96 Miles in 69 Hours

Back in January Ed talked me into taking some time off from the building project and getting out on a ski. It seemed like a great idea, but a wild chinook blew in and brought with it some extra challanging conditions. The trails were icy, my conditioning was horrible, but the trip was great.

Skiing up windy gap


Enjoying some time inside after a long day on the trail.


We got to enjoy a few miles of fast overflow on our way down this drainage.


More overflow...there was no shortage of ice on this trip.










Once we got back into the limestone peaks of the White Mountains the surrounding landscape was phenominal.

There were some failry long stretches of very boney trails...it did not feel like interior Alaska in January.


The conditions on top of the pass were incredible...no wind and the temps hoovered around freezing.



Melting snow and drying gear in one of the cabins

John is melting in some binder wax in an attempt to get his wax to stick around for longer periods on the icy trails.




It has been a while since I have posted anything and the recallection of the some of the details associated with this trip have already left, but I do recall being refreshed by the challange and time spent with good friends in some great country.

Long Time, No Blog.

It has been a while since I have updated my blog. Life has been good and steady progress is being made on the house. The photo from above is how things looked when I left for my brothers wedding in mid-October. The next few pictures bring the place up to date. I still have a ton of work to do before I can call the place finished, but I can certainly see a light at the end of the tunnel. I just had the last of my electrical work finished and should be installing kitchen cabinets around Christmas. Once the cabinets are in I can get the water system started...no more outhouse by mid-January!

Utility closet.

Carpeted stairs, painted kitchen, partially finished floors, dry wall...things are moving along!


Ptarmigan on the Dome-

Josie retrieves a snow chicken for us as we finish up an afternoon of bird hunting.
We have had a few fun outings and we have had enough success to experiment with some fun ptarmigan recipes.

More Fun at Tolavana-

Dayna, the dogs and I walked into Tolovana Hot Springs to meet up with some friends. The weather was fairly brutal, serving up wind chills below -50 degrees. It was certainly a adventure and I think we all had fun.

Dayna is trying to protect her exposed skin on the dome.


We were treated with some great views and a nice sunset as we headed out of the back country.

Wedding Bells in Wisconsin

I was lucky enough to be my brothers best man last Saturday as he and Heidi said their vows and tied the proverbial knot. I made it back to Wisconsin a week early so that our fishing club could get together and celebrate with my brother on his last weekend as a bachelor. The weather was grand, the company was top shelf and the wedding was a hoot.


This is just a picture of a random country church in Western Wisconsin.

I almost got choked up when I was able to pull over for a Brat Fry at 10 A.M.

I stopped into Louie's Finer Meats for some award winning brats to grill up at during the fishing weekend.

I should have known that I would not need to supplement the brat inventory there were already dozens of these tasty sausages ready for the grill when I got to the party.

The Master Baiter Fishing Club in full plumage. Time of photo...unknown.

Tony is trying to find a willing musky while we shoot the bull in my old boat. The fall colors were a real treat.

These Bloody Mary's warranted a picture. Not only did we get the customary "wash" behind the drink but we also got a boiled egg to round this into a healthy meal.

The larger than life personalities of the bride and groom were nearly matched by the size of the beer glasses at the wedding. Needless to say, good times were had by all.

Home Building Update

It's been a while since I have documented any progress on the construction project. July was a tough month full of rain and unseasonable weather which really hampered my productive work time. But once my Dad came into town to hunt and help on the house Mother Nature gave us a break and we made the most of it.





On Labor Day I was able to round up a group of friends to help put on the metal roof. It was a huge relief to finally have the house sealed up. Now I have to contend with dark evenings and the fear of freeze up in a few weeks.

A Few Days on the Delta River

After we got everything taken care of from our trip into the Wrangell's we turned right around and and headed out to the Tangle Lakes/Delta River for a nice three day float, some blueberry pancakes and some good arctic grayling fishing.

The fishing at our first campsite was quite slow but there were some great blueberries for pancakes in the morning. That evening we soaked up scenery and a little whiskey around the campfire.

Once we got through the Tangle Lakes the paddling was a blast, there was lots of class II water to keep us interested.


I finally was able to use my new packraft on this trip. I think that I will have many fun trips with this little craft in the future.

Our last campsite provided us with some good grayling fishing...and ultimatly some great grayling eating!

Good Times in a Ghost Town

After our initial plans for a fly in sheep hunting trip were thwarted by a crooked deal from Copper Valley Air out of Glennallen we were able to regroup and turn some lemons into lemonade. A little brainstorming and some previous scouting landed us out near the old Nebesna Mine site for base camp. We stayed at the mine site the first night in the field and just enjoyed the history of a place that almost seems frozen in time.


When we walked through the different buildings and cabins it was amazing how good the condition of everything was. There was original material there from the 1930's as well as other dated goods from squatters, explorers and researchers. One thing that remained consistent throughout the decades of use is that when people left the facility, they felt no need to bring anything out with them.


A fiscal report from the Nebesna mine company in 1934.

After our stay at the mine we hiked out and found an area for a spike camp and started glassing for some legal rams.

We found a pair of legal rams the following day, but had to wait them out in some interesting mountain weather. Mother Nature served up sunshine, rain, sleet and snow over a matter of four hours.

Once the rams came back out to feed a couple of accurate shots was all that it took to dispatch the noble critters. Recovering the animals took hours of difficult climbing, but after another long day we were able to get back to base camp and enjoy some sheep loin over an open fire.

A couple nice sets of ram horns back at the mine. Lady luck was on our side after all!