Wiseman, Alaska: the best part of the Artic Circle Tour

I saved the best part of the Artic Circle Tour for a separate entry. We drove by van to Wiseman, Alaska, population 15. Five of those are members of Jack Reakoff's family! Jack himself was the centerpiece of the Wiseman tour, showing us around his home and area and regaling us with information about life in very rural Alaska. Jack received his high school diploma by mail, is self-taught and brilliant.  A quiet man, he speaks with authority and without apology. He grew up among nomadic natives, left and returned.

His sister runs a lovely gift shop there.  You might wonder who in the world comes to this remote place to buy gifts? Jack operates Aurora Borealis tours and visitors from all across the world come to be in the most magical place to see the lights, at the top of the world. In addition to tours such as ours, Wiseman also attracts hunters. They have to come prepared to pack out what they shoot, though, as there is a 5 mile corridor from any highway where ATV use is prohibited.  He told us that he and his wife can skin and quarter a moose in 45 minutes.

Jack sits on a Fish and Game Commission and when he got tired of those 14.4 downloads, he moved to high speed internet. It was rather humorous to see a Hughesnet dish on a log cabin. He said he did not agree with hunting wolves by airplane, as it upsets the balance of nature; likewise, he disagrees with the new 5 caribou limit which abuses the resources with trophy hunters.

The home is small and self-contained, with an entry way that feebly attempts to keep out the extreme cold.  Jack said that there is often frost on the inside knob in winter. They have solar panels and store electricity in batteries, but also have a generator in addition the wood stove. It takes 20 days of cutting wood to provide for the winter.  Jack hunts and runs a 130 mile trapline, which requires the services of a "skidoo".  Feeding dogs would be too costly and they require too much maintenance.  The northernmost garden in Alaska, next to Jack's home, is studied by the University for hardiness by cold weather varieties. He pointed out several plants that he was told could not survive there and noted that you just need to try it.

Surprisingly, his wife suffers from Seasonal Affective DIsorder and uses a light box. Heck, in our Wisconsin winters I know a number of people, including myself, who use artificial lights. They also mega-dose on Vitamin D, something like 10 or 12,000 units. I think the extended darkness would be extremely difficult.

The visit to Wiseman is a gem. The Post Office is seen sinking into the permafrost and there are few buildings, but the hardy residents not only survive but flourish. In the book "Yukon Quest" there is a story of musher Sepp Herrmann's dog team being attacked by a grizzly bear as he ran a trap line, and he hitchhiked to Wiseman where he "rounded up a posse of armed local residents".  I would be quite certain Jack was among them.