WEAVER FAMILY: Serpentine Hot Springs - remote airstrip all to ourselves

June 28 (Serpentine Hot Springs)

We had a long nights sleep last night – went to bed by about 8:30 and Roger didn’t wake up until 6 am, and me 6:30. I guess we were tired! Spent part of the morning again planning the trip for today, showering and packing up again to leave. A taxi picked us up and took us to town, to the Heritage Center, which had a lot of displays about Native Americans – how they hunt for whales, make traditional clothing, etc. We also checked out the grocery store across the road which was amazingly well stocked – fresh produce and pretty much anything you wanted. Also they have a very nice library. For such a small, out of the way village, we were surprised.

Roger kept checking weather – it can change very quickly along the coast. We took off about noon and headed west down the coast. The weather turned out to be beautiful after we got away from the low clouds by the coast. Roger wanted to stop at some remote villages along the west coast of Alaska, but right along the coast it was completely socked in with a wall of fog/clouds and we could not get into any of the airstrips. This was the most remote part of our journey and we were hundreds of miles away from any roads, but were over tundra for most of the trip. Roger was hoping to have the beach to use for emergency landings, but the coastline was foggy, although a few miles away we had good visibility even though the ceilings were low. When we got down toward higher terrain it opened up more and we could get a bit higher. We got to within one mile of one airstrip and had good visibility, but the airstrip was completely socked in. There was a wall that we could fly up to, but could not get into.

It was about a five hour flight to Kotzebue where we were headed, and about four hours into it, I really needed a bathroom, so we landed at an airstrip at a small village right along the coast. People came out to meet our plane, and a man on a four wheeler, with his two nieces, talked to us and we asked him where a bathroom was. He took us on his four-wheeler to the clinic where there was one. We asked him if there was anywhere we could look at local crafts, or there would be any to buy (such tourists we are!) and he took us to the store there where he thought there might be some. The stuff they had was WAY too overpriced for our liking, so we didn’t get anything. Then he took us to a man in the village that also makes things and he also had some very pricey things for sale that we didn’t get either. He was kind of a wheeler/dealer kind of guy and we weren’t sure exactly what to believe about what he was trying to sell. He had Mammoth tusks and other items (they do have those things up there), but who knows if his were. He told us how he helped some squirrels 10 years ago and then he found these squirrel tracks that took him right to this Mammoth artifact. He explained how they believe the animals talk to them like that. He probably told his family that night about the silly white people and how they think he actually believes that stuff J. Who knows? Anyway he was an interesting person to talk to.

We then took off and landed in Kotzebue which is on an island not far off the coast. Met some very nice people there and they told us where a good restaurant was in town, and also about this place where you can fly in and stay at hot springs. There is a lodge type place to stay, and hot springs. The only way to get in is to fly. So, we decided to go there for the night instead of Nome where we were originally headed. The only problem is that the air strip is only 1000 feet, which is REALLY short for this airplane with all the weight we are carrying. We flew in alright, and then after unloading me and the luggage, Roger took the plane back up to see how it was to take off, and decided that we really cannot leave here with me & the luggage at the same time. So we’ll have to take either the luggage out first to another airstrip about 20 miles from here, and then come back & get me, or take me first, then the luggage. And of course, all this will use up precious fuel, so he may have to go all the way to Nome for fuel before he can come back for the second load!

So, in spite of this being a beautiful place, and the springs are wonderful to relax and sit in, we should not have come here! L It’s good we’re not on a tight schedule. This is a great place, but the mosquitoes are absolutely HORRID!! Never in my life have I seen so many – they just swarm. Thankfully the lodge is pretty air tight and we’re not feeling them inside, except for an occasional one. This place has a pretty well stocked kitchen as far as pots & pans, etc, and lanterns, a stove for heating in the winter, cots with mattresses, first aid kit, etc. Also there is a paper on the wall saying that bears have broken into the cabin a couple of times and to please not let food here. We just hope they don’t decide to break into it while we’re here! It was stocked incredibly well – I guess people just leave things for others to use. Complete set of tools, lanterns, 5 cooks stoves with gas etc. It was amazing. I can’t believe things don’t disappear, but apparently this system has worked for many years and people just bring things there for everybody to use. It is also part of a national or state park system, but they only come around once a year to clean it we were told. There were some interesting rock formations and a separate building to sit in the hot springs. There was nobody else around so we could make full use of the hot springs even though we didn’t have swimming suits. JOLENE