For Salina Alsworth Peterson, the idea of popping back to the store for one forgotten item is almost funny. In Port Alsworth, Alaska, a quick errand can mean booking a near hour flight that can cost around $600 round trip. The tiny community sits inside Lake Clark National Park, surrounded by steep mountains, rivers, and lakes that make roads impractical. With fewer than 200 residents, it is the kind of place many people would call the middle of nowhere, even though it is the only home she has ever known.
Peterson was born and raised in Port Alsworth, a village her family helped establish in the 1950s on the south shore of Lake Clark near the Tanalian River. She still lives there with her husband, Jared Peterson, and says the routine feels normal because it is what she grew up with. The nearest hub for restaurants, major shopping, and everyday services is Anchorage, a flight of roughly an hour and a half. When asked what is available locally that would save her a flight, she answers simply that there is nothing.
Aviation is woven into her family story, starting with her great grandfather Leon, known as Babe Alsworth, who left Minnesota for Alaska because he wanted a life built around flying. Babe worked as a missionary and bush pilot and met Marry Alsworth, an Aleut woman from Pilot Point, during his travels. Peterson says Marry later became the first postmaster in Port Alsworth, and the family’s roots grew deeper through homesteading. She credits the Homestead Act, signed by Abraham Lincoln, with helping her great grandparents put down that foundation.
Keeping the community on the map also meant building a business that welcomed outsiders into their world. Glen Alsworth Sr. and his wife Patty Alsworth started the Farm Lodge in 1977, and Glen Alsworth Jr. later shifted the operation to a hillside location overlooking Hardenburg Bay. Today, Peterson works year round at Lake Clark Resort handling guest relations and whatever else needs doing. She also shares her daily life online, where her following across platforms has climbed into the hundreds of thousands.
@salinaalsworth_ak Replying to @GingerBarronEnderly life is also better here in the middle of no where #alaska #fypシ ♬ Love Grows Hope – Quasar Nebula
Living comfortably takes planning and plenty of physical work. The Petersons heat their home with a wood stove, so chopping and stacking wood is a constant job, especially since it needs to dry for a long time before winter. She describes temperatures that can plunge to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, with minus 20 feeling almost warm by comparison. When weather keeps her inside, she turns to crocheting and knitting, including sweaters she makes herself.
Transportation looks different too in a town without roads. Snowmobiles, which locals call snow machines, are both recreation and necessity, and even kids learn to drive them early. There are no school buses, so children often get themselves to school on their own machines after being taught safety by their families. It is a practical solution shaped by the landscape.
Food requires the most strategy because running out is not an option. Peterson focuses on freezer items and shelf stable staples, freezing even fresh meat so it lasts. She also relies on fishing for salmon and hunting moose in season, joking that what many people call beef at dinner can easily be moose instead. Groceries flown in add up fast when freight can run about 90 cents per pound, and even deliveries arrive only on mail planes three days a week, with fast shipping nowhere in sight.
Would you trade convenience for wilderness views and a tighter knit community like Port Alsworth, or is that a step too far for you? Share your thoughts in the comments.
