LOL!
""The Kiwalik' is an area. There is Kiwalik Mountain, Kiwalik Valley, Kiwalik River, Kiwalik Lagoon, Kiwalik Flats, Kiwalik Spit and there used to be a small town of Kiwalik on the spit, to unload and store gold mining supplies at Candle and the gold mines in the area........then Spafeiraf Bay to its north.
The river runs south to North, into Kotzebue Sound by the ChuckChi Sea, North of the Bering Sea. The abandoned Gold Rush town of Candle is a few miles from our camps. Inupiaq ''Keevalook'' ""Muskrat'' with the W pronounced as a long V because its a phonetic spelling by a Dane, Otto von Kotzebue, who first mapped the Sound and its rivers.........but whatever....LOL!!
Its where the ''Malamuit'' people (a neighboring tribes name for them) are from and their surplus dogs were sold to gold miners in the Gold Rush went south and became a popular breed of Husky. In the 1930's the AKC came to Ktzebue town and registered a Kiwalik dogteam, among others, for the breed.
I have walked most all of this area when I was a young and hunting hard, year round.
We are very much in tune with the weather. We listen to the National Weather service on the Radio every 1/2 hour for predictions and current conditions.
We stay on shore when the wind hits 20 Knots, and home when the wind on land hits 25 mph
Theres the various ways we navigate;
'MarkedTrails' that connect the villages are well marked with standing willow wands with a bit of reflective tape, every 10th of a mile across the ice of rivers, lakes inlets and the Ocean. On land there are permanent tripods, broken sleds, old drums and such that mark out ancient and well used trails. Most have a swath of reflective tape on them, as the trail makers repair and replace during their maintainance work.
We often target a trail to haul a load, say a few Caribou in the sled, and when we leave we plan to catch onto the well traveled and well packed (saves gas) and if theres any problems, we will have help after a spell.
"Off trail''
Carry a compass. You can Trend tward a trail or river or land that way, in the biggest waves and the blowing snow, as well, KNOW when to stay put, at home or out there.
We all have ''travel bags'' that allows us the minimums for camping out unexpectedly. The mental frame of mind that you can and possibly will overnight out there helps alot when you put a sleeping bag in your sled or on your back rack. Break down? got to bed....LOL! I also take a book, something to kill time in a tight spot, start a fire or wipeth thy butt....
Hunting places, over time, a body gets to ''Know'', and often you just go by memories, Inuksuk rock stacks, odd bits drums, camps and the rivers in the particular areas flow a certain way.
Every creek has a name , every creek leads to a river and all rivers are very well known. Willows and in some places, trees line the rivers so a windbreak can be found and some fuel for cook out while camping or waiting...
We have a good idea where the sun rises and sets , or comes close enough to the horizon to make a 'day' at whatever time of year it is. In summer, during the 24 hour daylight, our horizon to the dead north gets 'dipped' by the Sun. Seeing/knowing where the Sun is helps alot to give you direction. We use our extended hand to count the hours of daylight, each finger is about 15 minutes, and we track the horizon and determine how much light we should have,and it works too..
Boating in the Ocean can be a trick with fog, tides and waves, so PLENTY of gas is always aboard.....
The Northern Lights run West/East. The winter prevailing winds are North and East. The ''windrows' will set up , and if one takes note of such, they can be used to determine the trend your riding.
We have Polaris on clear nights, and the clearest Milkyway in North America.
We watch Moon phases as we have but 2 hours of day light now, and most riding is in the dark untill late January (then we go hunting!!!)
We often travel down the rivers and see branches and camps along it and ''know'' where we are.
The Ocean has currents, pile ups and bergs, with cracks and openings.South winds bring up 4 feet more tide, and that makes for overflow
We ''Trend'' tward a place we want to be, because few straight lines can be driven or walked without a cliff at the oceans edge, a steep creek filled loosely with snow or a rocky bare area, a river, and we do have hills and mountains and all the features they offer. Trees and willows hold snow and it can be very deep in them.
