Arctic Adventures

Middle School Basketball had the district tournament in Kotzebue last weekend. We went there on Thursday and came back on.... Wednesday. We barely squeaked into Kotzebue before the weather went down. School canceled on Friday and so did the games. The whole tournament was played on Saturday. We were supposed to fly home on Sunday, but it was still stormy. The weather partially cleared on Monday, but went down before our flight left. Same song, second verse on Tuesday. On Wednesday we were scheduled to leave 10 am, then I got a call right after we finished packing our things up to, "Get ready, we are sending you out ASAP due to another incoming storm." We made it into Noatak on the same plane that the varsity girls were heading down to Kotzebue on a day ahead of schedule because another storm was scheduled to hit.  After a few days rest we thought it would be a good day to try running the long trapline as a family. We were wrong. The trail had been covered with snow and was...

      After a few days of blizzardly weather Oren and I headed out to check our traps. We were planning on pulling our foothold sets because we didn't know for sure when the next time we would be able to check them. I had morning practice for basketball, so we headed out after school. We didn't get very far. At one point the trail crosses a narrow steep sided creek that can be difficult to cross when the snow piles up, but is usually a non event once the trail has been broken.     As we were going out today I was making the crossing with all the nonchalance that I could muster when I suddenly found myself sliding off the trail and heading for the willows. Still thinking I could regain a solid purchase and throttle up the steep bank I leaned hard to the side and applied throttle. My trail had other plans. As I attempted to regain the trail the hard pack deflected me back off and into the willows just as I was going up the bank. Not going to make it. Thinking...

We had to go to Anchorage for Anya's appointments.  I like to go on airplanes, but we had to stay home because it was too windy.  They don't fly when it's stormy.  We waited for about 60 hours.  It is fun to go to Anchorage.  I love swimming pools.  --Ryker  *Kayla's Note:  There is a pediatric rheumatologist that comes up to Anchorage from Seattle for three days every two months.  Anya was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis this fall and is supposed to see them every two months.  She had a follow-up appointment scheduled, as well as an eye exam with a Pediatric Ophthalmologist.  We planned to leave on Saturday to give us some extra time in the big city.  However, the storm blew in on Saturday, so we rescheduled for Sunday, but the flights canceled on Sunday too!  Finally on Monday when the storm was in full force, we had to cancel the whole trip, as we wouldn't be able to make it down before the doctor left for Sea...

We went to dumps to take trash and saw a fox!  Not just 1.  20!  I've never seen than many foxes together before.  Their glowing eyes were like stars in the dark.  I brought my .22 and shot three times but missed.  Dad used the spotlight to shine on the foxes so I could try to shoot them.  I'll have to try again another time.

We planned to get out for a quick fishing trip after school yesterday.  We haven't been out fishing in quite some time (way too long in Oren's mind!) and the looming storm gave us even more incentive to get out ASAP.  Between Brett getting home from school and needing to get back to school for basketball practice, we only had about an hour on the ice, but it was perfect.  The boys had a chance to pull up a few trout and we all had fun.      Our big helper using the tuuq to chop through an old hole in the ice.  Ryker scooping slush from the hole.  Oren scraping suvaks (salmon eggs) into the hole.  "I got one! I got one!"  "I want my purple fishing pole."   Sorry no purple ones, Princess, but you can use this! "Yes I finally got one.  I got it good too!" Guess what he made for lunch the next day?!    "Say cheese, Fishie."   He's definitely our goofy one! ...

Yesterday was quite warm, but windy.  We were talking about going out for a little hike, but were having some difficulty coming to a decision.  Do we try to go out when it's this windy?  What is the trail going to be like?  Will Anya get to cold?  Brett went out around the corner to check what the wind was like, and I just smiled to myself, for I knew what his decision would be.  He has a philosophy which is basically, "Just go. Get outside, no matter what. Then you'll really appreciate the nice times." Sure enough when he came in he said something like, "Well, it's windy and probably won't be super enjoyable, but we will be in the trees."  That decided it.  We grabbed our parkas and fur hats and took off.  We headed for Brett and Oren's little trapping trail. They've been using it for a while, so there's a good packed down base and we don't need snowshoes to hike it. The weather ended up being perfect.  The trees blocked the wind a...

Been practicing with the camera and editing software. After seeing Troy's pictures from when he was here I thought I should really make a concentrated effort to take some pictures. Even stayed up late to get some northern light pictures.