Mukluk’s Adventures in Point Hope

By Talia

A quick disclaimer: this post was written in Point Hope two weeks ago. Today we had enough internet to post it, so here you go:

Land Ho! DogBark’s crew cheered, (or actually just Savai and I). We had spotted Point Hope in the distance, a place where we were going to anchor to wait out a bad weather system. Point Hope is a large spit of land that extends out into the Chukchi Sea.

Earlier that day we had crossed into the Arctic Circle. This seemed like a pretty big milestone to me, so everyone put on their arctic themed onesies and we had a dance party on the bow. It was so fun! John has a walrus onesie, Becca has a narwhal onesie, Dad has a polar bear onesie, Mom has a grizzly bear onesie, I have a seal onesie, and Savai has a Penguin onesie. I know, I know, PENGUINS LIVE IN ANTARCTICA! Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t actually sell many types of arctic onesies, so Savai had to settle with a penguin. Anyway, we anchored in lee of the spit so that we were, for the most part, protected from the wind. John served up some moose steak, and we went to bed on a full stomach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we woke up, we decided we needed to go to shore and explore the town. We wandered around town looking for something exciting to do. The people were all incredibly nice. Three or four people stopped us on our walk. We were asked many times if we were the new teachers they were expecting. We finally found The Restaurant. The Restaurant is pretty much the only place in Point Hope to get a meal. The nice man at the front desk recommended the hike out to the end of the point to see the old village that had been evacuated forty years ago when people moved into the middle of the spit where they are now.

After a delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup, we headed out to the point. When we were about to leave the streets and step on the trail, a fat fluffy white husky ran up to us and licked our faces while we petted him. Then we told him to go back home. Did he listen? No! That dog pranced around us just as happy as can be. At some point on the trail, John started calling him Mukluk, and the name stuck. He was so sweet, although he was not very smart. An obstacle that stood in our path was the runway for the small planes that came every now and then to transport people and cargo. As we walked across, Mukluk stopped and sat in the middle of the runway scratching his ear with his foot. He didn’t care one bit that he was sitting in the middle of a runway until he finally was finished itching and loped to catch up with us.

On the hike we explored old abandoned homes made out of wood, dirt, and whale bones. The one made out of whale bones seemed to be in the best condition. I guess natural house-building materials are the way to go! It was crazy to imagine families huddled up in these tiny homes waiting out a winter storm, with dogs like Mukluk (although probably not as fat) sleeping out in the snow. We also found smelly whale blubber lying in random patches on the grass, as well as some stored in an underground cellar for the winter. It smelled sooooo bad, but Mukluk didn’t even bat an eye. After wandering on the beach and collecting cool rocks, we headed back home. Mukluk must have gotten hungry because halfway back, he left us and ran home to find food. He made our adventure so much more fun, and I am really glad that serendipitous events like that sometimes happen.