The Kuskokwim River ice continues to be variable as the winter season progresses.
On Wednesday, Bethel Search and Rescue flew its second aerial survey of the lower Kuskokwim River to see how things are shaping up after a balmy early December brought a temporary halt to all river travel.
According to search and rescue member Mark Leary, the takeaway from the flight was “two steps forward, one step back.”
"We took two steps forward towards having a good, safe river in late November with that cold stretch of weather, and then we took a step backwards with that record warm that we had last week," Leary said.
Leary said that the lack of snow is helping to close up open holes along the lower river, and that the snow is conspicuously absent all the way upriver to Kalskag.
"There's usually more snow upriver. Yeah, not this time. It's glare ice all the way," Leary said.
Downriver from Bethel, Leary said that no open water was observed on the Johnson River leading to the tundra villages. However, high tides have brought deep overflow to the sides of the Johnson, as well as to the waterfront directly in front of Bethel where travelers have made use of multiple entry points to get on and off the river.
Leary said that the truck trail from Bethel downriver to Napaskiak and Napakiak is well-established, and that ice thickness has maintained following the recent warm snap.
Far upriver, volunteers are working to establish a truck trail between Kalskag and Aniak, where ice has frozen as thick as 30 inches. Leary said that aside from several open holes, the ice also appears robust over the roughly 40-mile stretch between Tuluksak and Kalskag.
But closer to Bethel, Leary said that there are still plenty of danger zones.
Straight Slough remains completely off-limits to travel due to a large open hole at the upper end of the slough that has persisted since being marked with willows with blue reflectors at the end of November.
While a truck trail has been established from Bethel upriver to Kwethluk, Leary said that there are three open holes going toward Kwethluk from the Kwethluk-Akiachak “Y,” and that travelers should not stray from the trail under any circumstances.
Upriver from Kwethluk, Leary said that the Kuskokuak Slough is a no-go due to a large zone of open water at the upper end of the slough, as well as open water in the channel downriver toward Akiachak.
Further upriver at Akiak, a giant hole directly in front of the community has improved little since the first aerial survey.
"I was comparing our pictures from Nov. 18 to yesterday, Dec. 18. It hasn't gotten much smaller," Leary said. "So from Akiak to Tuluksak, there is no river trail and no river travel recommended at this time."
With a patchwork of reliable trails and establishment of an official Kuskokwim Ice Road still pending, Leary said that choosing to travel comes down to experience.
"If you're not comfortable going on the river right now, don't go on it. If you're used to the river and understand what's going on, it's fine," Leary said. "But you know, with the glare ice you can't tell one thing from another unless you have really experienced eyes. So don't leave the marked trails that are out there."
Fortunately, the lack of snow cover and consistently cold weather forecast over the Christmas holiday could bode well for the vital frozen transportation network.
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