At play where the midnight sun holds court
Last week I returned to Wiseman for the first time in three years, only the second time since I left indefinitely when I moved south to Fairbanks. I was driven out primarily by loneliness, a lacking sense of community and a lacking of meaning in my day to day life. The experience started out with … Read more
There are quite a few Alaskans who have a tendency to hold on to things. In a state where stores are few and far between, people aren’t eager to part with anything, with the thought that they may be able to salvage a part later on. While pragmatic in theory, this seems to devolve into … Read more
The Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, as the name implies, is an annual wilderness event occurring in the mountain ranges within Alaska. The event was started by a group of friends in the early 1980s and has continued ever since. It is a point to point trip, meaning you’re given a starting and ending location and you … Read more
I had undergone a transformation over the past year and a half. On the Colorado Trail in the summer of 2014, I found myself so scared of bears after hearing one huffing and stomping around in close proximity to my tent one night that I thought they were waiting around every bend. I would get … Read more
All summer I had stared at her. She lay glittering right across the river or just off the road depending on where you were, changing colors with the seasons. If you think I am talking about a woman, I’m going to guess that you haven’t been to Arctic Alaska. For there are no women here, … Read more
This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was going to be the badass who trekked over a thousand miles by himself in The Brooks Range. I was going to live out my dream, living and travelling in the wilderness on my own terms. What was going to stop me? I wasn’t afraid. Possibility of injury or … Read more