"Break up"

The Alakanuk Slough, about a ten-second walk from my house.

"Freeze-up" and "Break-up" have been added to my vocabulary since I moved to Alakanuk.

Freeze-up and Break-up are major events. Freeze-up refers to the time that the Yukon River starts to turn itself into a very needed highway. This started happening around October. I loved walking to the dock and hearing the shattering tinkle of the ice below my feet on the shore, while the boats returned from hunting Mukluks (bearded seal) and other types of seal. The boats charged through floating ice, revving their engines if they got caught. In my class, the students would imitate their dads "brapping" the engine to toss the bow of the boat into the air to come down and smack the ice with the sharp aluminum edge.

During Freeze-up or Break-up, there are a few times that are almost impossible to cross the slough or river. Some people live on the other side, causing them to skip a few days of school or work since people can't boat or use a Ski-doo.

As the weather warms, the beautifully colored rocks are exposed as the snow melts. Swan, geese, and cranes soar into the area filling the air with their unique calls. People continue to push the limits on their semi-amphibious Ski-doos as they strive for good hunting and manaqing (there have been a lot of "Ci" fish downriver by Nunam Iqua).

Some say the river becomes unstable for awhile, but then it drains and the couple feet of ice rises and riding becomes safe again. I'll be honest and admit my snowmachine has sat in the same spot by my doghouse for a couple weeks now. I would go out on it, but not unless I had someone to follow who knew where it was safe to go.

As of this morning, Russian Mission's ice floated away and they have a free flowing river again. I have been curious to see how long ours will last. Some people think it will be many weeks, but I predict it will go just a day or two after we leave. However, I am the furthest away from an expert because I have no past experience and the only insight I have are the past dates of Alakanuk break-ups.

Here is a website you can follow the river reports. National Weather Service, Alaska
For more details of predictions and average break-up dates, click "Breakup Outlook" then "Breakup Summary."
However, I watched as they updated from 8am this morning to 3pm and they don't have Russian Mission reported as "open" yet, so stay tuned.

As mentioned before, snowmachines tend
to be used until the latest possible moment.

I'd like to dub this the Alakanuk Park-n-Ride. Right outside my house near the slough, it has been common practice to park snowmachines and then either walk or hop on a Honda. (By the way, many of you have already picked up on the fact that all snowmachines are called "Ski-doos" and all four-wheelers are called "Hondas" regardless of the make due to its popularity. Many students laugh if another student asks for a "tissue" instead of a "Kleenex" which I have let them know it is technically more correct to use the word "tissue.")

Briar lets out some energy by the airport.
Floating styrofoam and cardboard in some frothy film.
The snow has unveiled much trash similar to
this in many areas we walk. In a student's words,
"The flood will bring away the trash, so it's okay!"