Puutuu or Hole in the Rock Hike - located on Fish/Niukluk River by White Mountain, Alaska. Its is reachable by river boat, maybe ATV's. I do not know exactly where it is on the river and so to be able to do this hike, need to find someone who does. Its an intense hike. You go up the side of the Mountain at a steep incline and there isn't a path. You will be thick in dense brush and grass. The mosquitos are voracious, bug dope is a must. I don't have any pictures going up or down the hill because I am sure I was gasping for air for most of the hike. We didn't go up the hill slowly.
Above is a picture of fireweed on the gravel bar before the hike began. A pic of me below. I was dressed too warm for this hike and sweated my buns off going up...
Here we are at Puutuu or "Hole in the rock." Its a natural formation, kind of like a mini arches. I wish I could say more about the history and cultural significance of Puutuu other then it is bad luck to go through the hole. But as you can see, our dogs are lounging in the shade of the hole.
A view down the hill from Puutuu. You can see either the Fish or the Niukluk River below. My father left his binoculars up at Puutuu and had to rush back up the mountian once we got back to the boat
Aggie Creek Dredge Hike - great family hike: no incline, a good worn path, beautiful scenery. I walked mostly the creek bed looking for gold because Aggie Creek Dredge - is a dredge that tilled for gold at the beginning of the 1920's. I am not sure when it shut down but it provided jobs for some of my great uncles and other family members in the past.
As you can see in the pic below, the path is pretty easy to follow and its flat.
Aggie Creek Dredge, who knows how much longer it will be standing? Its on Alaska Native Corporation lands and gold mining is now prohibited... but its still fun to see a bit of Alaska History. I guess its famous for finding a meteorite in the 1940's. Here is a link for that:
http://www2.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF2/200.html
If you look at the bottom of the pic, you can see the foundation of an old log cabin, probably used during the mining days. It was on the left of the trail when walking towards the dredge. Need a boat to get to both hikes, and maybe a guide for the Puutuu hike.
