Tanana-Yukon Trip Appendices, 1972


Tanana-Yukon Trip Appendices, 1972

	*contents this page:* Reflections upon the journey Food List \| Wild Foods \| Bird List \| Mammal List some fragments that became the reflections *...and beyond:* Journal Contents \| Home Page Contents


	Reflections
	These reflections were written on COBOL coding sheets, so I know it was after I returned to SF, probably in 1973. They are based on jotting from the journal. They still needed work. Except for "On the Delta", I added the titles and did a little pruning and refining. PJW 10/3/00
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		Paddling The distant clear blue sky is mirrored on the endless flat river. The high soaring gulls shrill "Kew...Kew...Kew." The hot sun refines all to a hard bright purity. Water from my paddle splashes upon my face. It is coldness. The sun dries it. It is warmth.
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		Stormy Waters Wild kayak tossing seas are welded to scudding thunderheads by angry rain and storm flung foam. I too am incorporated. Survival becomes instinctive. I am filled with awe and fear. Washed clean of muddying thought.
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		The Gulls The quietly roiling flood joins the somber grey overcast. I am calm and at peace. My brothers, the gulls softly call out to me in friendly greeting "gurkle... gurkle... Hello, how are you?" I respond "gurkle... gurkle... Fine, how are you?" Then with a parting "Kew... Kew... " we slide off on our seperate ways, which are but one.
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		On the Delta The river is wide, calm, and flat. It stretches straight ahead and behind farther than eye or mind can see, in both time and space. The sky is low, flat and grey. The overcast is indistinguishable from the river. The light is a diffused luminescence. The low shores are indistinct, shrouded in the mist. Sky, water and time have merged without seam. Nothing is distinct. I am one with a luminescent grey void.
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Food Taken


amt			used	unused	NDB#	kcal /100g	g carb /100g	total kcal	total carbs
4	lbs	white beans	all	none	16050	139.000	25.100
4	lbs	red beans	2	2	16031	124.000	22.410
5	lbs	rye flour	all	none	20064	354.000	77.490
5	lbs	whole wheat flour	3	2	20080	339.000	72.570
2	lbs	rice	none	2	20045	130.000	28.170
26	oz	Familia (breakfast food)	all	none
5	lbs	mixed breakfast cereals	2½	2½
4	lbs	raisins	3	1	09298	300.000	79.130
8	2oz	dehydrated vegetables	4	4
3	gal	Wyler's leamon-ade	2	1
18	lbs	bacon	11	7 (rancid)	10124	576.000	0.590
10	lbs	salt pork	6	4	10165	748.000	0.000
2	lb	canned ham	all	none	10139	190.000	0.020
2	lb	cheddar cheese	all	none	01009	402.577	1.280
6	gal	dried milk	3	3	01155	358.000	52.190
3	sm can	condensed milk	all	none
2	lb	Crisco	¼	1¾
7	pack	powdered egg	3	4
2	lb	wild berry jam	1¾	¼
1	lb	peanut butter	¾	¼	16098	593.000	19.280
3	ea	Kendal Mint Cake	2½	½ kids @StM

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Wild Foods Eaten

F = eaten continuously while in forest T = while in tundra n = number of meals
F	Rose Hips	continuously until last week in aug, too ripe
	Raspberries	very few
	Indian Berries	(High Bush Cranberries) tasted only, very sour
	Currents	picked at a deserted cabin
T	Blueberries	Tundra berries may be picked in great quantities by running your hand, fingers slightly spread, through the inches high vegetation.
T	Cranberries	the sweetest in the world
T	Moss Berries	very juicy, tart, slightly astringent; would make good wine
2	Shaggy Manes (dotson' kkuskkoya*)	an excellent eating mushroom
5	Moose	all game supplied by Yupiks
3	Whitefish
2	Duck
	Salmon, smoked

note: Names within ( ) are Kokoyan, the dialect of the native people of the lower Tanana and the Yukon downstream to Kaltag.
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Birds Identified (* for the first time)


*	American Widgeon (siseeya*)	8/25	immature
*	Black Bellied Plover
*	Black Brant Goose		a few times on Tanana & upper Yukon
*	Bullock's Oriale	9/1	in cottonwoods outside of range according to Peterson
	Boreal Owl		pet, in Kotlik drowned in rain barrel
	Canadian Goose		very common
	Common Raven (dotson')		very numerous
*	Fox Sparrow (kitsaan'loy doldoya)	8/22
	Glaucous Gull	8/22	most common gull near coast
	Glaucous Winged Gull	8/22	very common lower Yukon
	Great Horned Owl		(by call only) common
*	Green Winged Teal	9/8	identified after shot
*	Harlequin Duck (taasa hul'aana)	8/24
*	Hawk Owl		once
	Herring Gull		only on Tanana & upper Yukon
	King Fisher		common on Tanana & upper Yukon
*	Osprey	8/30
	Hawk or Falcon		injured in Yupik boat potential pet?
*	Pin Tail Duck	8/25	Fem, immature or males in breeding plumage
	Robin	9/5
	Sandhill Crane (dildoola)	8/7 8/22	once @ Tanana & Yukon again, heard many times
*	Sharp-Shinned Hawk	8/20
	Snowy Owl	9/6	1^st since I was a lad in Wisc.
*	Snowy Plover		the most common shore bird not w/i 200 mi of mouth
	swans	9/1	couldn't identify species as too dark
*	Tree Sparrow	9/5
	Tree Swallows		once in great numbers
*	White Fronted Goose		once
*	White Winged Scoter	8/19	& subsequantly
Mammals
	Beaver	8/3
	Black Bear (sis*)	8/10 sighting & 8/23 another
*	Marten (sooga)	8/28 visitation picture and description
	Moose	8/17, cow
	mouse		in abandoned fish camp
	Rabbit	8/15

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fragments from the journal

[note: It is from these and other jottings that the "Reflections" were crafted.]

the delta c
the river is more than a mile wide and stretches straight ahead and behind. The sky is flat unmarked grey. The light comes from all around. The atmosphere is a mixture of...

I remember a sense of distinctness, unique
The far distant clear blue sky is mirrored on the endless flat ~~water~~ river. The hot sun heating _^^refiningall to a hard purity. The high soaring gulls calling "Kew... Kew... Kew... " Cold water splashing from my paddle lands on my hot forehead.
I am a distinct entity in a world of pure distinct elements. _^^{The air is one thing, pure hot,} water is one pure cold, sky is one, pure brightness.

steady rain, depression, moose, beer.
seagulls
Sunset, molten sea
delta indestinct lost

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transcribed by Peter J Wait, 9/29/00 11:20:30 PM
edited by Peter J Wait, 10/2/00 10:59:25 AM
copywrite © by Peter J Wait 10/2/00 11:04:59 AM