Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to spend the day at Anaktuvuk Pass. We flew in at about 10ish in the morning and back out at 8ish in the evening. Anaktuvuk Pass is a small community on the North side of the Brooks range. It is currently home to about 300 people, having grown out of the settlement of Nunamiut (interior Inupiat).

At one time, I am told caribou herds used to come through this pass in the thousands. Today the numbers are not so high, and I hear they don’t come quite so conveniently close-by for supper. Still, I’d wager you can get a good bowl of tutu stew in this community.

Anaktuvuk Pass is also the home of Rainey Hopson, whose blog Stop and Smell the Lichen is a favorite of mine. I didn’t get a chance to meet her, but some day… Anyway, if you really want to know what life is like, read Rainey’s blog. She also makes mustards and jams, etc. from local berries and sells them online. …yes, I’m giving her a plug.

Highlights of the trip included a visit to the school, another visit to the museum, and several walks around the community, a camera in my frozen hand.

See how I suffer for you, my dear readers!

Actually, I was rather surprised to find it was only 25 below, because it sure felt worse than that. By this time of year, I should be getting used to that kind of temperature, but we’ve had a rather warm winter thus far in Barrow. It’s just 6 degrees below here at the moment. …getting spoiled!

(If you zoom out one click at a time, it’s kinda neat.)

Heh, …when we first flew in, I was excited because I thought I saw trees, but my colleague quickly corrected me. They were merely bushes.

(Sigh!)

As always, you may click a picture to embiggen it.