"Arctic Expeditions"

"I have never relied on satellite phones for communication, they are an annoyance for me, even as phones in general are considered annoying away from these remote regions. I prefer to be in these distant rivers without any interference from the outside world. It is rare that any aircraft flies overhead, and if they do they are so high I do not hear them. Should my plane not return to bring me out, I face going all the way to the Arctic Ocean and continue west to Barrow before freeze-up. So far all of my pilots have been on schedule and when the day comes, I must be on a suitable gravel bar for their landing and in plain view.  One season my pilot did not understand my instructions for a maneuver on a gravel bar to avoid soft sand but he plowed into this softer area with a full load of ivory and one tire fell into a wet trap. I then proceeded to hang on the opposite wing strut to add more weight and he revved up the prop to pull us out of the sand as I flapped in the hurricane force sand storm. We pulled out of the soft area and back onto firm ground all the time spitting sand from my teeth, hair and nose."