At play where the midnight sun holds court
To the uninitiated, the perception of Alaska is strongly shaped by popular culture, mythos, and one’s own wild imagination. My view was shaped by similar notions prior to becoming familiar myself. What does the land hold within its dark and icy clutches? One can be somewhat forgiven for the common perception cold takes hold of … Read more
A smile crept across my face as I gazed out the window. 35,000 feet below, glaciers splayed out in every direction with the surrounding mountains towering over narrow valleys. A small winding road led around their outskirts, the black asphalt offering a snaking cleared passage through a land of white. I picked out familiar landmarks. … Read more
Eight years ago, I shared my favorite Alaskan books and media. Many more pages have passed through my fingers since then and a glance at my Goodreads page shows 117 books read on my “Alaska” shelf. You’d think that after reading 117 books about one state I’d long have run out of all the good … Read more
In the far north, winter keeps a tight grip on the land. By early April, the thermometer’s mercury on many a day still finds itself below the freezing point. With the cold refusing to yield its icy grip, one begins to wonder if spring’s warmth will ever come—nearly all of winter’s snow remains on the … Read more
I was interviewed by my friend Tyler, for his podcast Advanced Retroadaptics. Check out the link below to listen or go to Spotify, Apple etc. Many thanks to Tyler for asking me to be on his podcast and for the fun conversation. I recommend checking out his blog for experiments in living and tales of … Read more
In 1915, Frank Glaser arrived at the Port of Valdez in the Territory of Alaska. He had heard much about the grand adventures and plethora of wild animals found within the state and wanted to check things out for himself. With no commercial services offering transport on the rough summer trail to Fairbanks, Glaser decided … Read more
After enjoying our first cabin trip of the year in October to Donna Lake, Alana and I made plans to head out to the White Mountains and visit a few more on skis. Our plan was to ski roughly 75 miles, making a loop connecting Colorado Creek, Wolf Run, Windy Gap, Borealis and Colorado Creek … Read more
Scrunching the sheets into a ball, I place the paper in the stove between the parallel logs. Once the gap is filled, I cover with strips of cardboard and top that with charcoal remains from the day before. More logs go on top, each layer lying perpendicular across the one below. With the flick of … Read more
Day by day winter slowly envelops the land. The last of the leaves drop off the trees, snow slowly accumulates and temperatures drop while darkness takes over. Each day we lose 7 minutes of light, nearly an hour per week. It feels like just yesterday that I was walking outside in the light near 11 … Read more
After moving to Fairbanks in late 2017, I struggled to find something that I actually wanted to do. During the winter, I intermittently helped with small aspects of research projects at the University and also returned to guiding tours, spending long days driving guests up to the Arctic Circle. As I settled into Fairbanks, I … Read more