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.