My friend, Hanna, who is preparing for a solo trek on the Bob Marshall Trail in Montana in just a few weeks

July 6, 2021 - Tuesday morning
59 degrees/clear skies/calm winds
Pentoga Road

I first met Hanna several years ago by the Brule River. She and her husband, Joe, were crossing the bridge when they stopped their pickup truck and rolling down the window, a man said, "Hey, you're that guy who writes the blog!"

It was then and there that new friends were made. From downstate Appleton, Wisconsin, Hanna and Joe own a camp not far from Pentoga Village. 

It wasn't until later that I learned Hanna was a long distance hiker. Since, we've exchanged emails and/or conversations built around our love of backpacking.

Hanna sent an email the other day saying they were going to be at their camp and would there be any time to get together. For a fellow hiker? You bet!

And that we did. Carrying her full pack weighing almost double of what I carry, Hanna and I hiked my usual route, to the Brule River Bridge and back yesterday morning. We talked of everything hiking and in the end, with no small amount of envy, I gave her a hug, bade her goodbye, and watched as she drove down the road.

I'll be anxious to see pictures and hear stories of Hanna's eight day solo expedition through some of Montana's most rugged terrain.

In other news from Pentoga Road, well, there isn't any. With the temperature reaching near 90 and humidity to match, I played the age card and made the conscious decision to remain somewhat inactive on Monday. Well insulated, our home stays fairly cool during the day, so Sargie and I remained mostly inside.

We did take a two hour drive, enjoying the comfort of an air conditioned car, and last night, we fiddled around in the garden and watered the flowers. 

Failing any current activities to write about, I randomly selected a blog entry from January 26, 2011. I have thousands of blog entries of my Alaska days dating back to before the Millennium, of my adventures, trials, and tribulations. I've been sorting through some in preparation of writing the book (a reflection back on Alaska as I hike the Appalachian Trail) and thought you might enjoy this one.

Napaskiak is a Yupik village located along the Kuskokwim River in SW Alaska. It's remote and unfortunately, like many Alaskan villages, has its pitfalls, mostly due to alcohol abuse. Still, children are children and I enjoyed visiting my intern as she navigated her way in world of education.

Napaskiak is the red dot. Note: my home native village was Kotzebue, located far to the north, not shown off the top of the map. My other home, Sitka, is located in Southeast, on the islands far to the south. I covered all the state between the two, including supervising one intern who was located almost to the far end of the Aleutian Islands.

Hope you enjoy the following:

(My apologies for the links below not working. The Anchorage Daily News has changed hands, formats, and even names, several times since the original blog was posted.)

Napaskiak's 3rd graders. Note the little guy, second from the front, with the apple sticker on his upper lip.

January 26, 2011 – Wednesday evening
5:49 PM
Bethel, Alaska

I didn’t write Tuesday night. I was too tired. By the time I crawled into my sleeping bag, neither my fingers or my brain would work. I was sound asleep before 9 PM.

I arrived in Bethel slightly behind schedule, but as it turned out, that was the least of my problems. It seems the bush planes weren’t flying. There was a combination of snow, freezing rain, and a hefty wind interfering with my original plan to get to Napaskiak.

What to do? I ended up talking to an Alaska Air agent in the AK Air terminal for an hour and a half. She was raised in Kiana, Alaska, one of my most favorite villages from years ago. We knew all kinds of people in common and enjoyed chatting, but that didn’t solve my problem.

I was either going to have to find a ride out to the village or try to secure a room in Bethel, something that can be difficult to do this time of the year, especially when all flights are cancelled.

I borrowed the agent’s phone and attempted to call Napaskiak School. The phones weren’t working in the village. Shrugging my shoulders, I walked next door to Yute Air, a very small bush plane terminal, let them know I was ready should the weather improve, and settled in for a wait.

Hmm, Yute had wireless internet? I wheedled the password from a pretty and young Yupik girl and I was soon online.

The weather turned worse. I was almost ready to start calling around the village for an available room when I decided to try the Napaskiak School phone one more time using Skype. This time it rang through.

Classtime in Napaskiak on Wednesday

I got hold of my buddy, Joe, the school secretary, who agreed to come up river and get me. I pay Joe the same as I would a bush pilot, a good deal for him and beneficial to me. I would much rather have the money go to someone in the village than a company.

I dressed for a very cold snowmobile ride, but was delighted when I saw Joe drive up in a fairly new pickup truck. I was taken to Napaskiak in luxury right down the middle of a very frozen Kuskokwim River. Asked how much ice was covering the water, Joe said there was around three or four feet, enough to hold a fleet of tractor/trailers.

We passed several pieces of construction equipment coming and going to various villages while reroute. The villagers take advantage of the frozen waterways to travel fairly cheaply this time of the year. What is a very remote village many miles out of the hub city of Bethel in the summer months soon becomes a town on a fairly busy highway after freeze up. People think nothing of traveling a hundred or more miles and more on the ice to purchase groceries and other needed supplies.

A contrast... a heavy-duty forklift being followed by a snowmobile

A highway on the Kuskokwim River. Tree branches serve as markers to keep travelers who are caught out in blizzards from getting lost.

I found Napaskiak much as I left it in late November. There are so many things that are sad, just really sad. A few in the village were still talking about the boy from Kipnuk who was caught out in a blizzard last week and was found frozen to death. http://community.adn.com/?q=adn/node/155458

We were talking today about a small child who was killed by sled dogs last May in Napaskiak. http://www.adn.com/2010/05/21/1288936/child-killed-after-wandering-into.html.  It’s just a sad place in many ways.

It reminds me of how sad Brother Elmer gets when he talks of, while attending Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, he received a call from Kotzebue saying his baby sister had been mauled and killed by sled dogs. When Elmer tells the story, it still causes him great pain, even after almost sixty years.

My intern is doing wonderfully in the high school. Despite low attendance by many of her students, she hangs right in there and works hard to get the most from her students. At times, it can be a thankless task, yet she hopes she might get a full time job in the village school next year. I’d say her chances are pretty good.

Father Vassilie (Russian Orthodox) and my intern Seraphima. Both priests of the village church are also employed in the school.

I left the village this afternoon with Joe, the secretary, and rode in style back to Bethel. Tonight I’m at the local hotel with plans to be at Bethel High School by 8 in the morning. I’ll be visiting my intern there. Danielle teaches freshman English. This young Yupik woman is a dynamo teacher who is also 8 ½ months pregnant. We’re going to make a roadmap for her to finish this year. She’s got a lot of work ahead in the next 6 months, but she’s capable. 

Naturally, there are blizzard warnings out for Bethel beginning tomorrow afternoon. My plane leaves at 2 so I’m hoping I might sneak out of town before it happens. If not, I’m liable to be here for the next day or two... or possibly a week or two. It happens all the time.

I’m going to try to get this uploaded and settle in for the evening. I am at the Long House Hotel, the nicest place in Bethel, where the rooms are clean, a no alcohol policy is strictly enforced so it's generally quiet, and unfortunately, the internet is very slow and not entirely reliable.

So for tonight, all is well in Bethel, Alaska…

Its the end of the day and SCHOOL'S OUT in Napaskiak!

Back to Pentoga Road:

So there you have it. I should catalog all my writings, boxes of paper and computer disks filled with them, but I doubt that will ever happen. Maybe someday after I'm but a distant memory, a grandchild or great grandchild will take interest. If not, like so many things that seem valuable in our lives, they will simply disappear and fade off into the sunset and that's okay. Life moves on and I've had a good one.

Speaking of moving forward, it's much cooler today. I've got a few miles to put on under my feet before I tackle yet another large ash tree.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...