It's All Good- A Canoe Country Sojourn

Here's a story I wrote for Northern Wilds this past summer, which I just discovered was online. It was the first portion of a 15 day trip, with just Zeb and Tischer.

"As my brother and I lowered my father’s aluminum canoe onto the surface of Sawbill Lake, I felt my heart begin to beat in rhythm with the gentle lapping waves. Standing at the launch on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, our daydreams of the paddle strokes ahead were tempered by the three bulging Duluth packs waiting to fill the canoe.

Our hope was for a campsite after a quick portage, but just we crossed over the invisible wilderness line we eyed a rocky point with an empty site. And so with the sun teasing the treetops, we guided our craft onto dry land."

Click HERE for the whole story and a photo of Zeb.

A favorites from the summer

Nate Petry captures my arrival at Fox Island

Cut and Paste

Glissading up near Mount Alice

KTUU Channel 2 Anchorage - Day Trippin'

In May I had the opportunity to guide a reporter and photographer from the Anchorage NBC affiliate into Bear Glacier. I was sitting on the couch when the call came for the trip, only 30 minutes from departure, with freshly shaven handle bars and a rice burrito in my hands. About as ready as I'll ever be for a television appearance.

Watch the video below...


Or go to the Day Trippin' section of KTUU's website for the link to the video, read the verbage from the segment, and watch what they deem as a "Web exclusive: preparing and safety tips for glacier kayaking" showing me talking with Leyla, the reporter.

August Mountain Times Column

(*The MT website incorrectly lists the column "Your Liver or Your Life - You Are Forewarned" as mine.  It isn't.  Though I probably can qualify as someone capable of writing such a piece.  Scroll down the page to find my latest.)

A Cold - but Quickly Getting Old - Learning Experience

"Being in the grip of summer heaven, the words that follow might seem as unfamiliar to your eyes right now as the sound of thunder was to my ears during three years at my cabin on The Mountain.

The weather has finally, almost as though I really expected it to, turned here in Seward. It was like, as my boss likes to suggest (when referring to potential work in the sea kayak guiding world), someone flipped a switch.

Soft tan lines and salt stained T-shirts..."

To read the rest of this column click HERE.

Appreciating the Bay from ‘see’ level

"As the wind flings raindrops against the window just above my head, I strain to watch blurry treetops on the rising hill heading up toward Mount Marathon, dancing in the forceful gusts coming off the bay. The gray outside is broken by the occasional brightly colored poncho staggering by, heads tucked and pockets filled with wet fingers.

Draped next to me my raincoat — a constant companion the last few days — is feeding a growing pool of water on the hardwood floor. My hands are wrapped around a wide mug of hot tea, and my neoprene boots feel like cozy slippers on a blustery day meant for daydreaming.

On any other day..."

To read the rest of this story click HERE.

Hagen Visits, we do Fox Island

Reunion on the water.  Been a long time.

Nate in search of the horizon, leaving Fox Island

Smooth water entices our full breakfast bellies

Sunset! from our camp on Fox Island Spit

My solo paddle to meet my friends escorted by a fine sunset

Stuffed Sunday

Tischer wanting in...

We feasted on a meal with each component matching the "stuffed" theme.  Green peppers filled with spicy sausage, cheese and onion. Mushroom caps with garlic, crab and cheese replacing the stems. Portions of bacon wrapped around water chestnuts and drizzled with BBQ sauce.  

And to top it off: A dark Porter filling a frosty mug with one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream.  Consumed in a hot tub out back with full bellies and and big eyes.  

Yum yum in our tum tum.

Snow River to Kenai Lake

The day: hot and all too tempting to spend in the shade strung between two trees, a thin layer of hammock holding me above the dog shit laden grass.  Talk formed of hitting the river with some white water boats for a teaching session for Erin and Nate and some wave playing for Greggy and I, instead I opted to bail and spend the day with my words and a computer screen, in addition to letting Tischer get hers.  

Temporarily.  Instead we formed a compromise plan and threw two short kayaks and a canoe on the van and shuttled up to Primrose Campground.  Left the truck and travelled back down the Seward Highway for a railroad bridge put-in on the Snow River.

With Tischer running along the rivers edge much of the way, swimming some of the other, and occasionally hitching a ride between Greg and I, we spent the remainder of the hot afternoon floating back to my truck.  Greeted the nude bathers with surprise and overlook.  Starred at large bear prints while I peed a few feet away.  

Good day that almost got away.

Seward Pheonix Log Story

Van Williams of the Seward newspaper wrote this story after interviewing both Erik and I following our finish in the Mayor's Marathon and Half Marathon last weekend up in Anchorage.

Find the story on The Seward Pheonix Log website.

Heli kayaking into Bear Glacier

I've had a few half day trips into Bear Glacier so far this season.  We take a flight from the Seward airport and land on the gravel bar near the outflow from the lake where gigantic icebergs bob in frigid waters.

A few photos from these trips.  

Co-pilot in the air edging the Harding Icefield.

White Bear Lake Represents

I discovered this sign mingling with a mix of thousands in the Sign Forest, an attraction along the Alaska Highway affectionately claimed by Watson Lake.  The Yukon Territory had many surprises, but standing next to the marker of my hometown - where one identical to this still stands to this day along at the edge of town not far from my parents home (I think?) - brought a big smile to my face.  A slice of home in a land far away.   

Paddling in Alaska

So after 2 months of no contact, at least via this blog, I have some updates.  You may have guessed that I made it to Alaska by now. Living down on the Kenai Peninsula in Seward leaves little to the imagination.  This place is beautiful and powerful.  The weather has been fantastic and hopefully will continue.  The days haven't been full of work so I have tried to mix in paddling, running, racquetball, hiking, biking, and most recently some long-boarding.  

Hopefully guiding will pick up soon.  Otherwise I have another half marathon up in Anchorage in a few weeks.  Moose Pass which is just a little up the road from us here hosts a pretty stellar solstice celebration and a regional celebrity by the name of Hobo Jim entertains us all on Sundays at the Yukon Bar.  

Been meeting lots of local folks and getting a grasp of where exactly I am.  I have bounced around between restlessness in not being settled and then comfort in exactly that.  It's a weird mix.  

Tischer is doing well.  She gets to swim regularly at Bear Lake and even in Resurrection Bay now and again.  I don't want to spend too much time here (even though I haven't spent any at all in a while) because it's near 70 degrees and sunny out there, and that isn't normal for here.  I need some time on the water.  And a trail run.  

Gazing around the fire at Bear Glacier Lagoon.