Logbook: Transition from Barrow to Wainwright - surf, elder and dogs, fresh caribou; a dog named Nanuq

I took LOTS of pictures in Barrow and had some good experiences, too, yet hardly blogged a thing. But I have a plan. Today, it was time to leave Barrow and head to Wainwright. When I boarded the plane, I got tucked in right next to the Pepsi.

It's possible I might drink one of these Pepsi's, but I can't say for sure.

I was tired and wanted to take a good nap on the plane, but Wainwright is only about 100 miles from Barrow, or 20 minutes in this plane, so I didn't even bother to try. That's the Chukchi down there.

And here's the Chukchi from Wainwright. The surf was beautiful today. Temperature, upper 20's - a bit cooler than it has been but still warm for this time of year.  

I spent most of the afternoon interviewing 80 year-old Rossman Peetook. I plan to interview him again tomorrow and Friday, too - plus a few other people. Among the things he talked about was how he used to hunt and travel by dogteam. He loved his dogs, but when snowmachines appeared, he was excited to get his first one. He liked it, too, but, there were so many things his dogs could do that a snowmachine could not, like when he would hunt caribou the dogs would smell them, lift their noses into the air, sniff, and point the way.

Snowmachines don't do that.

He still keeps three dogs, including this Greenlandic husky and the Siberian in the background. He got the chain they are tethered to from the wreckage of an old sailing whaling ship which he told me the ship went down in 1898.

I am staying in the home of Margaret Ahmaogak, better known as Maak, eldest daughter of the late Ben and Florence Ahmaogak, who took me into their crew in 1995 and by the end of the season had informally adopted me. As I walked back, eager to eat the caribou soup Maak had been preparing when I had left to go see Rossman, I came upon her neighbor, Ransom Agnassaga, who was taking care of a caribou he had shot a bit earlier.

I could not photograph the soup, because my camera was too cold and would have fogged up, so I ladled out a bowl, enjoyed it, then served myself a second bowl and enjoyed it, too.

The door just opened and Larae brought in a lemon pie. I will enjoy it, too. 

I have been eating too much this whole trip. Maak says she can tell I lost weight from my surgery. I haven't stepped on a scale in weeks, but I think I have put most of those 33 pounds back on.

Maak's dog, Nanuq (Polar Bear).

Comments

[debby]

The pictures on your blog that I love the very best are the ones that show ordinary people going about their lives in a such an extraordinary (to MY eyes, anyway) place.

[Mrs Gunka]

Will Margie know you when you walk in the door? Sounds like you have been well fed. Hope the tummy is feeling better each and every day. What beautiful dogs. Lot of nice caribou meet for the winter table there. Our hunting days are over now, but we always had plenty every year. The kids preferred it to beef. I liked Moose the best. He was lucky to get 3 draws. My favorite is antelope. Imagine caribou is a lot like deer. Do they taste sagey up there? Better in Iowa where they were corn fed. Had some bear once...tough and greasy. I don't care for goose either...too greasy. Turkey is as tough as jerky! We can buy buffalo in the stores now, but very pricey. He brought back some wonderful Halibut from Alaska. Haven't cared for store frozen since then!!! Do love Walleye from Canada. Would pickle the northern in gallon jugs and it dissolved those pesky Y-bones. Lots of onions too! Just doesn't seem like Fall anymore with out filling the freezer. Enjoy it while you can Bill. Stay healthy!

[Gr K]

Thanks for all the great photos in October. Been traveling a bit myself and just catching up. Love the views of the Chukchi, in sunlight or silver light, and the great people. So glad to see I can't have to give up Diet Pepsi if I ever get to Barrow, one of my dad's favorite destinations. Just kidding. What a world! Not kidding about the destination part. My dad was not known for his graciousness to us 7 kids. He might ask you what the he-- he was supposed to do with another pen or whatever you gave him for a birthday present. The day (in the 1960's) I discovered a yearly subscription to Alaska magazine could be had for the princely sum of $6.00 all that changed--until my sister intercepted the renewal notice and hijacked my going to be a perpetual gift plan. Love great photos of great places and the great people who take them!

[Jeff]

Hey Bill, ask Rossman if he remembers the Life magazine guy who came to Wainwright in 1981. I recall his courtesy. I was traveling with a photographer named Harald Sund, from Seattle, and we were doing a story about Arctic ice. Well, the idea was to go out walrus hunting with a crew but the ice was blown offshore and we waited around for 3 days before I had to leave. Aside from Rossman, and the young guy (you remember) who later committed suicide, I recall, on the positive side, the strange and wonderful experience of helping the AK state trooper bury a dead dog in the half-frozen industrial soil near the police station at about midnite. A weak and powerful light came off the ocean, as in your photos.