Text Box:              The Yukon River near Grayling, Alaska shifted on Monday, May 7, 2007.  It started to build up by the mouth of the Grayling Creek.  Big chunks of ice started to rise and fall while the people of Grayling were watching in awe.  The ice sheets began to collide together on Tuesday and by Wednesday the ice built up by the bank, and the water started flowing down river.              The students and some of the community members of Grayling went to the bank to watch as the ice piled up higher than anyone could ever remember.   Everybody was amazed it how high the ice built up around the banks of the river.  Break-up is an important event for villages along the Yukon.  Once the water is open, barges can start there way up river to bring people their vehicles and other large merchandise.  This is significant because the shipping charges are far less than air transportation.  The river is a primary means of transportation for villagers as well.  The breakup is important because we cannot put our boats into the water until the ice moves or melts away.   Until then,  the only way to get out of Grayling is to make reservations on a plane.              According to the National Weather Service, the conditions near old Galena are critical. The ice has stopped the flow of the river which has caused the river to rise.  This poses potential danger to the communities up stream as it could cause flooding.  As of eleven a.m. on the eleventh, the ice flow has jammed at Grayling causing the same potential danger.   Luckily, this year, the village of Grayling sits several feet above the crest of the river.  The people of Grayling were not so fortunate in the past.              In 1962 the people of Grayling moved from Holikachuk, due to spring flooding each year.  Many of the families in Holikachuk went in search of a new site for their village.  Grayling was chosen because the people were familiar with the land and there had been a settlement here in the past.  While Grayling has endured spring flooding in the past, it has been over thirty years since the last serious flood threatened our village.      Thursday, May 10, 2007           picture of the ice build-up           Melissa and Jackson