...and more snow

And here they are: the hermits on the tundra



So just a refresher: Beyond the strait (we are looking southwest here) is the first and largest of the Aleutian chain, Unimak Island- close enough to the continent to have brown bear, caribou, wolf. These and the other larger land mammals cannot (so far) make the swim to the further islands. During the last ice age, when ocean levels were lower, 'The Pass' was exposed. In this view the sea floor is 24 fathoms (24X6=144 ft) down. I like looking out and imagining the valley down there, more like a mountain saddle or the other sort of 'pass'.


Over the shoulder to the east. This is the direction we'd walk if we had to get back to the U.S. Oh wait, this is the U.S. The Alaska Peninsula is about 500 miles long, with Cold Bay the next town at 50 miles.


Northwest to Unimak. False Pass Village is lightly spread across the flood plain. The Pass becomes shallow to the north and this is why the area is called 'False Pass'. Boats making their way into Bristol Bay and the Bering have to pick their way though shallows of 2.25 fathoms at mean high tide. It must be tricky especially at lower tides. The State Ferry enters from the south, ties up at the City dock, then exits south. Killer whales herd gray whales into the pass because the relative shallows of the northern pass limit the gray whale's options for escape. (A couple people we've talked to have seen hundreds of Orca's at a time in here in recent springs.)


False Pass. If you click on this one, you'll be able to make out the old cannery dock in the center and the new City dock to the right. The old cannery burned in 1981 and False Pass has been without one since then. APICDA is set to open a new one this month. There are web-links to APICDA, the Isanotski Corporation, the city, and the Orca's to the right. Instead of counties and the tribal council-reservation system, Alaska has 'boroughs' and native corporations. APICDA is a community development association funded by a take on the local pollack, crab, halibut, and other groundfish fisheries.