The Delta has Mountains!

Several weeks ago, Erin and I drove up river to the village of Aniak. From Bethel to Aniak is about 250 miles round trip. That is by far the farthest and longest I have driven my Jeep on the Kuskokwim, ever. The trip will probably forever hold that title. This winter has been cold with a very early freeze up of the river. Many people have been talking about how great the river road conditions were this year, and it is true. From Bethel there is a well-plowed, two-lane road that a construction company maintains for their own vehicles, which continues about 20 miles up river. After that, for as far as you can possibly drive up river, the road becomes a set of two tracks, depending on weather conditions. Still, the ice has been in excellent condition and is about as perfect for driving as ice can be.

(Map of route and villages)

My co-workers and neighbors, Carrie and Paul Longpre, invited me to help them move some of their belongings to Aniak. They are moving there this summer and wanted to bring their truck along to leave it there. They could have shipped it but that would have been expensive. So instead, I followed Paul in my Jeep to Aniak where he dropped off his truck and then we all rode together back down to Bethel.

(River road from Bethel to Kwethluk)

Erin, Paul, and I set off bright and early in the morning, around 10am. Paul was in the lead since he knew the way and I followed behind. Erin was cranky for a while because she ate breakfast late, but other than that there were really no problems for the rest of the trip. Like I said before, the first 20 miles up river were easy going since the river had been plowed down to the ice, creating a road that was really no bumpier than your average Michigan highway. You could easily do 50 mph on that stretch. Once we reached Kwethluk, however, the road became a two track and stayed that way for the rest of the trip (mostly).

(The Beginning ft. Erin)

When we got past Akiak, the next village up river, we had officially gone further than I’d ever been, whether by vehicle, boat, or snowmachine. From that point to the next village, Tuluksak, the road conditions worsened. The two track became slushy and ill-defined. This was due to the fact that the day we took the trip, as well as previous couple days, the weather was unusually warm and sunny. This melted the little snow we had and made following the two track very difficult at times. If it were not for Paul knowing the way, I’m sure I would have gotten lost had I tried the trip on my own.

(Akiak river bank)

(Car abandoned on river bank outside of Akiak)

(The only road sign on the river, that I know of)

(Sandbar outside Tuluksak)

(Paul Longpre and Erin)


(Me and Erin)

(Conditions of the river road)

From Tuluksak to Kalskag, the road became better due to more snow. This made following the road easier since it was no longer a guessing game as to what path to take. It was also at this time that the mountains became much more noticeable and began to fill the skyline. From Bethel, the mountains to the north seem so distant, which they kind of are. It was nice to finally approach the peaks that, up until that point, I had only viewed from afar. Unfortunately, my camera battery died during this leg of the trip. Therein lies the problem of rechargeable batteries; you can’t just change them out like double AAs.

(Looking north from Tuluksak)

(Sand bluffs below Kalskag)

(Mountains approaching Kalskag)

From Kalskag, the river bent sharply toward the east. This bend marked a major turning point in terrain features. Solid rock became visible from cliffs that lined the river. Below that point, all the way down river to the Bearing Sea there are no cliffs of granite, just cliffs of silt and mud. Real trees, like pines and birch, also replaced the scraggly alders and willows that dominate the lower reaches of the Kuskokwim. I was so excited!!! Trees and rocks! I felt a peace in the more familiar landscape.

(Random houses in Kalskag)

(Kalskag has birch trees, ooo!)

When we arrived in Aniak, we gassed up, even though the trip used only 1/3 tank of gas, and met up with Paul’s son who lived there, Jacque. We ate lunch with Jacque and his wife, and then drove over to Paul’s new house. I’d heard a how pretty the view was from Paul’s wife, Carrie, but I had no idea how right she was. The house has a dream view. It sits about 30 feet above the river on a step embankment and a place to beach a boat at the base. All they need to do is build some step down the bank and it would be perfect. Right across the river is a good-sized mountain, staring down at the house. In the distance are more mountains and you just get this feeling of grandeur from it all. The house is small but very livable. In my opinion, the Paul and Carrie have purchased my dream house. I could easily spend the rest of my life living there. Aniak is like a smaller, cleaner, nicer Bethel. I think my mother would actually approve of the place, unlike her opinion of Bethel.

(On way back from Aniak)

After we unpacked the vehicles and dropped of Paul’s truck, we all piled into my Jeep and made our way back down river to Bethel. This time, my camera battery had gotten a recharge and I was able to take some pictures. Actually, Erin took most of the pictures because I was way to busy driving. While we were in Aniak, the weather warmed up even more and it had rained slightly. This meant that there was literally NO two track to follow any more. Paul and I tried to navigate the best we could but most of the time I just drove over what looked most passable and safest. There was also a lot of water on the river by this time. This water though was mostly melt water from snow. The river was still frozen at least 4 feet thick. There was no chance of falling through but there was the chance of loosing momentum is slush and water. This would inevitably lead to becoming stuck so the best way to drive way fast. I just let my momentum carry me through the rough spots.

This, of course, meant the ride back was pretty rough. I bounced poor Paul and Erin around terribly. I had a blast, having full confidence in my driving abilities. Paul and Erin, on the other hand, just had to trust that I wouldn’t flip the vehicle over. They were both grabbing the “oh-shit” handles often. Paul just kept telling me I was having too much fun. I disagree; I was having just the right amount of fun. It was a riot. Since I sped home, we made excellent timing and completed the round trip journey in only 10 hours, 7.5 of which were actual driving.

(Just outside of Aniak)

The trip was amazing. The scenery was incredible. I got to see a vision of my future abode (hopefully). I couldn’t have asked for a better adventure. I also have bragging rights that I’ve driven to Aniak. There are a lot of people who’ve lived in Bethel for a long time who have never done that.

Next Post: My first trip to Three Step Mountain in search of caribou. Unfortunately, it was 20 below that day and the cold drained my battery, so no pictures from that trip. I’ll have to ride out there again to take some, when it’s not so cold out.

To Tunt and Back

Yesterday I took the longest snowmobile trip since I moved here to Alaska. It was a 120 miles round trip down river to the village on Tuntutuliak and back to Bethel. I was joined by my friends Mike and Alisha. We went there to pick up a friends snowmobile and bring it back. There, I think that sums up the basic info.



I woke up on Sunday morning at 7:30am to begin preparations for this trip. I took some basic survival things, extra clothes, and extra food. Unlike most snowmobiling in the lower 48, snowmobiling on the YK Delta can be dangerous. There is no managed trail system, everything is maintained by the local people. When trailing overland on an “established” trail, you typically follow a line of stick tripods with reflective tape on the tops. In bad weather conditions, these are easy to lose and get yourself turned around. However, when traveling on the river, things can be trickier. Ice conditions change rapidly so what might have been a good trail the previous day is now covered in overflow. There is a road that cars and trucks follow when driving on the river, which is marked by large willow branches stuck in the ice. But on this trip, I was going past the ice road for the first time.


I met up with Mike and Alisha and we hooked the sled to the back of my snowmachine. This was also the first time I got to use the hitch on my machine. We packed it with our gear and extra gas. When filled it was pretty damn heavy but even still, those 120 horses had no problem pulling it around. Mike rode on the back of Alisha's machine since it's a 2-seater and mine isn't. Originally it was going to be just me and Mike. But last minute Alisha got her snowmachine up and running, so she joined us. This was nice since I didn't have to spoon with Mike for 3 hours on a bumpy trail. However, we did worry that perhaps her snowmachine would break down, which would really suck.


Finally we get out on the river. Perhaps I didn't notice it earlier, but when we actually got on the river I noticed that it was very foggy. It wasn't so bad that you couldn't see in front of you, but it was bad enough that you could easily lose sight of the shoreline if the trail went too far toward the middle of the river. At one point, the river road for trucks turned up a tributary of the Kuskokwim river, the Johnson river. We followed the road for a while but then realized we were going the wrong way and quickly turned around and met up with the main trunk of the Kusko.


After the Johnson river, we followed snowmachine tracks that stayed near the shoreline. Basically, we knew that if you followed the western shoreline of the Kusko, there should be a used trail and that we should stick to the trail that looked most used. So we did. It was really cool following, by Michigan standards, a very light trail through the foggy wilderness. In fact, between the Johnson river and Tuntutuliak, on the trail, we didn't see a single other person. Also, did I mention that there was a nice thick layer of Horfrost (fog frost).

Then, abruptly, the trail turned toward the shore and we found ourselves on a land trail. This one was well defined, which means the path has pressed down the tundra significantly, which typically means it's an old trail. We followed the trail, which in turn followed, more or less, stick tripods with reflector tape. The trail went over and used as many lakes, rivers, and streams as possible, because they are always smoother than riding on the tundra. Sometimes the lakes can be very large and they mark the trail with willow branches. Since it was still foggy, we'd be cruising on a huge lake following willow branches and unable to see the shoreline. The whole experience was quite surreal, eerie, and comforting, all at the same time.

Eventually, 3 hours later, we noticed a large building to our left and figured that must be Tuntutuliak. As we approached we noticed that it was the airport so we followed a road back to the village. And by road, I mean raised wooden boardwalk on steel pilings road. We guess-worked our way through the house and finally came upon the school. We called the principle of the school, who met us outside and opened the conex which held our friends snowmachine. Now, if your wondering what a conex is, you are like me and have never heard of this word. One of the most interesting things about living in the Delta is that one of the most useful building structures are barge containers (a conex). They have the huge big rig doors and are sturdily made. People convert them into sheds and storage facilities all the time because they are so damn tough.

We got into the conex and in only 4 or 5 pulls got the machine up and running. It had been well kept and store properly so that was nice to see. It was a Ski Doo 550 Expedition; it was a nice machine and I couldn't believe how tight the turning radius was. My Yamaha turns like a fatty compared to that thing. But before we could leave, I wanted to adjust my track. I spent some time in a friends shop Saturday night adjusting the track and about halfway to Tunt I felt that my track wasn't in the proper alignment. My stock tool kit had all the proper tools but the wrench to loosen the rear axle nut was too short to get the proper leverage needed. Luckily, this little 4th grader, named Jesse, was hanging around telling us how cool our machines were. We asked him to go ask his dad for a longer 19mm wrench. He returned speedily with the right tool and then proceeded to help us lift my snowmachine onto a plank of wood so as to lift the track off the ground. The four of us then ate lunch in the conex to escape the cold and wind. Without the help from our little friend, fixing my track would have been a much longer and painful problem.

As we geared up to leave Tunt, the sun very suddenly burned the fog away. This made the ride back to Bethel feel like an entirely different and new adventure. This time, we got to see everything the fog had previously concealed. The veiled landscape from before was revealed to be one of flat, frost laced beauty. The near nothingness was grand. As always on a trip like this, the ride back feels much shorter than the ride there. I didn't really think about it until the ride back but I travel the whole way to Tunt and back with my visor open. It struck me that our entire ride had been a pretty warm one.

(Turn Volume DOWN/OFF)


That morning we left around 10am and we arrived back in Bethel around 6pm or so. The whole trip was a great experience and we successfully brought back our friends snowmachine. We all learned how to get to Tuntutuliak. I learned how to adjust and tighten my track. I also reached 500 miles on my machine so I'm bringing it in on Wednesday for it's initial service. After that, the engine is pretty well considered broken in. All in all, this was an ending to a very successful and wonderful weekend.

First Time for Everything

I'll start by saying this blog is my third attempt to keep up with this online phenomenon. Thus far I've been pretty unsuccessful. However, I feel that now I finally have a purpose to blog. My plan is to post about both my planned and unplanned adventures. Perhaps for the first time I'll actually keep up with this whole thing.