Trip Journal: Martin and Kim visit Mentasta

6-7 December 2004

Whenever we are in the vicinity of Delta Junction we always wonder if this will be the occasion that we see a bison. Our record remains unblemished – we didn’t see one today, 6 December 2004, either, as we drove through bison country on our way to Mentasta to visit Mentasta Lake Katie John School.

It doesn’t matter where and when we are on the highway we always hope to see moose. That didn’t occur today either, but we actually did much better - about 25 miles west of Tok we saw two caribou, a female and calf. They stood nonchalantly in the middle of the road for perhaps 30 seconds before deciding that the ditch might be a better place to be. As they rushed for the ditch we realised that caribou have a very peculiar gait – next time you come across a running caribou, take a look at the motion of its legs and backside and you’ll see what we mean.

While we have never seen a bison in the vicinity of Delta Junction, we do know we can buy a decent cup of coffee and a doughnut at the former Diehl’s store. No matter what the season or our destination, we invariably stop at there to refuel. The stimulation is a big help when you have to drive those endless miles of straight, monotonous Alaska Highway between Delta Junction and the Johnston River. Apart from the brief excitement of seeing caribou for the first time in 2-3 years, the trip to Mentasta was uneventful. There were the always-to-be-expected-in-winter strong winds by the Tanana River at Salcha, at Delta Junction and here and there between Delta and Tok, but otherwise the weather was good (if you like -30 or so degrees Celsius and no precipitation) and the road was clear with only very occasional icy spots that required a little extra care. And midway between Tok and Mentasta the sun shone briefly.

Out on Mentasta Lake on Monday afternoon, the air temperature was –24°C with a light and variable wind. The ALISON study site was put in the same place as last year beyond the point and Benny Funk’s cabin. Benny is a village elder who has been advising Barb Dalke (school principal and ALISON participant) on the condition of the ice and when it would be safe to work on. It is certainly safe now – we measured 0.39 m ice thickness with ~0.12 m of snow.

It wasn’t much warmer on the ice at noon on Tuesday 7 December when we went out with four young women (Andrea, Dakota, Lorna & Renee) for a training session. At –20.4°C with a moderate breeze it was a little brisk but not uncomfortable. Training session over, the students all piled on one snowmachine and made it back to school for lunch. We walked and worked up an appetite for our lunch.
After lunch we met again with the students, reviewed what we had done out on the ice and completed a final task – weighing the snow samples and recording their mass. And then our visit to Mentasta Lake Katie John School was over. We left pleased that we had succeeded in setting up another ALISON study site and meeting another good group of students.

Barb tends the chickens which are kept in the schools garage/shop room.