Lost On The Flats

Back in 1988 Rick and Liza Busch went over to Aniak from Russian Mission by snowmobile for a potlatch. On their way over they took the winter trail from Russian Mission to Kalskag and then proceeded up the Kuskokwim River to Aniak. The weather was fair and the trail was smooth and that made the ride enjoyable for them. It didn't take them long to get there and they expected the trip home, which they would make the next day, to be much the same. That night, though, they were out late and noticed that the wind had picked up, and there were clouds blowing in strong.

When they woke up the next day it was windy but still not snowing, so they decided to go home, and hopefully keep ahead of the storm. By the time they were fueled up and ready to leave the clouds had thickened. It was snowing when they reached the halfway point between Aniak and Kalskag, but still not very hard. Pulling into Kalskag they noticed that the snow was easing off and decided to keep going to Russian Mission. But not far out of town they ran into a thick snowfall. The flakes were big and wet, the kind that soak you clean through to your skin. It was not a good time to travel. By the time they got to the flats visibility was almost zero. They were following the reflective trail markers because the snowmachine trail on the snow could not be made out. They traveled like this for about half an hour until they ran out of markers. There were just no more to follow. Both of them got a little scared after they unsuccessfully back--tracked looking for the markers that they'd been following. But they ended up riding around hopelessly looking for the trail, until they decided to stop and rest for awhile. They were lucky and found some trees to shelter in. Making a fire was hard because everything was wet from the snow including them, but Rick managed to get one going.

Late that night it stopped snowing, the sky cleared quickly and it got cold. It was the first chance they had to dry their clothes. When the sun came up the next day they saw that they were only ten miles out of Kalskag and later found that they were only a mile off the trail. So they went back to Kalskag, rested, gassed up, and then left for Russian Mission again. This time they made it safely.

By: Liza Busch

Interviewed by: Ben Peteroff