A crisp and chilly weekend

The temperatures this weekend hovered around -20 degrees. Today was about -22 with a windchill down to -42. Yesterday we went out for a snowmachine ride. Our faithful friend Tom joined us for a planned trip down to Napakiak, a hike and then a snowmachine back to Bethel. We figured with the windchill of going 30 mph on the snowmachine, our temp was about -52 or so. I did think my fingers and toes might fall off and we will have more gear for next time (fancy grip warmers, bunny boots, etc.). Thanks, Mom and Dad for the new mittens (they were nice and warm except for when we were flying through the air). Unfortunately, Tom's snowmachine is less than reliable and ended up dying about 2 miles out of Napakiak. After replacing the spark plulgs, we tried going to the Napakiak store and getting some oil, but apparently that wasn't the problem either. So, Tom's snowmachine spent yet another cold and lonely night on the tundra. Amazingly, it was still there this morning when our other friend Josh helped him rescue it. Today's trip was cancelled secondary to being just a bit too cold.

The sticks mark ice fishing holes. If you look closely, you can see a bunch in the background. Sometimes people just stand and ice-fish with a line and a stick, and sometimes they have an entire net set out under the ice. Shee fish, pike, and some kind of white fish are the preferred catch.