Date night on the Delta

Eric is a bush pilot in Western Alaska. Bush planes are the life line to the villages. This is how villagers receive everything from mail to food. That trip, Eric's plane was full of soda pop. No diet pop to my dismay! Bush planes also carry villagers to and from places. That is one of the only ways villagers can get where they need to go. Remember, there are no roads here, and there are very few cars in the villages. Most villagers get around by 4 wheeler, or snowmobile. In the summer time, villagers will travel to and from by boat, since all of the villages are on the river. The Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers are the lifeblood of this area since most villagers live a subsistence lifestyle. That means they hunt, fish and gather for food. It is really quite amazing.

I enjoying flying around with Eric. It's a great way to see the vastness of this area. It is also a great way to meet interesting people. On this trip, I met a woman who drove her snowmachine from Marshall (where we are) to Bethel. They traveled the 150 mile journey during the winter and temperatures dipped down to 30 below zero. She also said they know this area so well, that they don't use a GPS. The journey took almost 12 hours. She said it was a bit cold, but not too bad. I am amazed at how tough the people are here. You have to be, or you will not survive.

Bush flying is not for the faint at heart. It can be very dangerous and the weather can change in an instant. Eric only has me fly on nice weather days, so that I will continue flying with him.

Winter Flying

Here is what the YK delta looks like in the winter. I went flying with Eric as he made his rounds delivering mail, food, and passengers around the delta. The date was February 16, and the weather was pretty mild. I believe it was around zero to 10 below, but with no wind, that feels pretty balmy during that time of the year.

Eric dropped off over 1,500 pounds of soda pop to the village of Kongiginak. The entire plane was full of soda. The town was excited since they were out.... The most popular soda flavors are Pepsi, Orange Crush, and Mountain Dew. Since there is no running water in most of the villages, children and adults go crazy for soda. So how do people get water you ask? Well, most villages have a "washeteria" which holds washing machines, and it also has a water tank for people to bring buckets to fill. A lot of people just gather rain water in garbage buckets and use as needed. Many go to the ponds for their water.

As you can see, the runways are very short, and gravel (or snow covered for the winter). Some runways have lights, and some do not. The runways are not maintained, so Eric must be very careful when he lands. A few weeks ago he was flying, and since it is "spring" here, everything has turned to mud. Eric got stuck in the mud, so he told his passengers to get out of the plane and push it out of the mud. You just can't get this experiences in the lower 48!

Another thing Eric and I did that day was fly a girl's basketball team from one village to another. Since there are no roads out here, planes are the "cars". In order for teams to play against each other, they must be flown from one place to the next. To me it is pretty crazy!

Since it is so cold here in the winter, Eric must cover the prop every time he lands in a village. Even if he only stops for 15-20 minutes to unload his plane, he must put blankets on the prop, or it will freeze, and that is a very bad thing. At the end of each night, the plane must be plugged in so the engine doesn't freeze, and wing covers must put on. Eric said when it's 50 below, and blowing like crazy, it is very painful to stand out there to put the plane away for the night.

K-300

The winner of the 2007 K-300 Martin Bouser.

Karen with the sled dogs.

Eric at the start/finish line of the K-300.

Here is our truck parked on the frozen river. This is the "highway" between villages.

This is a fish camp. Families spend most of their summer gathering salmon for the winter.

Eric and I waiting for mushers to pass by.

Janna and I checking mushers in at the K-300.

This year the K-300 started on January 19, 2007. Hundreds of people gathered on the river to watch the mushers take off. Mushers traveled 300 miles - taking them to Aniak and back. Last year the race was postponed for a few weeks because temperatures dipped down to 60-70 below zero! Yeah, that was cold.....

This year was much more mild at 10 below zero with light winds. I walked down to the river, then carefully navigated my way on to the ice. It was a bit slippery, but I survived. About 20 teams participated in the race which is a qualifier for the Iditarod. In the world of dog mushing, the Iditarod is the super bowl, so the K-300 draws big names.

Janna, Eric and I decided to volunteer this year - which was a blast. Yes, it was cold, but we had hot chocolate and a warm car to run back to. I kept track of the mushers finishing time, while Janna and Eric tended to the mushers and their dog teams. We were out there for about 4 hours, and saw 5 teams cross the finish line.

What's for lunch?

Our lunch menu - notice the "geese soup"

Ptarmigan (bird) soup. This is a very common food here.

This is a view of the hospital's kitchen.

When the planes don't fly, due to weather (which happens a lot), we run out of food.

Produce in the kitchen's cooler.
It can be a real challenge preparing meals for the hospital patients. During the winter months, the weather can be so bad that planes can't/won't come to Bethel. This can last for days, which results in food shortages. In the summer, we suffer from fires and fog - so again planes sometimes don't come in.

I don't order the food for the kitchen, but I do plan the menus for the inpatients. We must get pretty creative when we are running low on food. The other problem is the quality of the food. It is very difficult to get produce here, and you can see from the picture how poor the quality is.

This hospital serves the YK delta, and the diet is of course very different. People live off what they hunt and gather. The large portion of the diet comes from animal meat - such as seal, walrus, whale, moose, caribou, beaver, muskrat, and muskox. Fish is also very important here. People eat dried fish, and fish strips every day.

I recently wrote the "subsistence food donations" policy for the hospital. What that means is that people can donate certain subsistence foods to be used for hospital inpatient meals. We have received donations of birds, fish, and caribou to be used for meals. The patients really appreciate it, and I am a big believer that foods can be healing. I'm hoping more and more people will donate as we move from season to season.

Bethel Airport

The Bethel terminal

Waiting for luggage in Bethel (Eric has the backpack)

The Bethel Airport
Here are pictures of the Bethel Municipal Airport. The only way in or out of Bethel is on Alaska Airlines, and everybody knows the schedule. Unlike large airports, cars can park right in front of the airport and not get ticketed or towed.

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!