Rain. Rain taking off in Kotzebue. Rainy skies when landing in Selawik. Wind and rain traveling to the lower stations. Rain on the way upriver to the cabin. Delightful weather for the next round in Selawik. Gwen and I had an extra traveler this trip as Bill, the new Biologist hired by Fish and Wildlife tagged along. Though he is "new", he's been around the Selawik block plenty and has been working in the field for over a decade. He brought the rainy weather with him. All his fault. Thanks Bill.
Since I have a lot to cover and am behind, this is going to be a greatest hits from the past two Selawik trips. Twice the fun, half the reading, what could be better right?
Lets get back to the rain and cold. I consider myself to be battle hardened from my past few months in Alaska but I was COLD this trip. Wet and cold constantly. Even with the gumbie suits, the rain stung my exposed face like needles and soaked through my twenty layers of clothing. At one point, Bill was shaking so badly that he could barely hold a sample bottle. Take home message, Alaska can spank you anytime with weather and it put me back in my place. Reminding me of the softy I truly still am. Sorry I doubted you Alaska.
To give you an idea how high the water was this week, the dock to the left typically extends about 25 feet past where the water mark is. Also, water height is usually two feet below the dock's deck. Many communities along the Selawik and Kobuk Rivers were under flood warning. The rains would not relent however as following the storm, a low pressure system was waiting for its turn to swell the rivers further.
Gwen and I were happy to be back in Kotzebue following the wet and rainy Selewik trip. Bill did treat us to pizza, my first time eating out in months, so his bringing of rain was forgiven.
The next week was spent in Kotzebue catching up on work, sample processing, data analysis, and preparation for our marathon month of field work in August. I did have time to squeeze some walks in and spent time down on the rocky coast of Kotzebue and walking the circle road outside of town. A nice break from the typical schedule.
Gwen and I arrived back in Selawik under much better weather. As proof Bill brought the rain, he and the Fish and Wildlife staff went on a float trip and were rained on the whole week. No Bill equals no rain. Sorry Bill.
Sonny has been letting me drive the boat more often and now basically pulls the boat up to the dock, picks us up and then moves promptly to the passenger side of the boat with his coffee in hand. No napping though. He constantly scans the banks and eroded areas for Mammoth tusks exposed by the high water and cut bank areas. Finding a good piece can garner anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars so it's worth his time. Unfortunately, no tusks this time.
We did get another treat, tundra at dusk. Since the summer solstice, darkness has been gaining nearly 15 minutes per day.
This photo was taken around two in the morning from the little deck behind the cabin. Now, imagine this going on for about three hours and you have the Alaska nights this time of year. Not too bad if you ask me, in fact spectacular. Perpetual sunset.
Berry season is in full swimng along the Selawik, with blueberries and crowberries being the major berries around the cabin. I managed to squeeze in some berry picking time and meant to pick into a bag full, but somehow the berries went from the bush, to my hand, to my mouth instead of the bucket. Oops. To the left is a handful of crowberries before I shoved them into my mouth.
Now into August, only two more Selawik trips remain for Gwen and I. But, I managed to pull a fast one on Bob and get him thinking I do good work so he's keeping me around till October. Got ya Bob.
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