The Village of Tanana on the Banks of the Yukon

Wright Air Caravan airplane just back from the Yukon Koyukuk area

 

On Monday morning, I flew to the village of Tanana on the Yukon River.  It was rainy and cloudy, but cleared up later in the day.  I mentor new teachers, so even though it was my first visit to Tanana, I didn't get too much time to get out.  Next time, I'll see more I hope. It costs about $210 each way to get there and takes about 1.5 hours to get there on the Caravan.  I could bring 40# without paying for excess baggage.  I had to bring all my bedding, food, clothes for 2 days and all my work supplies.

Shoutout to Bernadette and Mary who warmed the bench at Wright Air with me while we chatted and laughed.  I saw them later in Tanana during the 2 days I was there.

The blue roof in the photo is the school and the building on the far right is the Elder Residence.  I didn't walk around too much for other reasons too.  A grizzly bear had been spotted near the cemetery (where is that?!!)

A stroll down main street with the Yukon River on the right and the buildings on the left.  There are 2 churches in town- Catholic and Episcopalian.

  

The liquor store was closed but I saw a few disappointed potential customers come to the door.  

The long building held the post office (closed for lunch) and a really well stocked store.  The proprietor, Cynthia, was unpacking freight.  She told me her heavy stuff came by barge and the last barge of the season just left.  Everything else comes by plane and she pays 70 cents/pound.  It would be a good place to get weathered in though and they took credit cards too.

  

The school is beautiful and new!  It's fairly obvious that there used to be many more students here because there are empty rooms.  There are about 30 students there now, K-12, evenly split between K-5 and 6-12, with 3 teachers and a principal.  The library in the school is open 3 days a week in the evenings for the community.  It's manned by a volunteer and has a great selection.

No complaints from ANYONE else about the price of gas.  Here in Tanana, gas is used mostly for 4-wheelers and boats, but there are also trucks, a school bus and a few cars that came in by barge.

Here's the 7 am view from the door of the school on September 20.  In a few weeks, the sun will be rising closer to noon.  

This article about Tanana is really interesting and describes a community experiencing change.  Fortunately, I'll have a few more opportunities to visit.

 

Tetlin, but not Tetlin Junction

Some of you that know me personally, know that I started working again as a new teacher mentor.  I'm not new at this, but I mentor new teachers.   The job means travel to rural Alaskan villages or distance conversations to support teachers in the toughest jobs around.  

It's your fault I'm blogging again, because some of you found my village blog posts interesting, so you fed my habit.  I'm working half time, so I will be going to 6 different villages.  I'll be working when I'm there, but I'll try to capture some of the fun and photos of these places.

Tetlin was my first visit.  From Fairbanks, head 4 hours down the Alaska Highway past Delta Junction, then Tok.  Instead of going an additional 90 miles to Canada, turn right on an unmarked gravel road through the beautiful foothills adjacent to the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge.  If you come to Tetlin Junction, you've gone too far.  A left turn will take you to Chicken, Eagle or Dawson Creek.

And that's no joke.

  

The scenery was amazing.  The road was in great shape probably due to the gold mining operation Manh Cho that will be started soon, shipping ore to the Fort Knox Mine, outside of Fairbanks every 15 minutes around the clock.  As you can see, Fall is here.  The lake just before the village has a pair of swans that didn't get the memo.  29 degrees in the morning. 

About 35 kids (K-12) are enrolled in Tetlin School in Alaska Gateway School District.  All certified staff are new this year, but the support staff is from the community and brings continuity to the school.

As I was leaving, I thought it would be okay to take a parting photo of homes nearest the exit.  They are not unlike village houses in off-road villages.  The people of Tetlin are Upper Tanana Athabascan people.  The Native Corporation was granted land in the 70s and it is owned by the members of that corporation.

I'll be back to Tetlin School in another season.

Hiking in England: Norfolk Coast Path

 This was the last adventure we had in England before flying home on Icelandair from Heathrow on May 9, 2022.  The Norfolk Coast Path and Peddars Way are considered one trail, but to my mind, it's linking a visit to Value Village with getting a coffee at Starbucks and calling it one outing. They are both really different types of trails in every way possible, but connected at Holme-Next-the-Sea.

                                                

At Holme, we went left to start at Hunstanton (locally known as Hunst'n) with, theoretically 84 miles to hike.  We actually walked a little farther due to diversions (detours), missing signs and having to backtrack, and walking to accommodations that we not on the trail.  The trail used to end at Cromer, but was extended to Hopton-on-Sea.

Most of the time, the trail looked like this.  We walked above, behind and through dunes or on the beach, interspersed with short spurts of walking through forests along the side of farm fields.

But we also spent time on boardwalks (called duck paths), along or on white sandy beaches or rocky round stones called shingles.   Not pictured here were short forays through little villages and along docks.  We walked along Holkham beach, then saw photos of the Royals, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis taken on that very beach.  The beaches were never empty, even on the coldest days.  We stood out because we didn't have a dog.

                                   

Right off the bat, we came to this beautiful cliff near Hunstanton.  The photo doesn't do it justice, but it was quite red with minerals.  On that same beach, we found chunks of coal and chalk, fallen off close and distant cliffs.

        

Speaking of Royals, everyone is all a-twitter about the Platinum Jubilee.  There is a Queen's likeness scarecrow contest happening, and Sue and Clive from Hill House in Happisburgh (pronounced Hays-burra) are going to a garden party at Buckingham Palace!  England loves their Royals!

                                  

Every village had their harbor, some with piers and promenades, some with just boats.  Families could rent a bucket and net for their kids to jig for gillie crabs (not for eating- they threw them back).  The kids I met at the dock all wanted to visit Hollywood.  All but one who wanted to see NYC at Christmastime. 

  

Much of our trail went through protected wildlife preserves.  The "twitchers", a despised name for birders, were very gracious and showed us some great birds through their spotting scopes.  This is prime time for migrating birds (see list at the bottom of the page).  The Grey and Harbour seals at Horsey Gap were lounging on the beach there by the hundreds.

                     

Besides the hike and the people, the area is full of WW2 displays and structures.  Everyone who found out we were American, expressed gratitude and appreciation for the American work in WW2.  One gentleman was a London lad evacuated to live on a farm in Norfolk.  One man told us that it was thought that Norfolk would be the beach where Hitler would land, but he never did.  The munitions factory in Norwich (pronounced Nor'ich) was bombed and many died.

The beach at Happisburgh is eroding fast.  All along the beach were jetties and barriers to slow down the erosion.

The best part of the hike was the people that we met.  They were unpretentious and friendly.  They were quick to laugh and pet-lovers.  In (Not-So)Great Yarmouth, our host at The Chateau, Richard, told us that they didn't see very many Americans visiting Norfolk.  I was shocked to hear it.  This area is miles of white sandy beaches, amazing wildlife, great food, and breathtaking views.  

Birds that we saw for the first time while hiking this trail include:  Common Kestrel, Common Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Song Thrush, European Stonechat, Dunnock, Common Reed Bunting, Red-legged Partridge, Red-breasted Goose, Eurasian Spoonbill, Little Egret, Great Cormorant, Western Marsh Harrier,  Pied Avocet, Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank, Common Tern and Eurasian Magpie.

Logistics:  Besides the info from the previous post, we stayed at The Globe in Wells-Next-the-Sea (2 nights), The Blakeney House B&B in Blakeney, The Grove outside of Cromer, Hill House Inn in Happisburgh, Burleigh House B&B in Winterton and finally, the Chateau in Great Yarmouth at the end of the trail.  On several occasions, we took the local Coasthopper bus on A149 road to lodging or back to the trail.

Hiking in England: Peddars Way

We are hooked on hiking National Trails in the UK.  This was our 4th, after Hadrian's Wall, Pembrokeshire Coast Path and the Thames Path.  For this blog, I separated the 2 very different parts of the hike, Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path.  I'll put some logistics at the bottom of this page if you're interested in details.

 

One thing we like about hiking here is that it's really a pub crawl.  We hired an accommodation service that books our lodging and arranges for our luggage to get to our next place.  Then we just carry day packs (lunch, raincoats, sunscreen, camera, binoculars, etc.) and walk.  No tents to carry.  No heavy packs.

We took the train from London to Thetford, home of Thomas Paine (who knew?) We bought lunch stuff at Sainsbury and had a walkabout around town.  Thetford is also the location of the British sitcom, Dad's Army.  There was a ruin of an abbey and a Roman wall to see.

                                         

A cab dropped us off at Knettishall Heath at the trailhead.  Then we walked 46 miles to Holme-Next-the-Sea over 3 and 1/2 days. 

  

Peddars Way is flat and straight, mostly following the route of an old Roman road.  It was a walk of peddlers and Roman soldiers and foreign conquerers and there are remnants all along the way. 

  
When you hike with your spouse, you're guaranteed to witness some bull.  The trail passes acres and acres of farms, including enormous hog farms.  April is piglet season and you could hear their squeals.

The trail comes near to Sandringham, but we were too busy to tea with the Queen, even on her Platinum Jubilee year.  Fortunately, she was able to give us careful instructions on how to care for ground nesting birds.

We saw the 5 Songline stones along the way- a contemporary multimedia project.

 

We had some delicious pub food in the evenings, including meat pies, fish and chips, lamb shank, sweet potato soup and assorted chips and peas and puddings.  Full English breakfasts were provided at our accommodations and included with the price; eggs, toast, streaky bacon, sausage, blood sausage, fried tomatoes, baked beans and juices, tea, fruit and yogurt.  We lunched beside the trail from our packs.

 

It wasn't the most exciting trail we've ever hiked, but we hiked some 15 mile days so it got us in shape.  Also, the quiet walk, the passerines singing and the locals we met made it a quiet, pleasant walk. We reached Holme-Next-the-Sea and turned left to hike to Hunstanton to begin the Norfolk Coast Path, the second and very different next section.

Logistics:

We booked our trip with Suzy Watson's Explore Norfolk.  She contracted with Hike Help for luggage transfer.  We stayed at the Wereham House in Thetford, Phoenix House in Little Cressingham, Dabbling Duck in Great Massingham, King William IV Pub in Sedgeford and Ellinbrook House B&B in Hunstanton.

Grandparenting in Luxembourg

After two long years of Staycations, we bit the bullet and went to see our daughter Erin, husband Ron, and our one and only grandchild, Denali in Germany.  At 11, we felt that Denali was old enough to share our love of hiking and exploring.  It turns out, he already liked to hike around Kaiserslautern with his parents.  We packed him up and took the train to Luxembourg to hike on the Müllerthal Trails (the Switzerland of Luxembourg).  

We rented a lovely AirBnB apartment in Osweiler for 3 nights because the start of the trails in Echternach had limited vacancy and were too expensive anyway. With free buses for everyone to go anywhere it was a good move.  We got there on Holy Monday, just in time for the blessing of the tractors and bicycles.

The German speaking woman at the Info office briskly informed me that it would be a big mistake to choose Route 1, when Route 2 was so much better.  Sadly, she was right, so we took that.

The weather was perfect, but chilly in April.  We packed raincoats, lunch, hats and gloves and didn't need the raincoats.  Turns out that Denali fit my down jacket and we ended up swapping for his warmth.  

Within the first 30 minutes, we had fabulous views of Echernach.

The hike from Echternach to Berdorf was an amazing hike above, around and through rock formations.  D probably hiked twice as far as we did because he left no stone unclimbed.

The rock formations looked like faces in the rocks.  He passed through every possible "lemon squeezer".

There was great signage of very old landmarks, including this hermit cave.  But the history of the area has been identified back to Neolithic times.

Denali's German skills helped us out tremendously and even Paul learned to order his favorite flavor of gelato, which we had every night.

All in all, we probably hiked about 20 miles in our 2 hiking days.  I think we have a hiking recruit.