While in Alaska

Our Flight to Anaktuvuk Pass

// June 17th, 2009 // 2009: Adventuring

Monday night, Cory and I tried to hop on a tour to the native village of Anaktuvuk Pass. Anaktuvuk Pass can only be reached by flight and lies within the Brooks Range, a little over 100 miles north of Coldfoot. We were told that there would be room on the tour so George drove us on over to the airstrip where we waited for the plane to arrive from Fairbanks with the other guests. On the plane’s landing, the gravel airstrip punctured the plane’s front tire. By that time, it was 8PM and too late to bother repairing it and departing later in the night. We figured we were out of luck.

So Tuesday after an easy 8 hour work day, the shortest in 2 weeks, we caught wind that there may be spots open on the tour to the Arctic Ocean which would depart later that evening. We called the Fairbanks office to inquire vacancy on the tour and we were told that the company doesn’t like to have people “split up” the tour. The van leaves from Fairbanks and comes up to Coldfoot before finishing the final stretch to the Arctic Ocean. In order for it to be possible, we would need to fly to Fairbanks and start from the beginning of the tour. It really doesn’t make much sense and the guide himself said it wouldn’t be a problem but we didn’t want to hassle anyone.

Hours later after being shunned from the Arctic Ocean tour, we heard of another vacant tour to Anaktuvuk Pass. We signed up, along with two other coworkers, Kevin and Louis. This time, it worked out and we would be definitely going. In perfect time, my 2GB Sandisk memory card for my camera arrived less than an hour before leaving to the airstrip. Cory, Kevin, Louis, and I boarded the plane, along with 4 other guests, older folks from Florida. We had been told that the flight is the best part of the trip so I had my camera ready to snap some shots. I’m glad I did because the flight through the Brooks Range, the northernmost mountain range in North America, was simply amazing.

The flight itself took about 30 minutes, flying through miles of land without any form of civilization in sight. In fact, the village we flew to was over a hundred miles from any type of road. We touched down in Anaktuvuk, population 300, and the number of large trucks and buildings fascinated me. Every piece of infrastructure, cars and all had been flown in on large C130 planes.

I didn’t take this picture. Just shows how monstrous these planes are.

The long unpaved runway is large enough to accommodate these planes. In fact, commercial flights land in Anuktukvuk twice a day. A flight into Fairbanks for the villagers is $240 round trip. The village itself is less than 60 years old which was made evident by the number of newer trucks and somewhat modern looking shanty homes. About 80% of the homes have plumbing and electricity. The whole village has internet, telephone lines, and satellite television. I think some of the guests had the impression that this would be a native village in the sense that they were completely sustenance living people. Instead, they flew in seeing modern amenities not to mention bingo night. I expected this ghetto environment just from what other coworkers told me but if I was told I was going to a native village only reachable by air, I would expect something very different.

A villager’s home

These native people own stock in the tribal corporation. They receive dividends from these shares that allow them to live in such a modern fashion. The state also offers them substantial aid. I’m not too familiar with how such things work but all I know is that financially, most of them are doing okay. If anyone knows more about it, please do post some info.

Our tour guide, Harriet, led us through the streets of the 2 mile long village. Eight-wheeled utility vehicles and four-wheelers flew by us as we walked the streets. It seems foolish that people have trucks and cars and the village even has a school bus. Status symbol? The school itself has a pool and a brand new basketball court.

The gym at the school

It looks just like any modern built public school from the inside. The school even once had a football team and currently has a volleyball team. The village flies these athletes to other native villages to play their games. Talk about an expensive boosters club. The teachers, usually non-natives that fly in, stay in Anaktuvuk from August to May. Harriet also led us to see the Church, post office, newly built “senior center,” community center where natives were gathered playing card games and bingo games take place, the washeteria (the equivalent to a laundry mat), police office, fire station, and a variety of tiny convenience stores.

One of the main roads

After about an hour and a half tour, we boarded the plane and flew back to Coldfoot. This time, we took a different route. It mostly all looked the same to me, equally beautiful of course. All in all, I’m really glad that we took the tour. It was very interesting seeing the native way of life and a portion of the Brooks Range from air. These type of tours sell for hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars so I consider myself very fortunate to be able to see these places free of charge.

Today starts our mini 3 day vacation. We don’t really have any huge plans. We will probably clean up the tent a bit, hit up the Coldfoot gym, do some running on the Dalton, and maybe a little hike. Sunday, the camp celebrates summer solstice with a raft trip, barbecue, and bon fire party so we are all looking forward to that! Will post again soon!