Do You Get Out Very Often?

Trail in early fall.

This is the eighth in a series of posts I’m writing in answer to the questions I get asked the most.

"Do you get out very often?"

My reflex answer to this is, “Too often.”

In all seriousness, I do enjoy going into the village every couple of weeks, and could go as often as I like, but I have no reason, no need to go. In the summertime, mid-May through mid-October, it’s a quick 20-minute boat ride or 45 minutes by 4-wheeler, and in the winter, it’s 15 minutes by snowmachine, all of which stay parked right outside of our cabin. However, the shoulder seasons, which we are in the middle of right now, of spring and fall make travel a good deal more difficult.

Fall Down. Go Boom.

We live near the base of a huge hill (I shall heretofor refer to it as “the mountain.”) and there is a steep trail that climbs 600 vertical feet in one mile via hairpin switchbacks, a sketchy trail in the best of circumstances. Cover that trail with wet leaves, mud, ice, snow, or any combination of these and you have a recipe for disaster, which means it must be hiked on foot, often with the use of ski poles for support. We leave our 4-wheelers and snowmachines at the top of the mountain, ready and waiting for the 12 mile drive to town. Our nearest neighbor is (you guessed it) 12 miles away.

Living on the river has its definite advantages. However, shoulder seasons don’t make the pro-list. Gregg put the boat away three weeks ago, when the river started to freeze up… for the first time. It froze all the way across, as did its tributaries, only to break up and float out to sea with an extended warm front bringing upper 30’s and rain. Much of the small harbor in the village stayed frozen, so there was no way to put the boat back in the water… that was… until a few days ago. Strong winds and high tides washed away most of the harbor ice, but

Slushy river

the temps immediately began to drop which created slush and ice floating down the river again, making it impossible to navigate with a jet-propelled motor, which is what we have. However, there have been a couple of boats motoring through the ice in front of the cabin over the past few days with their prop motors. Still, that’s got to be one – cold – ride!

All that leads me to my point that travel has been difficult for us for almost a month, now, what with no boat access and a mile hike before a 45-minute ride. Most days, Gregg does just that to go to work at his small engine shop in the village. I made that trip last Friday and Saturday to prepare for and participate in the Saturday Market. It was exhausting! And, I don’t plan to do it again until I absolutely have to. Before that, it had been two weeks since I had been to town.

I made it to the top of the Mountain!

Today, we’re getting a winter storm. Snow and wind. Gregg stayed home today to get out of the weather. In a few days, the temperature is supposed to drop into the teens for highs and single digits overnight. We are keeping our fingers crossed that in another couple of weeks the river will be frozen enough to drive on, freeing us from the grip of the fall shoulder season.

Sometimes it’s odd to think that I go weeks at a time without having a person-to-person conversation with anyone other than Gregg, but I don’t miss it.

As far as leaving the village, that requires a plane ticket. We only go to Anchorage when we absolutely have to. I go at least once every six months for my glaucoma checkup, but Gregg hasn’t been out of the village in almost a year, when we went to the Lower 48 to spend Christmas with family. That doesn’t seem odd to us either. It’s our normal.

I do 95% of my shopping online, most of that with Target and Amazon. Gregg brings things home with him as they come in the mail. Likewise, if we need eggs or bread from the store or meat from our freezer in town, he brings that home with him. There is no reason for me to go to town.

So, “Do I get out very often?”

“I get out quite enough, thank you.”