Ice

I'm two days back from Noatak but getting ready to go to Noorvik on Monday.  No rest for the weary!  I'm actually excited to get past this next week.  Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying this job, but it's just been so busy the past couple of months that I'm ready for a break.  I won't have any village school visits on the calendar until after Christmas.  I'm looking forward to spending some time watching winter roll in here (don't know if roll is really the correct verb -- it was doing some howling on Wednesday).

There's ice all along the beach and out over the shallow sandbars.  The lagoon is frozen over.  The temperature has been hanging in the high 20s.  I'm enjoying the cold.  So far my 4-wheeler is still running, but at some point soon I'll just roll it in the conex for the winter and pull on my boots.  I just got a pair of NPS uniform quilted bib overalls this week.  I tried them on and felt like the Michelin man!

It was pretty amazing flying over rivers, wetlands and ocean that were freezing over.  In Noatak there was a frozen pool left over after the river level went down.  I could see about 4 inches of ice, but I could also see some fish swimming below it, pretty cool.  It was thick enough to walk on, but I realized it makes me nervous to try.  I did stand right on the edge and take a picture of my feet on the ice the promptly hopped back on the sand! 

Here's a close-up of ice crystals growing on the grass.  Pretty neat, huh?  I might have some more pictures to share tomorrow.  Some ice and some wrestling.  This weekend is the famous Bush Brawl, a district-wide wrestling tournament.  Wrestling is the major sport around here!  They'll also raffle off a snowmobile, and I bought $10 worth of tickets.  Think I'll get lucky?