As many of you know, Alaska is my second home, and the place where my heart lives much of the year.
For those who only know Alaska from the itinerary of a cruise or from a documentary film about polar bears, there is much more to learn.
And one thing to learn is how hard, and expensive, it is to live there, particularly now. It seems the high cost of living has reached even the most idyllic places left in the Last Frontier.
Thousands of villagers in rural Alaska are struggling to survive, forced to choose between keeping their families warm and keeping their stomachs full, residents say.
Harvested nuts and berries, small game animals, and dried fish are the only things keeping some from starving.
To get to the nearest store, Ann Strongheart and her husband, who live in Nunam Iqua, Alaska, take an hour-and-15-minute snowmobile ride to Emmonak, Alaska. Their town does not have a store of its own.
Normally, they would each ride a snowmobile, in case one broke down. But now, they can't afford to waste the fuel, so they just take one and hope for the best.
At the store, the Stronghearts buy groceries and supplies for the family for the week, which cost more than $400. They buy only as much as their snowmobile can carry.
In many stores, 2 pounds of cheese costs between $15 and $18, milk costs $10 a gallon, a 5-pound bag of apples costs $15, and a dozen eggs costs $22 -- more than double the price in the area just two years ago.
Many area residents don't even bother with fruits and vegetables, which can be damaged by freezing on the trip home.
After shopping, the Stronghearts pack their groceries into boxes, tie them to the snowmobile, and begin the 25-mile trek home, passing moose, rabbit and fox tracks along the way.
The trip sets them back about $50 in fuel alone.
On top of high food prices, some residents are paying nearly $1,500 a month to heat their homes. [A] brutal early winter brought the longest cold snap in five years. In September the temperature in many villages dropped as low as 20 degrees, a record low for many, according to the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
The 1,200-mile Yukon River, which the villages use as a highway, froze completely in September, at least two months earlier than usual. That left residents cut off from some basic necessities, and forced them to have pricey bulk fuel flown in.
These residents and their ancestors have lived for hundreds of years in the Yukon Delta, which Emmonak resident Cindy Beans describes as something out of National Geographic.
Beans said her brother walks three miles in 20-below-zero weather to check on nets under the ice for fish. The fish is a staple they need to keep themselves fed.
"The life out here has always been hard, it's just that its a lot harder now," she said.
