Monthly Archives: March 2015

Teamwork: 6 mini-trucks work together to pull a swamped vehicle out of the Kwethluk River

Looks like it’s already time to stop using trucks and cars on the River and do our traveling by snow machine and ATV. Maybe even consider using the back trails – but with caution though because with the unseasonably warm temperatures warming up the land with no reflective snow there are additional dangers to travel even on land to be aware of such as deep puddles, opening up of creeks, and potholes in lake ice made by plants, muskrat push ups, etc.

It’s been a strange winter. First a November break up that prevented travel between the Lower and Middle River until mid-January. Then weeks and weeks of mild temperatures with very little cold or snow. Ice thicknesses have been good (38″ at Bethel on 3/22)considering how little real cold weather we’ve had – but they’re still several inches to a foot below normal. And the Bethel waterfront has been troublesome to traffic all winter long.

Now with another late March warm spell, lack of snow cover on the ice, sand, and the strong late winter sun, conditions have been deteriorating daily.

A second vehicle falls through the ice in the middle of the Kwethluk River. A short time after this picture was taken the vehicle went completely under the water

The two bends below Akiak are full of water on top the ice from bank to bank. The sand blowing off the bars onto the ice has caused this area to melt extra hard on the warm sunny days we’ve had recently. The sand has also created potholes that grow deeper each day. BSAR did a river survey by snow machine through this area today. With the cooler temperatures overnight this overflow has a frozen layer then water underneath up to a foot or more deep. The new ice and light dusting of snow hide the potholes made by the sand but we found some of them to be 3 feet deep meaning that there is not very much original ice left at the bottom of these holes. Needle ice can be seen in many areas all along the River.

At this time there is no large vehicle traffic to Akiak – just a limited amount of snow machine travel. ATV travelers have to be extra careful as these machines don’t go over the half frozen water and potholes as easily or safely as a snow machine does.

ATV crashes after hitting a soft spot in the ice. The driver was pinned under the bike when he was found – but he was OK…lucky

We may see cooler temperatures over the next few days, and conditions may seem to improve, but this is deceiving. Winter is coming to an end – maybe close to a month earlier than we’re used to. A lot of damage has been done to the River over the past several days and with the strong sun, even on cold days winter will continue to release it’s grip on the River. And when it fully warms up again conditions will quickly deteriorate.

BSAR is advising no further truck or car travel on the River at this time. If you live in a village and want to keep your vehicle in Bethel for the summer, please get them here as soon as possible. Don’t wait until conditions get any worse…

…remember this has been a strange winter and we still don’t know what’s going to happen. Let’s all try to be even more on the safe side as we go into spring.

Safe travels & happy spring from BSAR.

Thank you.

Bad Idea: trying to rescue swamped trucks on dangerous ice with a bull dozer that weighs 4 times more than a truck

River Report Bethel to Tuluksak

Bethel Search and Rescue completed a river survey from Bethel to Tuluksak on March 25, 2015. The following observations were made:

Bethel:
Access getting on to the river has been by the Lomack building next to the seawall. Always be careful of the overflow water, there have been several instances where people have thought they could make it but the water was too deep.  Please use caution when driving thru water!!

Bethel to Straight Slough:
There are a lot of pot holes to show up causing big sized holes on or by the truck trail.

Straight Slough to Kwethluk:
River trail is good. Church Slough trail is full of overflow and travel is not advised.

Kwethluk to Akiak :
The trail on the Kuskoquak is still good. There is standing water and some pot holes. The upper end of Kuskoquak to the bend below Akiak is the worst section for shell ice.  Travelers to Akiak should use caution as the bend below Akiak has a lot of blown sand on the ice that is causing a lot of pot holes and many of them are getting big . Reports are that travelers are driving through the water that is reported to be about 30 to 36 inches deep- Please be careful.
With the warm weather we being having and the sand that is being blown it is causing the river ice to have many pot holes– use caution when traveling at night.

Akiak to  Tuluksak:
There is standing water on top of the ice and cooler temperatures during the night is causing shell ice to form. Travelers in this section of the river are advised to use caution when driving.

BSAR members measured the ice in front of Bethel on the channel on Sunday, March 22, at 38 inches.

Travelers always have a travel plan and travel with caution.

Any questions on travel please call 545-4357 anytime.

Slide from the presentation given at today’s gathering

Another slide from the presentation showing a younger Earl with his faithful plane 05H

Many People came from throughout the region and across the State to show their appreciation for Earl’s long service to our People

Earl is presented with a replica of the his plane: “05Hotel” – a plane and pilot known throughout the region

Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Gary Folger presents Earl with awards for his service

Thank you to everyone that came out to show their appreciation to Earl Samuelson for his years of service to the People of Our Region.

The social media has been full of pictures of swamped cars and snow machines but if you’re sober, sensible, and avoid night time travel our River is still OK

A BSAR team traveled today from Bethel to Napaimute. This is what they observed:

It is always amazing to see how fast the River heals after a warm spell. With temperatures only slightly cooler, a fresh coating of snow to soak up water and make the best routes more visible; traveling conditions have improved.

The Bethel waterfront is still unusually tricky to navigate: the two main accesses are a narrow slot right against the seawall in front of the Lomack Building. The better, safer access follows a round about route through the north side of the boat harbor, out the boat harbor slough, along the beach upstream to Crow’s old fish processing barge, and then out onto the main River ice. Once you are out on the main ice – STAY ON IT – until you get to your destination. The overflow is still deep along the sides.

From Bethel to Tuluksak the River was mostly dry with only the occasional very shallow puddle of half frozen water.

From Tuluksak to the lower end of the jam at Coffee’s Bend conditions were much the same with slightly more puddles.

Inside Coffees Bend there are still several ponds of half frozen overflow that are fairly deep. There has been a lot of Kalskag traffic today going down to watch the regionals at Akiak. 4WD Trucks go through no problem, but one traveler in a 4WD Ford Explorer had to get towed out of one pond. So nothing smaller than a truck recommended at this time. It is still too rough to go around most of these water holes.

From Kalskag to Aniak conditions improved, although there are still more puddles than the Lower River. But through this 30 miles or so the River is wide, not rough, and there is room to go around any wet spots.

Above Aniak for the next 30 miles to Napaimute conditions improve with very little overflow visible at all and almost none to drive through. This section of the River is also much smoother.

It’s important to note that with the recent warm spells quite a few of the road markers are down. There are still enough to follow in good weather, but in limited visibility there are areas where travelers may lose the trail.

This is what was observed today. As temperatures are forecasted to cool things should only get better.

Thank you.

*Please note that this is not an advisory that it is safe for travel. It is for informational purposes only.