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Director’s Report: December 2009 & January 2010:

Introduction:

Although there were many regular duties during December such as attending the BIA Provider’s Conference, building our 2010 budgets, and putting together our annual newsletter, perhaps the biggest news was our ability to travel from Bethel to Napaimute by truck for the first time in several years – and earlier in the winter than usual. The Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race coming to Napaimute was exciting too! Combine both and it’s been a very unique winter so far.

Trucking:

As of this report, we have had a truck trail Upriver for 5 weeks and are keeping our fingers crossed that it will hold up longer.

The ability to have a truck trail between Napaimute & Bethel opens up all kinds of opportunities:

• It is easier and cheaper to travel between Napaimute and communities downstream, especially Bethel.

• Freight can be transported easier & cheaper. For example: our briquette maker & grinder have been sitting in Bethel since last summer due to barge transportation problems. We were able to move it ourselves by truck and recover the expense from the granting agency.

• Homesteaders can move freight for developing their home sites easier, cheaper, and in bigger quantities.

• Additional firewood can be back hauled down the River for sale to Lower River customers. We have filled several orders already.

Truck travel to Napaimute is possible this winter due to two big warm spells we had in December. Temperatures into the 40’s combined with strong easterly/southerly winds melted down the snowpack and wore down the rough ice from freeze up. The run off from the melting snow further helped to fill in and smooth out the River ice. Cold temps before and after the warm spells thickened the orginal River ice, making it safe for the potential truck travel.

On December 8th, the Director, in his role as team leader for Bethel Search & Rescue, flew the River with the Alaska State Troopers doing a survey of River conditions. During this flight we observed that conditions looked good for truck travel in the Middle Kuskokwim. Over the next week ice thicknesses were checked for safety.

On December 14th we made the first truck trip up the River with Napaimute freight. The road has been open ever since with a great deal of daily vehicle traffic between the Lower & Middle Kuskokwim communities. The truck trail is marked from Bethel all the way the 160 miles to Napaimute for the first time in recent history.

Mushing:

With an established truck road to Napaimute, we began hoping that it would still be there for the 31st running of the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race (K300) in mid January. The K300 was coming to Napaimute for the first time.

On the other hand, conditions that make the River good for truck travel are not good for dog mushing: glare ice and lack of snow. For a time, there was some consideration towards deleting the part of the Race Trail between Aniak and Napaimute to lessen the strain on the dogs.

A short snow storm on January 4th improved conditions dramatically in the Middle River for dog mushing but didn’t drop enough snow to impede truck travel. The Kusko 300 was still on to Napaimute!

On January 10th, we held meeting with local Napaimute people to plan what needed to be done to prepare for this event and who was going to do it.

By the 12th the preliminary crew was working at marking the truck trail & the race trail (2 separate trails) to Napaimute. Others trickled in over the next few days to help.

On January 15th at 6:30 PM, in brutally windy (up to 40 mph) cold conditions, 13 mushers left Bethel headed for the half-way point at Napaimute. Chill factors in the Lower River were pushing minus 60 with blowing sand, snow, and mostly glare ice.

With each hour the mushers were pushing closer toward Napaimute. People continued to arrive to help & watch the Race. At one time, the Director counted 15 trucks at our village. There were vehicles from Bethel, Kalskag, Aniak, & Chuathbaluk. If it hadn’t been so cold down below, there would have been more.

Anticipation in Napaimute was building as all the preparations were made. The VHF radio was alive with reports of mushers leaving Aniak, passing Chuathbaluk, Jim Smith’s & Geerdtsville. Some of us went down by Borowski’s to watch for the first musher.

At 5:17 PM, about 23 hours after leaving Bethel, Lance Mackey, one of the best dog mushers in Alaska signed into the Napaimute check point among a cheering crowd of spectators.

He later commented at the awards banquet: “I never saw a group of people so excited to see a dog team!”

The remaining 11 mushers (one dropped out in Kalskag from frostbitten eyeballs) trickled into Napaimute throughout the night. Most signed in and kept on going, but two stayed. The last one left about 6:30 Sunday morning.

The first running of the K300 to Napaimute was a lot of work, but a lot of fun for everyone involved. Many people contributed to this part of the Race. We were a true community working together and everyone learned a lot. Throughout the Race we talked about different ways to improve “our” part of the K300 in the future. We sincerely hope that the race continues to come to our community.

It was so good to see so much activity in Napaimute in the middle of January!

Napaimute K300 Volunteers - Thanks!

This is a list of people & organizations that contributed to the K300 in Napaimute:

Trail Crew (race trail, truck trail, & check point safety):

NAPSAR (Napaimute Search & Rescue):
George Lee, Jr. (trail boss)
Bruce Waskey
Eric Morgan Jr.
Brandon Leary
Eric Hoffman
Megan Leary
Ben Leary
Steven Boney
John Hastie


Bull Cooks:

Shelly Leary
Marcie Sherer


Checkers:

Megan Leary
Jacob Wise
Brianna Sherer


Donations & General Support (food, supplies, money, & advice)

Mike & LeAnn Salzbrun
Bob & Dit Hoffman
Bea Kristovich
Marcie Sherer
Shelly Leary
Brandon Leary
Anita Geerdts
Delores & Joe Matter
Donlin Creek, LLC
Frontier Alaska (Hageland Aviation)
Crowley Petroleum Services
The Native Village of Napaimute
Napaimute Enterprises, LLC
Jim Smith
Eric Morgan, Sr.
Ray Peterson
Gloria Simeon
Alaska State Troopers – Aniak Post

In Closing:

Now the excitement is over, it’s time to come back to earth and return to focusing on our goals for Napaimute for the New Year.

Thanks to everyone who’s helped make this first half of the winter a great one!