Alaska by Post Office: The Crooked Runway

Nanwalek

The first thing you'll notice about Nanwalek? Landing in Nanwalek is fun. Their runway is not exactly linear.



Welcome to our third installment of Postlandia visits Alaska. In our first post we discussed just how large Alaska is compared to the rest of the United States; took a postal tour of Alaska's largest city, Anchorage; and explored Alaska's unique Bypass Mail network. Next we headed down to the Kenai Peninsula; saw a couple of nice "log cabin" post offices; and took off from Homer to the villages of Seldovia and Port Graham. Now we take our third flight of the Alaskan October morning to Nanwalek. To review, here's a map of the flights we're taking in this corner of the Last Frontier.



Google Earth satellite imagery for Nanwalek is presently disappointing, so we won't have an annotated aerial view as we did with Port Graham. Nanwalek is the furthest community west on the Kenai Peninsula, and is only accessible by local boat or by airplane. It's a fraction of a square mile in size, built largely on top of a hillside (think: protection from tsunamis) overlooking the airport. The airport lies between a lagoon and the outer reaches of Kachemak Bay and Cook Inlet (the body of water stretching from the northern Pacific Ocean inland to Anchorage. The gravel runway is 1,500 feet long, 50 feet wide, and, as we've seen, not perfectly straight. But it serves the community's needs.

Here is a view of the community, from a fascinating take by Kathy, on her visit to Nanwalek in 2011.



Here I am at the modest airport terminal, getting greeted and inspected by a friendly local.



Here goes my ride! It's heading back to Homer, and another Smokey Bay Air plane will meet me in an hour.



I'm greeted by a local, Mackey, who's tasked with bringing the mail to the Community Post Office (CPO) from the airport. Mail is flown in three days a week from Homer, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—weather and regional volcanoes permitting. The CPO is open 11 am to 2 pm those days. The post office is located inside the building also housing the local tribal administrative office. I'll show you the outside in just a little bit; first let's see the sign.



This might strike you as modest. Did anyone else notice the red, 'white', and blue outlines? I love it. Below, here I am at the entrance. I also love the hanging sign with the standard stamp rate [remember, this was back in October], and the packaging with the active rates on them. It's always great seeing when people let loose that creativity.



Aside from this the interior is comparatively standard; you can see a bank of current-generation P.O. Boxes behind me there.

Now let's go outside. You might expect the sign to say good ol' Nanwalek, which is actually the local native term for "place by the lagoon." (Remember, the airport lies between the bay and a lagoon?) However, the sign says English Bay. This is no accident; the town was known as English Bay until 1991. Nanwalek is one of a number of Alaska place name changes in recent decades, part of a trend toward reclaiming indigenous names over arbitrary modern English monikers. (One larger example of this in action is Barrow, originally Utqiaġvik and officially, again, Utqiaġvik as of 2016. The name Barrow still appears on maps and on their post office.) Anyway, here's the sign designating (as well as yours truly):



Postlandia friend John Gallagher visited Nanwalek 25 years ago, and snagged a photo of the [now former site of the] operation in 1992. Look closely at that sign! Why fix what ain't broke?



Both names Nanwalek and English Bay belie an important part of the community's history, that of a Russian fur/pelt trading post starting in 1786. The community was then designated Alexandrovski. Alaska was Russian until the United States (remember "Seward's folly"?) purchased the entire territory in 1867. How English Bay got its name is unusual. According to Nanwalek's website, "The two villages [Nanwalek and Port Graham] share not only family relations but also many customs and traditions. Interestingly, the English names of the two villages were switched by a cartographer in the late 1800s. Thus, English Bay sits out on the tip of the peninsula, while Port Graham is located further in the bay." So English Bay shouldn't have been English Bay to begin with! It gets better still. I should note that our English Bay-née-Alexandrovski should not be confused with English Bay, a body of water out in the Aleutian Islands, whose name pertains to its exploration by Captain Cook.

All good? Great. Nanwalek's Russian heritage bears heavily on the town to this day, particularly in terms of its religious life. By the post office is the community's Russian Orthodox church, a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is beautiful and I was honored that Mackey (seen later on) gave me a tour of the inside of the church. Isn't it lovely?





Here's the church's classic "onion dome"!



The Russian Orthodox have some beautiful traditions. I recommend visiting this KBBI story about Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7. Here's a snippet, discussing the representation of the journey of the Three Wise Men:

Each region in Alaska that practices this style of caroling, what we call Slavic, they all have variations. But generally they follow a star, a wooden frame that’s decorated with the icon of nativity in the center and that star guides the carolers house to house.

The rituals are a blend of Native traditions, the community's Russian past, and Western influences alike. It's a rather unique combination.

The Russian Orthodox cemetery, located behind the church, is also beautiful. Male and female graves are marked distinctively: "The graves in this cemetery are marked with Russian Orthodox crosses. The crosses for females have a wooden "cap" signifying the caps women wear in church." Can you see the difference?





Here's my gracious tour guide, Mackey, on his ATV (perhaps the most common vehicle around town). The church is in the background.



Nanwalek, as one would expect, has a general store. It's bright and inviting inside, if rather nondescript outside.



Has anyone here tried Sailor Boy Pilot Bread?



I'll leave you now with a few closing views from Nanwalek. First up, the elementary-through-high school, a larger school with a more substantive playground than we saw over in Port Graham.



Here's a restful look at the Nanwalek lagoon, taken at the periphery of the airport.



Finally, a view of the Nanwalek airport/runway from the Russian Orthodox cemetery.



Flying back to Homer we get a view of the wonderful turquoise sea.



Finally, we return over four-mile-long Homer Spit. Here we see the harbor/marina, from which we'll depart for our final post office of the day.



Once again, thank you to Smokey Bay Air for working with me and making this trip possible!

In our next installment we take the mail boat to Halibut Cove, and after a long day we'll relax in the bar with 80 gajillion dollar bills on the wall, which can be found back at the end of the Alaskan road. We'll also explore one unique Alaska city, Whittier, which is accessible by a three-mile, one lane tunnel through the mountains.

Alaska by Post Office: The Halibut Capital of the World

Welcome back! In the first installment of our Alaska journey I detailed facts, figures, some mail transportation processes, and photos of a handful of Alaskan post offices in the most populated corner of the state. Let's head out a bit further to the Kenai Peninsula. It's located south of Anchorage and is one of the parts of Alaska you can drive to on the primary road network. We'll take that path and head beyond the automobile's realm to some villages accessible only by air or by sea.

The Kenai

The Kenai Peninsula juts from south of Anchorage 160 miles toward the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula proper (not the area of the Alaskan borough—think county—of the same name) is about the size of New Jersey, but instead of low coastal plains here a range of mountains rises as high as 6,600 feet. Yep, even this small ocean-lined corner of Alaska has its own mountain range, and it makes for a stunning backdrop to travels around the area. So imagine New Jersey with colder boardwalks, mountains and glaciers, and about 99.4% fewer people. That's the Kenai Peninsula. Got it? Great, it's nothing like that.

But here's what we have got: one primary road (AK-1) connecting several towns, many quite a few miles apart, and several "spurs" taking you to communities like Hope, Seward, Whittier, and Nikiski.


The coastal villages on the southwestern tip of the Kenai, home to Kachemak Bay State Park, cannot be reached by car. Those were the fun ones to visit. But let's see a couple more 'standard' post offices first.

Bigger Town Post Offices

This might look familiar to you at this point. The post offices in Soldotna, [the City of] Kenai, Seward, and Homer bear the same design we saw on a number of facilities in our last post re: Anchorage. Three of the four feature a circular window in the front, which the Homer post office makes great use of. Here's the exception as far as windows are concerned, the Kenai post office:


In case they're reading this, the clerks at Kenai were very awesome.

"Log Cabin" Post Offices

Two of my favorite post offices on the Kenai Peninsula were Cooper Landing (leased; occupied 2003) and Kasilof (owned; occupied 1988). Both are log-sided and look as though they could have made Honest Abe proud. The first photo is of the Cooper Landing post office, whose roof at this angle resembles the peaks of the surrounding mountains.



Here's a trio of photos of the Kasilof post office, which features one of the most striking P.O. Box areas I've seen. (In case she's reading this, Michelle was also great at the counter.)





Cooper Landing straddles stunning turquoise blue rivers, and fishing is a popular tourist draw. Isn't this a fantastic color?



Kasilof lies on the western edge of the Kenai. I captured this late-afternoon scene overlooking a beach in Kalifornsky, just north of Kasilof. The horizon is lovely there.

Homer

Four hours and a 220-mile drive south on Alaska 1 from Anchorage is the city of Homer. With a population of 5,000 it's rather large by Alaska standards. It's also quite hip! I came across multiple nice restaurants of varying cuisine; a positively fascinating bar; a post office with a rather nice touch to it; and, most importantly, the airport and marina from which to depart for some more remote postal facilities.

Homer's is a rather standard-looking post office by our thoroughly established Alaska standards. From the front the building is nothing special compared with its ilk...



Look more closely, and step inside, and you might be floored by the stained glass artwork that adorn that circular window in the entrance.

Homer, Alaska post office artwork, front entrance:



According to very friendly USPS personnel who were gracious enough to follow up with my query as to the Homer Eagle's provenance two postal workers "made a piece for the eagle" with some assistance. The larger work was "a community college effort with supplies donated by the community." How awesome is that?

I enjoyed some great food in Homer, especially at AJ's Oldtown Steakhouse & Tavern. I was regaled gastronomically and musically. Here's a view from my seat.



Among the more interesting facets of Homer is the Homer Spit, a four-mile-long sliver of land that juts from Homer out into Kachemak Bay. The end of the spit hosts a large marina, Pier One Theatre, a sizable collection of restaurants, and other attractions. Homer is known as the Halibut Capital of the World, and you can set out on fishing charters (think: $200+ per day out) to prove your mettle. We'll be seeing more of Homer Spit when we head to the mail boat to explore Halibut Cove.

Let's fly!

First, I must say this... If you read my first post you know how frustrated I was about my inability to get an airline to promise me a few minutes on the ground without leaving me for an entire day. (I'm still looking at you, FlyRavn. Help a guy out here?) By contrast, I could not be more thankful for the professionalism and time dedicated by Homer-based Smokey Bay Air for working with me to make my, shall we say, unusual itinerary a reality. The company books bear viewings and volcano tours, but not generally a string of dropoffs and pickups for each of the villages they serve.

→ Special thanks to Lukia at Smokey Bay, who held several conversations by email and phone to ensure that a) we could create a schedule that worked for both me and the company's standard commercial operations; and b) put me in contact with Village Agents in two villages to ensure that I had a warm welcome and even a full-out tour when I arrived.

So what's going on and where are we going? There's a map for that. Here's our itinerary for our brisk late-October Saturday based in Homer: 9:00 AM, fly from Homer to Seldovia; Seldovia to Port Graham, tour; Port Graham to Nanwalek, tour; Nanwalek to Homer. Each hop would be on scheduled commercial flights lasting between five and 20 minutes; I'd be on the ground about an hour in each village. I'd also have an hour on the ground back in Homer before the mail boat (2:00 PM) departed to Halibut Cove. Later on it would be a private boat back. Busy day!



I met a Smokey Bay four-seater at Homer Airport, having checked my bag into the cargo area (read: space behind the seat). I think it's about time to show some more photos.



Taking off; looking south, past Homer Spit (with the lights), across Kachemak Bay:


Kenai Mountains:


Tutka Bay in fog:


Approaching Seldovia:

Seldovia

On the ground in Seldovia I had the streets all to myself. This population-250 community has a marina, summer ferry service, a museum / visitor center, and even a boardwalk. No, we're not talking Jersey Shore. With some of the highest tides in the world Kackemak Bay is Alaska's answer to the Bay of Fundy. You'll discover quite a few buildings on stilts in Seldovia.

Low tide, Seldovia:


From my brief time in Seldovia... 1) A really nice decorated fire hydrant; 2) Flower pot/shoes at a house on the boardwalk; 3) The boardwalk; 4) Stained glass window at the Seldovia Village Tribe Visitor Center.









Of course, here's the Seldovia post office (and yours truly at said). Located at 251 Main Street, the post office has been at this site since 1968 (when its building appears as though it would have been quite modern, indeed). USPS's rent is currently $25,000 per year. Operating hours are 9:00am - 12:00pm and 1:00pm - 4:30pm, weekdays. As for the rest of the post offices on this part of the trip (Port Graham, Nanwalek, Halibut Cove), operating hours depend on mail arrival schedules and they will not be daily.

Seldovia post office:




From here it's about a mile walk back to the airport. Here are some informational signs at the passenger terminal.



Gotta go. Here comes my ride!


You can find more information about the history of Seldovia here, and see more about what to do during the tourist season here. (Remember: I visited in late October, which is totally off-season.)

Port Graham

Port Graham is a native village; its name is Paluwik ("pah-LU-wig") in Alutiiq, the native language. The Port Graham [Alaska Native] Corporation describes the following features of its setting for potential tourism growth as follows: "High mountain vistas, tidewater and massive glaciers, deep fjords, protected bays and inlets, abundance of wildlife..." This corner of the country is beautiful; it's a bit of a shame the colors and trees for these photos were subdued in autumn fog.

The first thing one notices upon landing in Port Graham is that, like Seldovia and Nanwalek, Port Graham's airport features a gravel runway. Second is that fantastic sign above. As you can see the population of Port Graham is on the order of 150.



I was given a gracious greeting and a full tour by native resident Rich. I was picked up at the, shall we say, modest airport terminal.



Here's an annotated aerial view (looking south) of the community we'll be exploring.





Port Graham's Community Post Office (CPO) is a contract unit overseen by the Homer post office. Located at the tribal village offices, the CPO operates three days a week (when the mail gets flown in in, assuming the weather allows). Mail is brought from the airport to the post office by Pam, who we'll meet at the Variety Store—not to be confused with the General Store, which we'll see first. It was difficult to get a glare-free photo of the post office through the locked outer door, though I think the setting and sign are the most fascinating aspects of this P.O.





The Port Graham General Store is located by the water near the town's marina. It is bright inside and fully stocked with packaged groceries.





Here's a view from the marina:


By the water is the K-12 school in Port Graham. Recall, this is a population-150 town. There are but a couple dozen students in the community. Here is their modest, quaint playground.



In addition to the General Store, Port Graham has a Variety Store. The Variety Store has a fantastic hand-painted sign outside and, in addition to what you might expect sundry-wise, a sizable collection of DVDs. (Fun fact: There are still several Blockbuster stores in Alaska, among the last in the country! This is largely due to the fact that many home Internet plans in Alaska are not unlimited; rather, their cost is based on data usage, like your cell phone plan.)





Here are Pam and Uncle Rich at the Variety Store. THANK YOU again to Pam for being available to allow me in the village, and Rich for driving me around town and showing me what the community has to offer on my admittedly unusual tour of Port Graham.



In our first post you saw groceries being handed off from plane to pickup in Port Graham. Here's one more image of the process in action. Once the groceries are out, the rear seats are pushed back and I'm in! And we're off to our next destination, Nanwalek.



As we head out of Port Graham we get another view of October Alaskan fog.



Nanwalek is just a few miles down the coast from Port Graham, though no roads connect the villages. (A four-mile walking trail does connect the two.) Here's another photo en route.



There's more to Port Graham's story. Read more about the community's history and heritage.

Next time we finish up our day in the air and on the water with a visit to Nanwalek, a village with a beautiful Russian Orthodox heritage and a crooked runway!