The Extraction

Leaving the dirt roads of Bethel for the ice roads of the Kuskokwim. Aniak is 150 miles upriver of Bethel so we're expecting about a 4 hour ride. I'd tried the trip the week before but drifts had filled the road more than I could push through at about 75 miles and we had to turn back. I've heard they plowed some again so I have hope.

The road was great most of the way. It's late in the year so there's a little water here and there but most of the river ice is well over a foot thick.

Counted 19 moose along the way.

3.5 hours later, exiting the ice road for the dirt road in Aniak.

There she is, nestled in a couple feet of snow next to the old Aniak Lodge.

Glad we brought shovels. ... start digging.

Now the down side, the motor was pulled about 8 years ago and has been covered for most of that time but it looked like the tarp was blown off at some point.

The upside was the guy next door had a backhoe and helped us dig the bulk of the drift away from the scout and lifted the motor into my truck.

Couple hours later and with the help of the guy with the garage next door and my son here in the photo, we had it pulled free. The tires are holding air and we're trying to figure out how to pull a scout with no working breaks 150 miles back home when....

The guy with the garage comes out with a brand new tow bar he'd bought years earlier and says $50 bucks and it's mine. No brainer for sure. My son seemed relieved not to have to drive the Scout back towed by a rope. I have to say, the idea of him being tied to my truck without brakes wasn't making me feel good either.

In the afternoon the sun started shining and the river got slick! I was drifting the scout around turns. Also closer to town in was getting wetter than I'd like. I'm thinking a couple of those "potholes" were just Holes!

But we made it back without any major problems. A bar related to either the clutch or throttle fell out of the engine bay but my son saw it bouncing along in the mirror so we picked it up. Took us a little over 5 hours to make it home.

Nestled in the yard.

Safe and Sound.