Residents of Port Alsworth must fly over 300 km to the nearest city to shop for groceries and essential supplies.
Salina Alsworth, 25 years old, lives in Port Alsworth, Alaska, one of the most remote and desolate villages in the world. Salina’s great-grandparents were among the first residents of Port Alsworth in the 1940s. Today, the population here is only about 186 people, spanning five generations. The population can swell to 400 during the peak tourist season.
Salina Alsworth standing in front of her home.
The village has no roads, supermarkets, hospitals, or bars. The nearest city, Anchorage, is over 300 km away from Salina’s village, and the only mode of transportation is by plane, taking more than an hour to travel. Therefore, even for grocery shopping or essential food items, the young woman must fly.
Items on her shopping list include basic foods such as apples, bananas, strawberries, powdered milk, and eggs. “The only store here is a small gift shop at my family’s resort. The village has no movie theaters, bars, or restaurants. We only have two coffee shops. Winter is the hardest time because food is scarce. Traveling to the nearby city for shopping is also challenging due to heavy snow and fog,” Salina said. The 25-year-old once surprised her husband by bringing back Italian food from Anchorage and setting up a romantic dinner at home to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
Typically, she has to compile a detailed list of items to avoid forgetting anything. Transporting fresh food back to the village can be costly and perishable. Therefore, Salina often opts for canned goods. At the same time, she pays attention to their expiration dates; the longer they last, the better. Shipping costs to Port Alsworth can reach 2-5 USD per kg, with no exact delivery times due to weather conditions.
This airplane serves as a public bus, private vehicle, mail carrier, and freight transport…
Her family operates a resort in Port Alsworth called Lake Clark, which attracts hundreds of tourists each year and serves as their main source of income. In the summer, visitors can take boat tours between villages. In winter, snowmobiling on frozen lakes is a popular activity. Salina’s husband, Jared Richardson, 23, a fishing guide, was once a tourist in Port Alsworth. The two met, fell in love, and now manage the resort and a fleet of planes together.
Salina mentioned that her family owns small airplanes suitable for the area’s terrain and weather. The fleet consists of various types of aircraft capable of landing on different terrains, including ice and snow. The largest airplane can accommodate nine passengers. This vehicle replaces public buses, private cars, mail carriers, freight transport, and ambulance services for the people living here. However, in winter, when flying to shop or visit the nearby city, local residents must dress as if embarking on an Arctic expedition due to the extremely cold temperatures, which can drop below -30 degrees Celsius on the plane.
This is a very remote place to live.
“This is a very remote place to live. But I love the simple life here. Sometimes it can be a bit challenging to plan for food storage, but I cherish the life surrounded by nature. You can see moose running through the garden or bears swimming in the lake. In winter, we often stay indoors, relax, drink tea, and watch a good movie together. I appreciate the small joys in life. In winter, the sun in Alaska rises late, sets quickly, and the light is not as bright as in many other places. In summer, the sun shines all day and night. Sometimes, I long for familiar things like fresh fruit and takeout food. Here, they are luxuries. Occasionally, relatives and friends send us a treat from faraway China. Those are all delicious items. I feel happy to live in this small place where ordinary things become special,” she said.
In addition to managing the resort and the fleet of planes, Salina also has an Instagram account to update life in the village.
