Wedding party plans included a trip south to Maui in December. The June wedding was isolated due to COVID; travel to Maui would also be dictated by COVID. Quarantine would immediately begin upon arrival if all protocol was not strictly observed; this required negative test result for SARS-CoV-2, NAA. This special “Hawaii test” had to … More COVID Maui Maze

Son Hans stopped by to check exceptional 2020 Rutabaga crop- followed by hike. Interesting wildlife stop by for garden visits. A pair of moose calves remedied their thirst. Just beat the frost from freezing out my potatoes. Pictured is my 3rd wheelbarrow of Yukon Gold potatoes from my little garden patch. The potatoes love compost, … More Autumnal Vignette

COVID-19 dictated a change in wedding plans. The wedding escape plan moved to an isolated site up the Yentna River, far from population centers with possible virus contagion. The bride’s family operates a lodge below Lake Creek, Imm’s Inn. Bride Sara grew up in the neighboring “Germantown”. Sara’s father Larry owns the lodge & uncle … More Alaskan Wedding Escape

He will give his angels charge over you … It was around the winter of ’91-’92. I was headed into Anchorage. The Seward Highway was like an ice rink. As I approached 15th Avenue I spotted a car lose control in the far right lane. The vehicle changed direction 90 degrees, now headed directly perpendicular … More I Was A Line Item In The AK State Budget

Chugach State Park Ranger Dan Hourihan traced the route out on the USGS Topo-map to my request for the best hike through Chugach State Park. Dan’s timbre increased in excitement as he described notable landmarks; The Shroud, Bellicose Peak, The Watchmen. Travel through  Bombardment Pass was along the right snowfield to avoid any crevasse. Dan … More

Thirty years ago this month, the currents delivered spilled oil from the Exxon Valdez to the Kodiak-Katmai area. I was the DEC District Engineer over Anchorage, western Alaska, including the Kodiak office.  I relocated to Kodiak for shoreline surveillance. We flew a Bell 206 chopper right off the deck, covering all the islands in the … More PALL OVER AMATULI

Caribou subsistence permit in hand, I headed north. We were having a record stretch of warm, sunny weather… besides, I like to hunt on my birthday. My optimism was tempered by the reduction in caribou allotted for the hunt. The herd had been reduced by winter-kill and migration. In the past I have hunted by … More Kayak Subsistence

Over sixty million sockeye salmon returned to Bristol Bay in 2018, 10 million more than predicted. Most head up Nushagak Bay … the most in the world. Over 40 million were harvested, close to the all-time record of 44.3 million. Shore based processing plants are required to send the product to market. These processing plants … More Sixty Million Salmon

I spotted the hitchhiker just north of Wasilla. I immediately sized him up. Large backpack, wearing top-of-the-line orange outer shell, well-groomed, clear eyes, made eye contact, and was next to large shoulder for pulling over. As a former hitchhiker I felt a common bond. I have hitchhiked on my wilderness outings when canoeing, rafting, or … More St. Petersburg To Prudhoe Bay- Hitchhiking