Heyyyyyyy..........
Were doing fine, Now.....
Well, lemme see...... in this madness to attend her dads funeral, We ran outta luck..... ran outta $$ and are currently bogged down earning "Escape" $$$.
Im here in Kotzebue, with Agnes , Ting and Jon, who we are sending home, ( The 2 kids are in high school, and Agnes is driving back with me to Noorvik tomarrow)as they have missed ALOT of school.We have the 3 of the 4 youngers enrolled in Noorvik school right now, anmd were so broke, we dont even have gas $$4 to get back, though they are at her sister Aagan's house, and rolling about with her 7 kids,, and they know all of Noorvik anyways, so it should be working out.
Fact is, I was in Kotzebue when her father passed away, and I rode to Noorvik to heat up our house there, and get it ready for everybody.... and my oldest son, Douglas, had the flu....Crap weather was comming, and being low on $$$ for round trip airfares for 9, we flew Doug into Kotzebue, where he was immediatkly grounded due to weather....like 50mph gusts that afternoon.Agnes packed up the kids and got the snowgos going fine....
Sooooooooooooo, I rode the 58 miles to Kotzebue,to pick up Doug. Agnes was joined by an older lady going to Noorvik also, so she put the other 6 kids in the sleds, with her and 2nd oldest son Jon driving a machine each, and zoomed North to beat the weather.(I had the 340 Polaris I got for her, traded for here, in Kotzebue)
All was fine UNTILL they drove into overflow water, 2 1/2 feet deep, under th crusted snow (It rises from cracks, and the wind blew in a very high tide, wich made the water rise, unseen from below)
Waist deep in water, 15 above in degrees,having the rigs stuck in the water, under a crust of snow, they spent 3 hours unsticking them selfs and getting the rides moving again.
She made the little kids change clothes, took out the sleeping bags (We ALWAYS pack to stay out for over night, even on day trips) and made the little ones comfy and happy, as my kids are happy outside and inside...gave them snacks and such.
Then came the decision....go to Kotzebue for help, or carry on to Noorvik, both ways in 40 mph winds with 20 or so feet visability. Kotzebue was 25 miles closer, so thats the way they went. One machine lost its engine about 6 miles outta town, but they all piled on the sled.
They ended up in the hospital over night, with hypothermia (Agnes, Ting, and Jon), and froze their toenails black, but luckily that was all.
Me and Doug searched for her for all night that night and a crew from SnR too.Luckily, they called us in as we were gassing up for another run and Agnes gave me the skinny on it all.
The next day's weather was WORSE
I found this on our Search-n-Rescue statements and copy/pasted this;
Location: Noorvik
Case number: 08-4961
Type: SAR
Text: On 1/18/08, at approximately 2300 hours, State Troopers in
Kotzebue received a report of several overdue snow machines traveling
from Deering to Noorvik. Investigation revealed that Marlene Moto age
51 of Deering, Agnes Hailstone, age 37 of Deering, and six of
Hailstone?s children had left Deering on three snow machines at
approximately 1400 hours on 1/18/08. When they did not arrive in Noorvik
as scheduled and family members alerted the State Troopers who activated
local Search and Rescue Teams. The travelers eventually made their way
to Kotzebue where several members of the party were treated for mild
hypothermia at approximately 0530 hours on 1/19/08. The travelers had
serious difficulties along their route due to mechanical failure,
blizzard conditions, and overflow conditions on Kobuk Lake. The Alaska
State Troopers would like to remind all travelers in the area to file
detailed trip plans and to avoid travel during inclement weather
conditions.
Author: BAM0
Received Monday, January 21, 2008 7:21 AM and posted Monday, January 21, 2008 7:03 AM
D Detachment
They missed the funeral.
The frost bites on her face are brown patches now, and by summer should fade....it sure looks like I beat her face with a bat, but luckily(?) people up here know what frost scars are and they tell her shes lucky to be "Country smart", and they were gained in "Action" not fighting...
I'll post a good pict with her brown cheeks and no swelling, when I get back to here in a week or two.
This whole ordeal has S U C K E D.
At least were working our way outta this mess. Thats when its good to have an artist on hand who makes $$ with materials on hand..