Arctic

Snowden

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All I had been hearing all summer was how it couldn’t be done.  “Oh you can’t do that, X couldn’t ever do it and he was a really good hiker.”  I had never met X but I could tell you one thing.  I did not really give a shit whether he had done something or … Read more

Smokey Days

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 This past summer, there were over 3 million acres in Alaska that burned as a result of over 600 different wildfires.  A lack of snow last winter, coupled with a normal, dry summer in the interior, provided a perfect catalyst for wildfire conditions.  Although there weren’t many fires nearby Coldfoot, we were not immune to … Read more

Arctic Myths

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As part of my job, I interact with people from all across the world and spend at least a few hours with them.  I hear a lot about people’s preconceived notions of the Arctic and how it differs from what they imagined, especially in the summer time.  I hope to dispel some of those myths … Read more

Winter Notes

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Darkness.  I stand in a clearing, surrounded by the boreal forest as snow falls down at a rapid clip.  The clouds have sunk quite low in the valley, encompassing the mountains and the surrounding area, limiting my view to silhouettes of spruce trees a few hundred yards distant in the dark Arctic night.  This land … Read more

Explorations of the Known

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 Dick Griffith forever changed backcountry travel in Alaska in the 1980s with the use of a small, inflatable raft for backcountry travel, which today is commonly referred to as a packraft.   You can read the story elsewhere but, in the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic in the 1980s, Dick opened up the eyes of others to … Read more