(I had to do some heavy post processing on some of these photos which is why they look strange. They were taken in such white flat light that there was no depth to them and the snow just looked like overexposed white blob.)
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Saturday, March 7, 2009
Diggin' Out.......still
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(I had to do some heavy post processing on some of these photos which is why they look strange. They were taken in such white flat light that there was no depth to them and the snow just looked like overexposed white blob.)
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(I had to do some heavy post processing on some of these photos which is why they look strange. They were taken in such white flat light that there was no depth to them and the snow just looked like overexposed white blob.)
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Thursday, March 5, 2009
Conquering Mt. Maureen
We have dubbed this snow drift Mt. Maureen because it sits right behind Maureen's house. It is so tall now it is partway up the second story of the house...20 feet maybe? Uyaana decided that he wanted to play out since the blizzard has calmed down a bit, but it is still blowing snow at 25-37 mph.
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Don't Come Knocking Cause We're CLOSED!
Well when I woke up at 6am to let the dogs out the wind was still howling. When I opened the door the qanichuq (storm shed) was full of snow. I let the dogs do their thing and hurried back inside. Yesterday afternoon, after looking at the weather report, I decided that if it looked like crap this morning I wasn't going to work and the boy wasn't going to school. After the storm last Friday I'm all done trying to get around in blizzards. Six days after the last big blizzard many of the roads in Kotzebue are still only one lane wide canyons carved into the snow drifts. This storm is filling those canyons back in.
So I went back to bed, secure in my decision that we weren't going anywhere. Then the phone starts ringing, first it was a delayed opening for school til 10am. Then they called back and cancelled. I turned on KOTZ Radio to see what other cancellation there were. I thought there would be one or two. I started writing as the announcer read them off, both schools closed, school district closed until further notice, KIC closed, Wells Fargo closed, airlines closed, City office closed, NANA closed, AC Store closed til further notice....I quit writing because I realized that EVERYTHING was closed (except of course essential services such as the water/sewer plant, KEA Ops, PD/FD and the hospital. This rarely happens, even during bad storms most of us still get up and slog our way to work...but after all the storms we have had in the last three weeks I think we are tired of fighting the wind and the snow. Some of these business say they will re-evaluate at 1pm whether or not to open back up. They can re-evaluate all they want, I'm not going anywhere.
So for the majority of Kotzebue, here's your mental health day. Enjoy....that is until you have to tunnel out of your houses again.
I have decided......
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...that if it still looks like this when I wake up in the morning I am going BACK TO BED!!!
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...that if it still looks like this when I wake up in the morning I am going BACK TO BED!!!
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Noatak Village
On Tuesday I took a trip to the village of Noatak, about 55 miles north of Kotzebue. Noatak is located on the Noatak River and has a population of about 489 people.
I flew there on a Frontier Alaska Cessna Caravan. All the villages around Kotzebue are off the road system and are accessible only by boat in the summer, snowmachine in the winter, or airplane. When I first moved to Kotzebue 12 years ago, Noatak still had barge service in the summer for supplies and fuel. Because of the changing channels in the Noatak River, the river is now too shallow. Everything in Noatak is flown in (unless people bring it themselves on a boat or snogo) that includes fuel. In this photo you can see that we are sharing space in the plane with some fresh produce packed in those boxes.
In this photo you can see what Alaskans like to fix their planes with....duct tape!
As you can see, the weather was pretty yucky so there was not much of a view. The mountain below is Mt. Memelak. You can see photos of this mountain that I took on better days here and here.
Like all villages, Noatak is a mixture of old cabins....
...and more modern type houses. If you are wondering what the antennas on the houses are they are for VHF radios. Most people have phones but EVERYONE has a VHF radio and they are used just as much, if not more, as phones are for communication.
These houses here were built within the last couple years I think.
Noatak has a brand new school. It opened at the beginning of this school year and is attended by approximately 171 students in grades K-12.
The new school is beautiful and is a huge improvement over the run down, inefficient old school.
While I was at the school some kids wanted to show me that there were some caribou out behind the gym.
Noatak has a new clinic too. The old one was small and old. The new one has updated equipment and is easier to keep clean. Each of the 11 villages surrounding Kotzebue is hooked to the Maniilaq Health Center by using Telemedicine. You can read a good article about this system here.
After I was done doing what I had to do it was time to head back to Kotzebue. This flight was Kotz-Noatak-Kivalina-Kotz, so we headed out in a Piper Navaho.
Kivalina is at the tip of an 8-mile barrier island located between the Chukchi Sea and Kivalina lagoon. It lies 80 air miles northwest of Kotzebue. It has a population of approximately 398 people. I took this photo as we were flying over. The visability was poor and the window was dirty so I sharpend the photo up a bit so it would be easier to see.
This villae has a severe Erosion problem that threatens it's existance.
There is not much room on the barrier island. As you can see their cemetery is located right next to the runway.
I have landed a few times in Kivalina but I have never had the oppertunity to get off and have a look around. Maybe someday.
After picking up and dropping off stuff we headed back to Kotzebue.
I flew there on a Frontier Alaska Cessna Caravan. All the villages around Kotzebue are off the road system and are accessible only by boat in the summer, snowmachine in the winter, or airplane. When I first moved to Kotzebue 12 years ago, Noatak still had barge service in the summer for supplies and fuel. Because of the changing channels in the Noatak River, the river is now too shallow. Everything in Noatak is flown in (unless people bring it themselves on a boat or snogo) that includes fuel. In this photo you can see that we are sharing space in the plane with some fresh produce packed in those boxes.
In this photo you can see what Alaskans like to fix their planes with....duct tape!
As you can see, the weather was pretty yucky so there was not much of a view. The mountain below is Mt. Memelak. You can see photos of this mountain that I took on better days here and here.
Like all villages, Noatak is a mixture of old cabins....
...and more modern type houses. If you are wondering what the antennas on the houses are they are for VHF radios. Most people have phones but EVERYONE has a VHF radio and they are used just as much, if not more, as phones are for communication.
These houses here were built within the last couple years I think.
Noatak has a brand new school. It opened at the beginning of this school year and is attended by approximately 171 students in grades K-12.
The new school is beautiful and is a huge improvement over the run down, inefficient old school.
While I was at the school some kids wanted to show me that there were some caribou out behind the gym.
Noatak has a new clinic too. The old one was small and old. The new one has updated equipment and is easier to keep clean. Each of the 11 villages surrounding Kotzebue is hooked to the Maniilaq Health Center by using Telemedicine. You can read a good article about this system here.
After I was done doing what I had to do it was time to head back to Kotzebue. This flight was Kotz-Noatak-Kivalina-Kotz, so we headed out in a Piper Navaho.
Kivalina is at the tip of an 8-mile barrier island located between the Chukchi Sea and Kivalina lagoon. It lies 80 air miles northwest of Kotzebue. It has a population of approximately 398 people. I took this photo as we were flying over. The visability was poor and the window was dirty so I sharpend the photo up a bit so it would be easier to see.
This villae has a severe Erosion problem that threatens it's existance.
There is not much room on the barrier island. As you can see their cemetery is located right next to the runway.
I have landed a few times in Kivalina but I have never had the oppertunity to get off and have a look around. Maybe someday.
After picking up and dropping off stuff we headed back to Kotzebue.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Heading Out.....again
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Tomorrow I am going to attempt to go to the village of Noatak for the day. I will be flying in on the morning flight and out on the afternoon flight...weather permitting. I may or may not get stuck there for who knows how many days...but that's ok. Noatak is one of my favorite villages and some of my favorite people live there so I will be fed and have a roof over my head and good company if the weather turns ugly.
This has just been a crappy three weeks for traveling. Yesterday was cold but the sun was shining. I was sitting outside in my truck while the engine warmed up and I could actually feel some heat from the sun coming in through the back window.
Today there was more blowing snow. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
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Tomorrow I am going to attempt to go to the village of Noatak for the day. I will be flying in on the morning flight and out on the afternoon flight...weather permitting. I may or may not get stuck there for who knows how many days...but that's ok. Noatak is one of my favorite villages and some of my favorite people live there so I will be fed and have a roof over my head and good company if the weather turns ugly.
This has just been a crappy three weeks for traveling. Yesterday was cold but the sun was shining. I was sitting outside in my truck while the engine warmed up and I could actually feel some heat from the sun coming in through the back window.
Today there was more blowing snow. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
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Sunday, March 1, 2009
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