Through a cold, gray drizzle we landed in Kotzebue this afternoon, about 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. One of the archaeologists, Ian from Oregon, and I met our BLM contact John Erlich at the airport. He drove us to our BLM house and also to the grocery store. Ian almost fell down when he saw the price of groceries. A gallon of milk can cost $13! I bought some potatoes and an onion to pan fry. They were not too expensive.
Here's the sign right next to the airport in Kotzebue, Alaska. This town is about 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. I thought it was a little chilly, but locals were zipping around on 4-wheelers in shorts!
We put on our rain coats and went for a walk, exploring the town. It has about 3,200 people, most of whom are native Alaskans. Despite the drizzle, teens go zipping past on their 4-wheelers on the gravel roads. Men pulled up on shore in 20-foot aluminum boats. We were impressed to come across a softball game! These people are really tough. Most folks in the lower 48 would be inside drinking cocoa on a day like this.
Many of the homes have dog sleds in their yards - ready to use when winter snows fall. There are also snowmobiles and boats in many yards, too. Some houses even have whole teams of sled dogs in the yard. They each have their own little wooden house on stilts and they get very excited when you approach.
Some of the buildings are quite old. You can see the old logs and tar paper used to make them warm inside. But there are also many new buildings such as the hospital. A woman named Ruth who is a nurse invited us inside where we saw a wonderful display of native crafts and tools including several interesting harpoons. The counter is solid jade.
Here is a real whale harpoon which is on display at the hospital in Kotzebue. The nice, new hospital has a great display of local artifacts and crafts.
Kotzebue was named after Otto von Kotzebue who explored the area for Russia in 1818. The peninsula its on has long been used as a meeting site for trading native people, who called it Kikiktagruk or Qikiqtagruk which means "almost an island" in the Inupiat language. Archaeological evidence shows they met here at least as far back as the 1400s.
Despite the cold drizzle, locals in Kotzebue play softball on Saturday night. Note the pitcher is wearing a full rain suit.
We'll be here for a couple days while the last plans are figured out. Then we fly in a Cessna Caravan on to the Red Dog mine. There we'll begin shuttling people and gear out to our remote site at Raven Bluff in the R-44 helicopter.
Here is the protected bay inside the Kotzebue Lagoon where fishermen keep their skiffs on the beach. On the other side of the peninsula or spit is the Chukchi Sea which connects to the Bering Sea.
Ian agreed to swim in the Chukchi Sea with me before we leave. Watch for photos!
Look how green the grass is on Kotzebue's lagoon. Tomorrow we may try to go for a hike out along the ridge in the background.
This little boy gave us a big smile as he tested his rubber boots in a big mud puddle. He was right across the street from the softball game. Other boys ran and played, pulling toy cars on strings.