Outing to Sleetmute Part 1

When Angela said she would come and get me on Saturday to stay at her house overnight in Sleetmute, I was overly dramatically thrilled!  Not only was I interested in seeing another new village and visiting with Angela, but I was happy to finally be taking a ride down the Kuskokwim River and getting away from the 24/7 life in the school.  (Not counting the many walks!)

It's always cold on a boat ride, so I bundled up and met her at the boat launch.  She had a Spot tracker to show her the route in the river to avoid shallows and a wrong turn.  This river has many, many sloughs, tributaries, sandbars, sweepers and deadheads.  She brought along a teenager for a spotter and that gal was friendly and observant.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day and the boat was really a nice one.  It took just under an hour to go downriver and it took her about 75 minutes to come upriver to Stony.

The colors on the hillside are just changing from green to golden and orange and red.

As we got closer to Sleetmute, there were cabins alongside the river.  This was an old trading post (Mellicks Trading Post) that's no longer in business.  It's near the intersection of the Holitna River.  The owner has become widowed and elderly so has been left empty for some time.  One of the buildings is a museum with the old records of barters and fur trading.

There have been homesites and homesteads along the Holitna for many years.  The mouth near here is only about 20 minutes from Sleetmute by boat, but the Holitna is very slow moving and windy so cabins might be close as the crow flies but take a long time by boat.  I know at least 2 people (maybe more!) who have cabins here and have had since maybe the 70s or 80s.  Dept of Natural Resources sometimes has land for staking and purchase, but oftentimes they are remote and require some fortitude.

Angela has been teaching in Sleetmute for 13 years.  She rents from a neighbor who also owns the store.  She and her husband and 2 daughters were fabulous hosts.  Their 12 year old daughter shot her first moose, so T, K and A were off cutting up meat.  Angela made us homemade tomato soup from her garden tomatoes, moose stew and homemade yogurt with granola and berries.  She and her family grow, hunt and harvest a good portion of their food.  She took us on a walking tour of the village.  Our first stop was the mini-farm where the other teacher and her family live.

They made this steambath for relaxation and health.

The goats are for milk.  When there is a lot of it, S makes ice cream, cheese and other goodies.   The kids that are born are raised for sale or butchered for meat.

S's beautiful garden.  There was a hard freeze the night before so she was hustling around covering and harvesting.  

This village really has services.  It's not that much bigger than Stony River (about 85 people v. Stony's 45-50, 18 students v. Stony's 14) but it has some amenities.  I was impressed by fire hydrants and some community services.

With The Covid in full swing, the Sleetmute Council issued some strict guidelines.  We stayed our distance and wore masks into the store, the only building we went into.

The St. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church is in great shape.  Everyone in the village wants to be baptized, married and buried here but otherwise, attendance is casual.

I have lots of photos from Sleetmute and the plane ride back so I'll share them in several posts.