NorthBound River Rat: February 2009

OK, so I have had a rather adventurous time already this weekend! I am pasting part of an email I wrote earlier here, so I don't have to write quite so much to explain..... anyway, blizzard season here in Alaska!
I was scheduled to go into Unalakleet (another bush village) yesterday, and got a call about 1:30 in the afternoon saying that due to weather, almost all sites were canceled for travel, and only me and one person from Shaktoolik were going to get in- through Doug, our District pilot. Doug is also the pilot I flew with on my adventure in a cessna back up to Alaska couple of years ago! Doug will fly in just about anything, when nobody else will....he has flown out to get me and other teachers before so we could get home and teach when all airlines were closed and saved me from having to take unpaid leave to wait in an airport!
So, my flight got changed to four hours earlier, so I was rushing to get things done at work, then got a call from the office, saying that Doug was 15 minutes out! I should have known...this is not uncommon when flying with Doug. So I ran home (luckily had woken up early this morning and pre-packed) and threw on my winter gear- but couldn't find my neckwarmer, and thought I only needed my smaller mittens- so threw those on and headed up the door.....my laptop just went into my backpack, as I didn't have time to repack it, but I watched my pack from the snowmachine and it wasn't knocked around on the dogsled, so it was fine. Elim weather wasn't great- the ceiling was really low- and it was snowing, but it was fairly warm yesterday- above zero- and there weren't any major drifts. Doug was already there when I got to the airport, so we took off right away and headed for Unalakleet. I hadn't had time to get my book out for the trip, so just sat and tried to get caught up on some snail mail while I was in there- but had to put it away, as there was just too much turbulence. We circled Shaktoolik a couple times, but weren't able to land- which is not usual for Doug. I also started getting airsick for the first time I can remember, and was starting to regret drinking all that coffee in the morning....which made my stomach more jittery than normal I am sure! I figured it was good for me though- I have not always been the most sympathetic to people's fears of travel....as those who have flown with me can attest to. I am usually the one telling the pilot to take a couple extra dips =)
By the time we got to Unalakleet and were circling around there, I had the barf bag in front of me, and was praying to God to calm my stomach down! I wasn't really scared, as I trust Doug as a pilot and felt safer with him than anyone, but we were hitting some serious turbulence, the sea ice, from what I could see, looked like waves with so much snow blowing on it, though it comforted me to know it was still frozen here, unlike in Elim where the winds blew the ice out. Why did this comfort me? Because I would rather land on solid hard ice if need be, than go into the cold water of the ocean.

The turbulence did get somewhat better and I was able to not throw up somehow. We landed, somehow- as the lights of the runway were not even visible to me until we landed- and then barely... and then we quickly got stuck in a snow drift! I have never had that happen before. I had thoughts of getting out and just walking with my backpack, but on second thought, having a plane just sitting on the runway would be really dangerous if somebody needed to make an emergency landing! Also, with a small bush plane and winds that bad, it could get blown around and damaged. So I tried to be patient and wait and we kept trying to get out, but when it became apparent that wasn't going to work, we called into some mechanics who came out with a truck and tried shoveling us out. It was definitely a full blown blizzard though, and I could only partially even see them at the wing tips, and it was hard to get the drift shoveled out before more blew in. I jumped out of the plane to see if they had another shovel, but quickly realized that my snow gear was not adequate enough!! The wind blowing in my face made it hard to see- and I had no goggles- and my darn scarf I was wearing as I couldn't find my neckwarmer in time definitely wasn't cutting it! I had to jump in the truck after just a few minutes.
"We" then tied the plane up to the truck, and while one guy pushed on each wing of the plane, and with Doug in the cockpit, unable to start the props, we tried to pull it with the truck. This eventually worked, but the guys got turned around in the blizzard and headed the wrong way. Luckily Doug had his navigation equipment and had them turn around. It was very slow moving though, as we couldn't see from one light on the runway to the next, and we almost missed the turn we needed......and then when we could actually see the tower, and the hanger, we got the truck stuck in a huge snow drift! So, I tried helping shoveling, but after a few minutes my face was stinging so bad, I couldn't see and had to hop back in the truck again. I am NEVER traveling without full equipment again- needed or not! I will forever take my snowgoggles on the plane, and I am going to make three more neckwarmers as soon as I get home, so I can always find one! Eventually another truck came to help, and then one of the guys was going to drive me to the school....we made it about 2 blocks before getting stuck in a drift...about knee deep. The trouble with blizzards is that white on white offers NO depth perception! So you never know how deep something is that you are going to go through! Or walk smack into it.

I got tired of waiting in the truck, and saw no point in keeping the heater running for just me, so I turned the truck off and headed into the hanger and told the guy I was going to hoof it. He seemed a little worried about me doing that, but I was confident. By the time I got to the end of the airport hangers though, I was less confident, as visibility was VERY poor, and the drifts frequent and deep. This is maybe a block that I had walked, so I knew that getting to the school- a short walk I have made many times was not going to be so easy. I took a turn more into town, so if I went sideways too much I would hit buildings instead of heading out onto the ocean =) I mistakenly thought the town road would have less drifts. I did hit some drifts that were over waist deep- which seems crazy, as I'm sure the roads had been plowed since morning- being on one of the main streets of town....I had a hard time getting through some- and my hands were continuously up on my cheeks acting as a ruff. I made it to the school finally, but the door was locked, so finally found an open door and stood there quite out of breathe and frozen for awhile....and emptied the snow out of my boots. Nobody was really around, but I was able to call someone and found out where I was supposed to meet in two hours, and where I would be staying....only 2 blocks away, but another adventure nontheless! I made it there though, and found there was no clock, so just sat and read National Geographic for about an hour and a half (my stuff was still on the plane, so I was REALLY grateful to have these around) before heading to the house where I was going for supper. I have to admit, the idea of going back out in the blizzard wasn't too appealing!
After making it about a block, someone I knew stopped me outside their house and asked if I was ok...I must have looked quite a sight trying to walk in that! Actually, I was surprised that she could see me out her window! I made it to the house though, and found that Vanessa's husband had walked all the way from Peace on Earth (the pizza place in Unalakleet) with four pizzas, and 3- 4 packs of pop and even ice cream! He said he had to drag the stuff over some of the drifts, half crawling! Not as many people showed up as were supposed to, so we had tons of pizza left! We sat around for awhile, and one of the teachers said that this was the worst blizzard she had seen in 17 years of being up here! Get a bunch of Alaskan bush teachers together and start talking weather and planes and you hear some pretty good stories though! Actually one of our teachers was recently in a plane accident that crashed into a mountain, and broke her back in 3 places, so she is out for the year....yikes. I am glad I was flying with Doug! That was still the worst flight I have had yet though, in 5 years of being up here and all the flying I have done! I really wish I had taken my camera out of the plane though....towing the plane with a truck would have made for some great shots! Oh well. Apparently at least three sites had school cancellations yesterday- which is also unheard of around here! Unaakleet had had an early out day.
Long story, I know. Anyway, the snow is still blowing like crazy, but the sky will clear up for about 20 minutes at a time. The drifts are up over the playground fence and still make for an intersting time getting around, especially as the wind is still whipping the snow all over- but visibility is much better than yesterday. I have not found myself walking straight into the sides of the drifts so much- as depth perception is a bit better- and I can see where they are more. I am supposed to be here until tomorrow- we will see if I get out! I am glad I brought my parkie to work on here- as I have new motivation to get it finished!

Some pictures from skiing yesterday! Heidi, John and I went to Nex Crick and then followed the ocean ice back. It was a great ski- even though we didn't have a trail the entire way. Some of the drifts on the ice made it a little slower, but it was a great day to get out- and just the right temperature I think! There was still a lot of snow on the trees from last week, which made it really beautiful out. After skiing, we watched Planet Earth videos and I visited with Heidi, while John coached basketball games. I did get the front part of my parkie done yesterday- which was about my only accomplishment- but I had a good day- and I had been wanting to get that done, too. Today I am working on getting caught up on some of my computer stuff- and I realized I hadn't posted anything in quite a long time....I have been having camera problems and usually don't post anything unless I have pictures to make me think about it....and for a more interesting blog! Umm....this is hardly my first camera issue in the last 2 years...digitals and I have a love/hate relationship! I have ordered a new one though- and I am pretty sure this problem wasn't my fault and I can get it fixed with my camera insurance when I get back to the lower 48...perhaps it will be my river camera then, so then I don't have to worry so much about ruining it while on the water! I can't help that the things I like to do make it hard to take care of a camera....=)