/ 2008 Archived Material / On the Edge

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ On the Edge

by Jane Blaile

Right when I finished my last posting this morning, I was about to find something to eat for lunch when I got the message that Danny was going to fly to Diomede Island, and if I wanted to go, I should be at the airport by 1:00.  So, I raced back to the church where I'm staying and got geared up.  Where is Diomede Island?  Actually, there are two, Big Diomede and Little Diomede.  They are located in the Bering Strait; Little Diomede is U.S., Big Diomede is Russian.  They are separated by just over 2 miles of water and the International Dateline.  This area of Alaska is beautiful.  There are hills and sharp rock mountains, lots of rivers and valleys, and ice along the coast.  The wind was blowing fairly hard, and we had a few bumps, but mostly it was a spectacular day.  We passed a military post and the whaling village of Wales.  As we approached the island, it was apparent that we weren't going to be able to land due to wind, blowing snow, and unsure ice conditions.  The village didn't have the airstrip cleared, so that was evidence that it wasn't OK to land.  So we circled around, which actually put us over the date line and into Russia a little!  Afterwards, we went flying across the Seward Peninsula with our eyes peeled for polar bears.  We didn't end up seeing any; but our trip led us to the village of Shishmaref.  Now, I never expected to visit Shishmaref, that's for sure!  It's only 10 miles south of the Arctic Circle!  And, since the sea is frozen solid, I didn't know it was an island.  Danny found out where the pastor lives, and we went in and visited.  That certainly was unique to my journey here.  There is a quilt through the Common Thread Quilt project at the school, but being Saturday, I wasn't able to see it.  On leaving Shishmaref, we were headed towards Serpentine Hot Springs, but since bad weather might have been rolling in to Nome, we went ahead and came back.  What an extraordinary flight we had.  I just stared in awe at the vast, white wilderness of Alaska....spotting moose and herds of caribou along the way.