucket of blueberries

A rainbow in Bethel

Eric and I went berry picking on the tundra. Berries are an important part of the Native diet. These berries are used to make agutak or "Eskimo ice cream." This concoction is made of berries, crisco, sugar, and sometimes white fish. We use the berries for pancakes or for cereal.
The tundra is very spongy and wet, so we must wear boots which are called break up boots. Basically they are just rain boots. It had just rained, so the mosquitoes were not too bad. That's the other problem in the summer.... Lots of bugs!