Caribou Time

Looks like it is caribou time on the lower Noatak River.




There are lots of caribou moving around between Hugo Mountain and the lower canyon.




There bears are out and moving around eating whatever is available. They are in a big hurry to fatten up for the winter.




I think that the land along the river is the most beautiful this time of year.




It is getting colder and starting to frost at night. The frost starts to change the color of the tundra to rich reds and rusts.




There were brief periods of rain here and there...




... but mostly the weather was beautiful, clean and crisp. Fall is my favorite time of year.




And the caribou were plentiful, running up the bluffs...




...running along the river...




...or calmly munching as they went along their way.

Wordless Wednesday- Falltime on the Tundra

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Sharks and Minnows

Here are the elementery kids playing sharks and minnows during cross country practice....

Busy Busy

I have a friend visiting from upstate NY and we have been busy. We have been cutting and putting away fish and meat all day today. I didn't take any pictures today because my hand were too messy. Hopefully we will be heading out in the country tomorrow and will take some pics out there. Til then you all can look at this picture of a rose I took while I was in Portland earlier this month.

Rebroadcast of Clean Water Debate

TODAY- at 5:30pm KOTZ Radio here in Kotzebue will be rebroadcasting the debate that was held on wedneday on the upcoming state ballot measures on mining regulations and clean water here in Alaska. This is a really big issue for all Alaskans regardless of what side you are on.


Present at the debate were representitives from Alaskans For Clean Water , Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown , and Teck Cominco

The radio station tried hard to keep the discussion civil but despite their best efforts there was quite a bit of arguing going on....some of it quite snarky.

Once again, you can listen to a rebroadcast of the debate on the upcoming ballot measure 4, today, at 5:30pm, on Kotz radio. You can listen LIVE online HERE.

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Saqaugiin Creek

Here's some more pics that should have been posted a long time ago. They are of Uyaana and the dogs playing in Saqaugiin Creek behind the Iten's.

Yuk!

I've never been one to complain about the quality of the drinking water in Kotzebue. As a matter of fact Kotzebue's water taste great in comparisons to water I have drank in a lot of other municipal water systems.....BUT........is it just me or has the water really been tasting like tundra pond for the last week or two?

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Alaska Clean Water Debate- *TODAY!*

TODAY- Wednesday August 20th at 10am KOTZ Radio here in Kotzebue will be hosting a debate on the upcoming state ballot measures on mining regulations and clean water here in Alaska. This is a really big issue for all Alaskans regardless of what side you are on. I hear that there will be representatives from Alaskans For Clean Water , Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown , and Teck Cominco There will be an opportunity for people to call in live and voice their concerns an opinions.

Once again, there will be a debate on the upcoming ballot measure 4, at 10am Wednesday August 20th on Kotz radio. You can listen LIVE online HERE.

Wordless Wednesday- Tundra Blueberries

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Cutting Fish

Yesterday, right after work I headed down to my friend, LaVonne Hendricks fish camp. Her camp is located on Kotzebue Sound about 6 miles south of Kotzebue. LaVonne worked 14 years as a public health nurse in Alaska serving many rural villages around Nome and Kotzebue. LaVonne started fishing and camping on the Kotzebue beach in 1973 as a way to be outside during the summer, to get away from the office and as a break from her public health nursing work. LaVonne lives in Anchorage but after 25 years she still comes up to her fish camp every summer to fish and spend time with friends old and new.

For many years LaVonne has also hosted sessions for Elderhostel. You can read an old article about it in the New York Times
This year LaVonne hosted an Elderhostel session for Grandparents and grandchildren. She has plans to do the same next year.

Another thing LaVonne has been doing for a few years now is donating filleted salmon to Jensen Arctic Museum located at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon. Every year they have a salmon bake as a fundraiser for the museum. LaVonne will set net and a group of locals volunteer to help cut Salmon and package 300 lbs of salmon to be shipped down for the fundraiser....which brings me to the following pictures.




We didn't get a lot of fish in the net yesterday, but the catch was remarkable because not only did we get about 12 salmon, but there were also 11 Arctic Char (a kind of trout) in the net. It is not unusual to catch char but you don't usually catch that many at once while fishing for salmon. Here is Clara holding up one of the big ones.





Here is Clara cutting a salmon with an ulu, a traditional Inupiaq woman's knife. I learned how to cut fish with an ulu, and I'm quite pro at it now. If I try to fillet with a knife it's not a pretty sight.





We cut the fillets with the tail still attached so we can hang them up to dry an hour or two to make vacuuming packing less messy.





Here is my friend Kathy. She is gabbing away at someone outside of the picture while she cuts. We go to LaVonne's more for the gab than the fish.





This is another one of the arctic char. This is a smaller one than the fish in the other picture.





Here is the cache where we hang the fish til we are ready to package them.





More of Clara and her ulu.





Kathy and her ulu.






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