Village Hopping

One of the many
sights along the way

Another weekend brought with it another exciting adventure. After school on Friday, Sam and Racquel (our district’s newest guidance counselor) boated up from Newhalen to pick Caitlin, Emily and I up for a trip to our district's northern most village, Port Alsworth. We were looking forward to the trip as none of us had ever boated up there and only a few of us have been to Port Alsworth before. To get there, we had to boat up Six Mile Lake into Lake Clark. There are a many cabins along the way and it was fun to finally see the places that my students so often tell me about. We even made a couple pit stops along the way, just to stop and enjoy the scenery. 

Sunrise by the fire

After making it to Port Alsworth, we were invited to listen to a concert that two members of the band Kutless were preforming. Though I had not listened to them much before, I was aware that Kutless is a very well known, famous even, Christian rock band. I’m not sure how they became connected with Port Alsworth, but members of the band had stopped by last year as well, so they seem to enjoy their Alaskan getaways. It was surreal to be in a small room with less than fifty people, in a rural Alaskan village, listening to them play and hearing of their most recent trip overseas. 

Just some friends from Newhalen,
Nondalton, and Port Alsworth

Once the concert had ended, we met up with a few of our friends who are also teachers in our district. After visiting for a few minutes, we looked outside and simply could not resist the beautiful weather. Our original plan was to spend the night in the school, but we had camping gear with us in case we had to stop on the way home for any reason. We made plans with our friends to meet up the next day and hopped back in the boat to find a place to spend the night. About a mile north of the village, we found a little spot on the shore where we were able to make camp. Before long, we had everything set up and had a fire going to make a late dinner and to help us stay warm. I myself have never been camping before so it was an exciting, yet somewhat nerve wracking experience. I kept fearing that a bear would smell our food and come looking for us, but luckily we never saw one!

The Northern Lights
with my favorite<3

One thing we did see after being out by the fire for a few hours was a show being put on by the Northern Lights. Caitlin, Emily, and I had seen them the night before while we were in Nondalton, but that was nothing compared to this. Aside from our fire, we had no light pollution and therefore we were able to see them brightly and clearly. We watched them dance in the sky until we couldn’t keep our eyes open and then settled in for the night. I had a tough time sleeping soundly because our sleeping quarters were rather crammed, and also due to the fact that every little sound I heard put me on alert. I am used to hearing salmon jump in the water, but hearing that every few minutes led to a restless night. 

So pumped for
my burger and fries!

On Saturday morning, we watched the sun come up while sitting by the fire and then packed up camp to head back to the village. We spent a few hours at school before heading out to “The General” for lunch. This is a seasonal lodge and restaurant, but is no hole in the wall. Walking through the door felt as though we were stepping into a contemporary rustic cafe in Anchorage. We almost didn’t know what to do with ourselves as we looked through local-made art and jewelry that they had for sale; we were then salivating over our choices on the menu. I know it has only been a few weeks since I have been out to eat, but a cheeseburger and fries (that I didn’t have to cook) has never tasted so delicious. 

Tanalian Falls

After eating more than our stomachs could handle, we met up with our friends Abbey and Asha for a hike up to Tanalian Falls. Our eight mile (round trip) hike seemed to fly by as we all caught up along the way. I have wanted to visit the falls for a long time now, and was bummed to have been in my “boot of shame” (pre-surgery) last year when I was in Port Alsworth for the district’s volleyball jamboree. My excitement grew when I could hear the roar of the falls, and my heart skipped a beat when I finally rounded a corner and saw them. Once again, I was amazed by the sight in front of me. After climbing around for a bit, we decided to hike a little bit farther to Kontrashibuna Lake, which proved to be incredibly serene place to stop and rest; it was a spot that I would frequent if I lived in Port Alsworth. 

Kontrashibuna Lake

Once we had made our way back to the school, we were all feeling accomplished and in great spirits. We all would have liked to explore more and visit longer, but we had to make our way back down to Nondalton and Newhalen that afternoon. We had checked the weather and had also spoken with a pilot who had recently flown over the lake, and we were prepared for a bit of a choppy start which would quickly became calm water for the remainder of the trip. However, when we got out on the lake we all knew that it would not be choppy for just a short time. The waves were at least five feet tall and showed no signs of calming down (yes, we were all wearing life jackets). The first forty five minutes of the ride were ones in which I planned my escape route (kicking my shoes off and swimming to shore), should we take on water and need to make it to safety. Sam kept calm and in control though, and we eventually made it to calmer waters. Had we been in real danger and not just in unfavorable conditions, we were close to shore and could have easily pulled over to wait out the worst of it. However, we all just wanted to trudge through and make it home to warm, dry clothes and comfy beds. After the scary patch, my knuckles were white and my whole body tense, but I had also been at the front of the boat where the view is different and you feel every bump more strongly than in the other seats. I was overjoyed when we finally made it back to Nondalton to drop off Caitlin and Emily, and again when we were finally in Newhalen and done with our travels for the day. 

Our path for our weekend adventure

After our incredibly long and eventful 24 hours, I was perfectly fine with spending the rest of the weekend relaxing and being rather lazy. It has been rainy and dreary outside which helped us decide to stay indoors and not go out on adventures. I also needed to rest up as my next two weeks will be filled with long, busy days. I am excited to finally be able to say that I will be the itinerant special education teacher in Pilot Point this year. This role requires me to travel down to PIP once a month to monitor student progress, and I have been anxiously awaiting my trip down to my first Alaskan home! I will be there this week from Thursday until Saturday, and then I will spend the rest of the weekend in King Salmon. Next Monday, all of the 7th-12th graders in the district will fly down to King Salmon and then head to Naknek for this year’s first SOS Meet (more to come on that soon!), and also for the annual Cross Country jamboree. As long as the team doesn’t get weathered in Naknek for two extra days like we did last year, I will be back home next Friday. I am hoping the next two days pass quickly so that I can start my week of traveling, and finally get back down to Pilot Point!