It has been a pleasant couple of weeks in Kiana. We have finally received some snow! Not as mutch as we have had historically but some snow is better than no snow! It has been snowing for the last two days so hopefully we have a storm coming that will give us another foot or two. It is very interesting to hear my inupiaq neighbors talk about the lack of snow this year. Some the elders claim there has not been a winter with this little snow since 1981. The lack of snow effects everything in this arctic region. Pipes in houses are freezing because the snow typically provides insulation for the pipes against the frigid cold. SnowGo's are breaking down, overheating and "burning up" pistons, bearings and rings. Fourwheelers are being used at extreme temperatures, which they were not designed for, so they are breaking as well. It's amazing to think how important snow is to this way of life. These are not the age old problems of the Inupiaq, these problems are fairly recent. Historically wood stoves to heat, no indoor plumbing, and dog sleds to travel were all used.
Now that we have some snow i was able to get out into the country looking for some wolves. I went with my friend Glenn. Glenn is an ex army ranger and special forces solider who has lived and taught in Kiana for over 20 years. He loves to talk and loves the outdoors. Our plan was to head out on snowmachines and look for wolves or fresh wolf tracks. I was riding a 2010 Yamaha Bravo that looks like it is right out of the 1970's! It has about 2 inches of suspension travel. It is a VERY rough and bonejarring ride on this little machine, but the good news is that it is so light that you won't get stuck because you can just lift it back onto the trail. Glenn was riding his 2010 skidoo v-800max, a much more comfortable ride than what I was on! We started by heading North paralleling the Squirrel river. We were headed to Peter's slough, which is about 8 miles north of the village. On our way there we were traveling across lakes and tundra darting in and out of trees, but traveling at a relatively slow 15 mph because of the capabilities of my machine. The temperature was very mild when we started out about -5, but the wind picked up and the sun started going down and soon we were traveling at -15 with wind chill at -20. We had to stop every 2 miles so i could warm my hands up because my machine didn't have gauntlets or heated handgrips like Glenn's machine. About a mile before the slough we dropped down onto the river to looks for tracks. We saw a few old sets but nothing fresh. Once we arrived at the slough we hopped up onto the tundra to work different draws to see if we could kick a pack out of a draw. After spending about 2 hours on the tundra with no luck we dropped back down onto the river to take it home. About 3 miles from the slough we came across some fresh pack tracks that were chasing caribou. It was awesome to pick out at least 6 different wolves in the pack. One set of tracks stood out from the rest, a fairly large set that Glenn surmised would be the alpha male of this pack. We followed the tracks about a mile up a drainage but it was getting dark and we had to head back. It was a cold cold ride home but instead of stoppinng we just pressed on until we reached home. It was a great adventure! I can't wait until the parts for my snow machine come in and I can be riding a much more comfortable machine!
Thanks for reading my blog and taking interest in my adventures! Hopefully soon you will be reading about a new snowmachine and new adventures out in the country. Take care, God bless.
Now that we have some snow i was able to get out into the country looking for some wolves. I went with my friend Glenn. Glenn is an ex army ranger and special forces solider who has lived and taught in Kiana for over 20 years. He loves to talk and loves the outdoors. Our plan was to head out on snowmachines and look for wolves or fresh wolf tracks. I was riding a 2010 Yamaha Bravo that looks like it is right out of the 1970's! It has about 2 inches of suspension travel. It is a VERY rough and bonejarring ride on this little machine, but the good news is that it is so light that you won't get stuck because you can just lift it back onto the trail. Glenn was riding his 2010 skidoo v-800max, a much more comfortable ride than what I was on! We started by heading North paralleling the Squirrel river. We were headed to Peter's slough, which is about 8 miles north of the village. On our way there we were traveling across lakes and tundra darting in and out of trees, but traveling at a relatively slow 15 mph because of the capabilities of my machine. The temperature was very mild when we started out about -5, but the wind picked up and the sun started going down and soon we were traveling at -15 with wind chill at -20. We had to stop every 2 miles so i could warm my hands up because my machine didn't have gauntlets or heated handgrips like Glenn's machine. About a mile before the slough we dropped down onto the river to looks for tracks. We saw a few old sets but nothing fresh. Once we arrived at the slough we hopped up onto the tundra to work different draws to see if we could kick a pack out of a draw. After spending about 2 hours on the tundra with no luck we dropped back down onto the river to take it home. About 3 miles from the slough we came across some fresh pack tracks that were chasing caribou. It was awesome to pick out at least 6 different wolves in the pack. One set of tracks stood out from the rest, a fairly large set that Glenn surmised would be the alpha male of this pack. We followed the tracks about a mile up a drainage but it was getting dark and we had to head back. It was a cold cold ride home but instead of stoppinng we just pressed on until we reached home. It was a great adventure! I can't wait until the parts for my snow machine come in and I can be riding a much more comfortable machine!
Thanks for reading my blog and taking interest in my adventures! Hopefully soon you will be reading about a new snowmachine and new adventures out in the country. Take care, God bless.
