Going Rogue: An American Life (126 page)

The family lines up for a weekend snowmachine ride, where we take off from our front door on frozen Lake Lucille. There are plentiful trail-riding opportunities all over our state, and, in fact, if you’re tough enough, you could travel all the way from our house to Nome, like Iditarod mushers and Iron Daggers do.
Courtesy Todd Palin
BELOW LEFT: Here
I’m
panning for gold on a creek near Eureka, which is near Glennallen. This find is after three of us panned for two days in the freezing creek. BELOW RIGHT: Commercial fishing in Bristol Bay on a nice day like this is a family affair. Track and I prepare the net to set from Nushagak River’s beach, which requires me leaving the skiff, tromping through the mud, and then working the ebb and of the tide to catch healthy, clean, wild Alaska salmon.
Courtesy Todd Palin

ABOVE LEFT: Dad and his granddaughter Willow clean silver salmon at our favorite sport-fishing hole. We dry the eggs to use as bait, often for ice fishing. I’m not hardcore enough to thaw the frozen eggs in my mouth before baiting an ice-fishing hook; Dad’s a good man-he usually takes care of that.
Courtesy Todd Palin
ABOVE RIGHT: Our wonderful friend and commercial fishing partner Nick Timurphy, originally from the Native village of New Stuyahok, is ready to help me field dress the caribou I just shot . It may not look like a trophy, but it’s good eating, and I’m thankful to help fill our freezer with some of the cleanest organic protein on God’s green earth. We eat, therefore we hunt.
Courtesy Todd Palin
Todd and I pull in the net to haul a catch of red salmon that we’ll sell to a Bristol Bay processor. Todd’s the hardest-working fisherman I know. He goes days without sleep and picks salmon from the nets with amazing skill and speed. He’s been at this for nearly forty years. He hires a crew, sometimes greenhorns, to join us every summer, and if they start off not knowing what hard work is, Todd makes sure they know what it feels like by the end of the season .
Courtesy Kaleb

Sally herds up part of the

family for a blueberry-picking

day at Hatcher Pass in the

Mat-Su Valley. We make jam

and freeze a lot of our wild

organic produce

the winter,

plus bake plenty of pies and

muffins with the fresh berries.

Wild game, local vegetables,

and berries grown under

the midnight sun are

our family’ food staples.

Courtesy Chuck Heath

In between salmon runs at our

commercial fishing site in Dillingham,

I try to squeeze in a few miles of

running from my in-laws’ house and

usually try to make it a kid-friendly

event. Here Todd watches a very young

Track, with a traditional summer buzz

cut, and Willow as we get ready for a

jog.
Courtesy Chuck Heath

Fireweed grows wild and gorgeous

throughout many parts of Alaska.

Willow stands in a field of it, probably

ready to nibble on a blossom because

they’re sweet and can be made into

honey. Legend has it that when the

flower reaches the top of the stalk,

then summer is over and a quick

autumn lets us gear up for winter.

Courtesy Chuck Heath

ABOVE: I’m taking in the day’s news while

Payton; my brother-in-law, Kurt Bruce; and

Karcher surround me, modeling fur hats

at my parents’ kitchen table. The hat are

the best for keeping heads warm in the cold

northern climate.
Courtesy Chuck Heath

February 2002. Todd holds Piper in the city garage in Nome, the halfway point of the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmachine race. Todd and his partner won that year. Some remnants of duct tape protected Todd’s exposed skin during the 100-miles-per-hour rides in frigid conditions . Racers apply new tape at checkpoints along the way to avoid inevitable frostbite.
Courtesy Sarah Palin Easter brunch at myoId house on Wasilla Lake. Bristol, me (I’d just had Piper), Sally, Willow, Molly, and Payton join hands as Mom leads us in saying grace. It’s always been our faith’s tradition to join together in thanking God for His blessings, and asking for His strength and guidance. Courtesy Chuck Heath

Opening the door to Alaska wildlife in the

Heaths’ home. Dad refused to let Molly

invite the moose any further into the house.

Dad has a massive fishing lure collection,

and just a few of the many thousands of

“snags” he’s found in local rivers adorn the wall next to the door where the moose

peeks in.
Courtesy Chuck Heath

LEFT: Piper, wearing a colorful Eskimo

parka made by Great-Great-Grandmother

Lena Andree, tries to stay upright with a

hockey stick on the ice in front of our Lake

Lucille home. I pretend to be able to play

the game while Todd, behind me, fines es

the puck.
Courtesy 200.9

judy Patrick/

AlaskaStock.com

BELOW: October 2006. Three of five

generations of beautiful Yupik women, all

dressed in traditional bright Native clothes.

Gathered around Lena, the matriarch, are

Willow, Blanche, Piper, and Bristol. Todd

and I are blessed knowing that our kids

have Lena and other esteemed elders to

look up to .
Courtesy Chuck Heath