Bush Alaska Photos (circa 'o6)

Here are pictures from my first trip to rural Alaska - most are from around Nunapitchuk, a few are from Kasigluk-Akula, and only a couple are from Bethel. As always, click for larger.

First - SNOW MACHINES!

^ This is a dogsled I got to use. It was awesome.

She caught over a dozen fish while ice fishing
on the tundra - I got frostbite on my leg.

I also froze my eyebrows while ice fishing.

This is what the tundra looks like out away
from the village.

This isn't tundra - it's Nunapitchuk's airport.
A landing strip.

Snow drifts outside a building in Nunap.
Buildings are on stilts to keep them from
thawing the permafrost beneath them and
causing them to sink.

Dog houses connected to the main house to
keep them warm. Most dog houses aren't.

This is Nunap's power plant. Kasigluk's is similar,
but, surprisingly, has brand new wind turbines
as part of the power station.

An elder at Nunapitchuk teaching how to make
a traditional black fish trap. I made the cone of one!

"Fresh Produce" section of Kasigluk's grocery store.
Even when stocked, the fruits cost up to 10 times what
they do in the lower 48.

Kasigluk-Akula from the bush-plane flight back
to Bethel. this is pretty much the altitude we stay at.

A mountain range on the jet flight back to
Anchorage from Bethel.