It was Tuesday evening and we were just sitting down to an amazing dinner prepared by Tabitha, when Joe Billings, one of the guides that works for Preston Cavner, came into the entry way, with a serious look on his face, and he told me to come now. I did not know what to think, but as soon as I got out the door, he told me it was a plane crash, and that it was Preston’s Plane. I could not believe it, and took off on a run toward the lodge next door. So many thoughts raced through my mind, all of the what ifs, but I had to put those to the back of my mind. I got over there, and immediately I knew it could not be good, everyone was on the verge of tears, but they did not know much, only that Preston’s plane had crashed in Anchorage, and then Joe told me the thing I was dreading. He said one of the Boys were dead. My heart sank so low I could not speak. Preston had flown into Anchorage the day before, to restock supplies, and decided to take the family along for a day in the big city, which consisted of himself, his wife Stacie, and his two boys, Hudson and Myles. They were also picking up a young girl from Texas that was going to be a nanny for the family out here in Lake Clark. They were over due, since they were supposed to have already left Anchorage. But then a police officer had called, and was looking for family information, but Joe could not give him much so he came and got me.

I had to grab a-hold of myself, knowing that I had to do what I could, so I got on Stacie’s Computer, and started looking up family contacts. I had a couple of the family names and numbers written down, when the police officer called back. He began to ask several questions, about the family, asked for the contact info for the family members. He said the family was in critical condition, and at the hospital, but then he told me the news that I had been dreading. Myles was dead. As soon as those words left his mouth I could not hold it back any longer, and the tears began to flow. He was only 4 years old, in the prime of childhood. It has been several days now, and still it is hard for me to recount the tragic moment. He would not tell us much other information, except that the rest of the family was in critical condition and mostly had injuries from burns. I had to hang up, and could hardly speak. I was just barely able to get out the information to the crew at the lodge, but everyone over at my house still did not know. A few people called in, and I hardly remember who they were, but I did what I could to relay the information, through waves of tears and sadness. The tears were not only for Myles, but also for the whole family who were unconscious, and mostly unaware of their loss, but were in such bad shape.

I decided I needed to tell everyone at our house, so I walked over, trying to see through the tears. As soon as I came to the door they knew something was wrong. It was so hard to say the words, that Myles was gone, and all of us felt the pain and wept. I praise God that I have not been in this type of situation many times, but since that is the case, I did not really know what to do or say at a time like that, so we just held each other. We then returned to the lodge, and prayed together. The phone began to ring constantly, with people wanting to know what had happened, and also reporters looking for a story. It all just blurred together in sadness and confusion. But there was something that stood out from all the mess, was when I had to call the family to inform them of the tragedy that had occurred. That was truly the hardest thing I have ever had to do, to tell someone, one of their grand child had passed away. So much liquid was shed from everyone’s eyes that evening, it was hard to talk at all. We were finally able to find out some information between news reports, and friends who had made it to the airport in Anchorage.

So this is most of what we know that happened. Preston was flying his Cessna 206, with his wife Stacie, his two sons, Hudson and Myles, and a young lady from Texas, and had taken off from Merrill Field in Anchorage Alaska, shortly after 5pm. The reports say that he only got about 14 ft. into the air, and started coming down towards busy downtown. The plane was nose up, and coming down quickly. It clipped the top of an apartment building, and then crashed into a vacant building next to a used car lot. The plane was almost immediately on fire, and almost as quickly people came racing over to help with the rescue of the passengers inside. Many people came and lifted the wing of the plane to allow others to help those inside. They were able to get 4 of the passengers to safety, but Myles, the oldest son, was not able to be rescued in time. However the fatality would have been much worse if it wasn’t for the good Samaritans that came to the rescue. A huge thank you is in order for those people who risked their lives to save those in danger. Visit the Anchorage Daily News for the full story with pictures from the accident and the rescue.

All of the information from the crash continued to pour in on the news stations, websites, and people calling in. It was so overwhelming and it was almost a relief to go to sleep that night, but it would be a lie to say that it was a comfortable nights rest. All of us were so physically and mentally exhausted, from worry and tears. Over the night the family was flown to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, and Rachel, the young girl, was flown to Seattle. The extent of their injuries required specific treatment from burn patient specialists, with burns deeper than 3rd degree. It took a few days to get a full prognosis of their injuries, and you can see the current status of the family on the website from the hospital, which requires a registration, but it will then send email updates whenever they are available. Also some close friends of the family started a Facebook Page for the family, called “Praying for the Cavner Family”, and there is also a facebook page for Rachel. It is so awesome to see all of the people from all over the country coming together with prayer and support. It is so encouraging. Many people in Portland have offered help to the family, who are staying in Portland. If anyone is interested in helping financially they donate at the Preston and Stacie Fund. And if you would like to donate to Rachel’s expenses, here is a message with information, “Any individuals/families who so desire to assist with helping off-set the extraordinary expenses related to Rachel’s plane accident can make their checks payable to “Grace Church of Kingwood” and in the Memo Section write “Rachel Zientek Family Care . Any and/all (100%)of such designated funds will be used for the sole benefit of helping pay direct “Out-of-Pocket” expenses for Rachel. These donations are unfortunately not tax deductible.” If you wish to make a donation, you can mail it directly to: Dave Kinison 3326 Three Pines Kingwood, TX 77339.

Right now time and healing will tell how this will end, but it will be a long process, and there will be many months required for a full recovery, but I believe in a big God, and I know He can bring healing. We are praying for complete healing for the Cavner Family, and for Rachel. The extended family also needs support during this hard time, so please pray when ever you think about it. We are all helping and hoping that they will pull out of this, but especially with a death involved, there is not just physical, but also spiritual and emotional healing required to recover from an event such as this. I did not write this to ask for sympathy in this time of crisis, but rather to offer hope, and to inform those that would like to know. There are a lot things coming up now that can further complicate the situation, but we are still depending on God for strength through it all. His will be done.

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My first client was Terry, who had never been to Alaska hunting before, and it was my privilege to be the one insuring that he went home successful. The first few days of the hunt proved to be slow, and we only saw a couple bears. Not the best way to start a hunt, but that’s the way it goes. We did have some pretty nice weather though, and that made up for the lack of bears a little. You never know when the wind or even snow will fly with both the Bering sea and the Pacific fighting with each other, with us in the middle. So we would take every nice day we can get. The third day we decided to check out the side valley, which had provided a great resource of bears last year, and it looked promising. We did not see any bears all day though, which made it tough. So we were just starting to head back to camp, when I decided to look up on the hill one more time, and sure enough, there was a bear, feeding on some grass on the south facing slope.

It was difficult at first to see just how big he really was, but by looking at the alders being dwarfed by him, I reasoned that he was worth a stalk, so Stalk we did. The hiking seems to go by faster when you are in pursuit of a big bear, but that does not mean that it is not hard. It was a long mile to cover to just get close enough. By the time we got there, the bear had been feeding, and we had thought that he had left the area, but once I got my spotting scope out and tracked him down, he was sleeping, in a slight depression, which gave us the much needed time required to finish the stalk. As we worked our way up the steep hill, it reminded me of sheep hunting, except there was a slight lack of stable boots that are usually present on a sheep hunt. And we were crawling though brush, which also never happens on a sheep hunt. We had no way of knowing where the bear was, but rather just went off of instinct. I had just cleared the brush, and I glanced over and saw the looming shape of a bear to the right of us, just walking through the brush back up hill. Terry was just making his way over to me, and the bear must have heard us because he was being very cautious and glancing our way. As soon as the shooting sticks were in place, we had just enough time to grab ear plugs and get a good rest. Seconds later the bear stepped out from the brush, 90 yards away. I said “shoot” and bear dropped, but then started down the hill. My gun roared and Terrys again. The black ball of fur quit stirring, and our cheers rose into the air.

As we walked towards the enormous animal that lay in the brush, I could not contain my excitement. It all happened so quickly, and made our hearts race, but then it was over. I did not realize the bear was so big, but when we lifted the paws, or at least tried to, we immediately realized the trophy quality, and the sheer mass of bear. It was incredible, a giant for sure. We were a quarter mile from our packs, and it was right at sundown, so darkness was rapidly approaching. So we got the bear all set up, which was not much, because with a bear that big, you don’t do much moving around. He must have weighed around a thousand pounds. So we headed down the hill, gathered our packs, and departed three miles back to camp. We would take care of the hard work and pictures the next day. It was so nice to finally make it to our tent and cot, after stumbling through the dark. We were worn out from the long day and the tough stalk, and we got some much needed rest.

We woke up quite late, and had a good breakfast, and then headed back to the bear. The evenings were cold, and bears don’t put off too much scent to attract other predators, especially up on a hill, so it was no problem to take care of the bear the next day.  It took quite some time to get all the pictures and videos done, but the bear was so big, we needed many pictures from all sides to capture his massive size. It decided to snow and sleet off and on through out the whole process, so we had to alternate between rain jacket and fleece. thankfully we had both of us to work on skinning of the bear, but it still took two whole hours, which was nearly twice as long as it usually takes for an average bear. But this bear was above average, and although I was not excited to be having to pack it out, it was a labor of love. I know Terry was very pleased with the big bear, and we just continued to re-live the stalk and the shots of the previous day, and it was a great feeling to have success only a few days into the hunt.

Once we arrived back at the camp, I set to fleshing and turning the hide on the face and head. It is a process of splitting critical areas of the face, such as the eyes, lips, ears and nose so they do not get rotten. It’s a preparation process for the taxidermist, that starts with the fleshing, then leads to salting the hide, to remove all moisture, and then sent to a tanner to be preserved for mounting into a full mount or a rug. This process takes some time and a detailed eye, but it went well, and once it was done, we set to measuring the hide. As soon as I set the ten foot tape measure from paw to paw, I could not believe when it did not even reach the end of the wrist. it was over eleven feet from claw tip to claw tip, and it was 9 ft 6″ from nose to tail, so squared, it ended up being 10′3″, which when I found that out my jaw nearly slammed the tundra! I could not believe that we had a bear that was over 10 feet! And the skull measured over 28 inches, which is the width and the length added together. The skull size is what they go off of for a Record book bear, and 28 is the minimum, so that makes it a Boone and Crockett Record book  bear. But you know what, even if it wasn’t, the experience and just how big the bear was, was enough for me, and the score is just a plus. I am one to much rather have a great experience than just a big animal, and we had both.

This was only the first hunt, with two more to go. A Father and son from Mexico, which kept the excitement going. Head to Part 2 for the rest of the story.

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The company is family owned and operated, located in Southwest Alaska, in the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. It is near to where I began my apprenticeship in Alaska, and where my love for Alaska was born. That was back in 2003 and much has happened since then. I worked as a Commercial Fisherman, an Assistant and Registered hunting Guide, Project manager for construction, and Videographer. But all of those jobs were preparing for the adventure called Wilderness Pro. We began building the Lodge in 2007, using only manual labor and many a blood, sweat and tear to get the trees felled, the foundation dug, and the building erected. All in all the building project has been spanned over 3 years, just making sure every precaution was taken to make the dream a reality. We have been blessed by having many different people help us along the way, and we would not be able to be where we are without their addition to the team. We are now in the finishing stages of the building, and have officially launched out into the deep, and will be open for business starting this summer.

Since our location is centrally located on Lake Clark, we are within short boat or plane distance from world class fishing for 6 species of fish, and within a short plane ride from many more. Although the fishing is a common activity that people come to Alaska to experience, there are many other exciting aspects of Alaska that can be overlooked, such as kayaking next to pristine waterfalls, or hiking to the tops of the mountainous peaks, or just relaxing and taking it all in. We here at Wilderness Pro seek to offer a well rounded adventure, that includes Alaska from many different angles. But this is where the Adventure With A Purpose comes in. We want to not only offer a true wilderness experience, but we want to add value and lasting impact. So we are going to be facilitating a specific purpose to be accomplished at the Wilderness Pro Lodge. Whether that be a Conference for leaders, a corporate retreat, or a new development that requires a dynamic setting to add some power and clarity, we make that happen. Our purpose it to facilitate dynamic adventures with a purpose.

We are very excited for the new opportunities that await, and brand new places to be explored, and so glad that we can make this journey as a family and have the ability to bring people along the way. We have and will continue to work hard to provide the best service and experience possible for you to have an Adventure with a Purpose, that lasts far beyond the trip. Visit us here at Mywildernesspro.com, and come see how you can experience Alaska with wilderness Pro.

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Too much Fog, must turn around! Although those words were not spoken, you could see it on the pilot, Dave Wilder’s face, as he throttled forward and pulled left on the steering wheel of the Cessna 206, throwing us all to the mercy of pulling G’s. The bushes were so close, if the windows were open, I am sure we could have grabbed a handful of leaves. Barely making it out of that valley we entered another one, that looked a little bit more promising, at least that’s what the passengers were hopping, not knowing if they could grab onto the seat backs any harder for fear of bursting veins in their hands. We were on our way through the mountains separating the Bering Sea from the Pacific Ocean, called the Alaska peninsula. This was not my first bronco ride in a small plane in Alaska, so I was not too worried, but that does not mean that I was enjoying myself. The ride was not over, but after 3 hours in a seat, we were  wishing it would be soon. We ended up cruising along a river, nearly water skiing, ending up at the Pacific finally, but with several miles of beach still to go to arrive at the base camp for the Peninsula Bear hunts. Before it was all done, we had a few more hair raising, or rather, stomach raising, moments that would keep our heads swimming for most of the day. The plane passengers consisted of three guides, Joe Billings, Eric Lantzer, and myself, and then Jason House who we named our assistant client.

After being safely on solid ground once again, we were met by Jessi Markiss, who had been left at the base camp for two weeks, to repair and rebuild the main cabin, which had become a home for bears over the previous winter. He had done a mighty fine job, and it didn’t take much time till we were all moved in and feeling comfy in the newly redone “Stepovak Bay Hilton”. It was a few days before any clients arrived, so the following day we built some blinds to be used by the bow-hunters. While setting up one of these blinds, I accidentally called in a huge bull moose, to 80 yards. This was accomplished by walking through the brush, with two empty water jugs, which sounded like a bull raking his antlers, a common sound during the rut. It was quite a rush, but I did not have a camera to capture the unique moment.  Back at base camp, food was sorted, camp gear set out, and water jugs filled up at a stream located at my spike camp. A few of the guides were dropped off at their respective spike camps, while I worked around the base camp. The first round of clients arrived on the 30th of September, the day before the season opened. Three bow-hunters, and one rifle hunter. Jason, also a rifle hunter, had arrived with us, and was already in the field, watching from a hill, where they spotted 50 bears in one hour, on one river! It was shaping up to be a great season. The weather was typical for the peninsula, raining and windy, but slightly warm, and visible enough to make the short Super Cub flight to my spike camp. The location was picturesque, with water falls cascading down the valley walls, and magnificent glaciers wrapped in jagged rock. My first client was Mike Blair, who had a lifelong dream of hunting bears in Alaska, so early the next morning we headed out to make that dream a reality.

Our mornings start well before sunrise, with a breakfast and coffee, before donning our gear, and trekking out to our local spotting knob. It was only a 15 minute walk from our camp, so it wasn’t long before we spotted our first bear. But it was only a small one, traveling the nearby creek. In only a few hours we spotted about 15 bears, including sows and cubs, and also two cow moose and one big bull. We put a stalk on one of the big bears we spotted, but the distance prevented us from arriving at the spot before he was gone. At about midday we headed back to camp for lunch and a nap. In the afternoon we headed back out, to our hill, to see what was on the move. We spotted about ten bears, but none gave us a good pursuit option. Although, in a side valley, we saw a bear feeding on grass, but by then it was too dark to go after him, so we decided against it. The next day we followed the same routine, but with a few less bears, but the same bear in the side valley, only up higher. We decided to go and sit in that valley anyway, to see if the bear was prone to return to the valley floor. Sure enough, it wasn’t but an hour or so before Mike spotted the bear, right across the creek from us, about 300 yards. We were excited, but calm, setting up our shooting rests. The bear was fat, and dark, and in the size range that Mike was looking for, so we agreed that it was a shooter, but we needed to wait for the bear to feed a bit closer. It didn’t take long, before he was 240 yards away. All I had to do was say the word, and Mikes 375 roared to life. The first shot was a good one, but it took two more from his gun, and two from mine, to finish the job. Bears are tough animals, and when it was tearing through the grass, I was glad for the 240 yards that separated us. The shouts and back slaps ensued, and we quickly got to the bear, shaking hands, and actually touching an animal that could tear your face off. It is an amazing feeling. Mike was one happy camper. Due to the approaching darkness, and many other bears around, we left the bear to come back in the morning.

The following day was raining, but even that could not dampen our spirits. Many pictures were taken, and we relived the moment over and over. I was very happy to have aided mike in fulfilling his lifelong dream of hunting the big bruins. We worked together to complete the job, and pack the bear back to camp. It was a bit later when Preston arrived, to bring us back to base camp. We were greeted there by two of the bow hunters, that had also been successful, and had taken bears on opening day. They had quite the stories to tell, shooting a bear standing up at 2 yards with a bow, that will make your legs shake a little. It was a few days until the next plane arrived, so we filled time by fleshing (Removing flesh from the hide) and salting hides, (to remove moisture and dry out for shipping), playing cards, and eating. Tough life for sure. When the next round of clients came in, I went back to my camp with Nick Busche, and Berg Hansen. Berg was along to film Nick’s hunt. We were a good team, and ended up getting a bear near camp on the first day. All of it was gotten on film as well, which was great. But just as quickly as they came in, they flew out and Preston flew Jason, the assistant client, into my camp. I was happy for the opportunity to hunt with Jason, owner of Antler Shack, who is quite a character, mainly in the comedy arena, but also a multi-faceted artist, who builds antler art, and has a beetle farm for cleaning skulls. So it was a pleasure to have him in camp, and to have another chance to hunt the hunters.

Since it is against the law to fly and hunt the same day, we could not shoot anything, but we decided to head to the hill, to see what we could see. We spotted a few bears along the river, but nothing big.  We did see a big old bull moose, walking past our camp, which we tried to call in, but he was too wise for us. For a change of scenery we went over to the side valley that Mike had had his bear harvest. The carcass had not been eaten much,  from what we could see through our binoculars, so we hiked up the valley a ways. It was Jason that was looking back to the carcass when he spotted a bear! It looked big and dark, but it was hard to be sure in the fading light. Sneaking closer we watched the bear walk through the brush towards the carcass, take a few bites and then begin to paw at the ground and start to bury the carcass. This was something I had seen pictures of but never witnessed. We could hardly contain ourselves as we hiked back to camp. We got up early the next morning, however the weather was nasty, with heavy rain, so we decided to wait it out in our sleeping bags. It wasn’t till after lunch that we ventured out to the side valley. Just as we got within sight of the carcass, we saw fur. It was the bear. Sleeping on top of the carcass that he had buried. It was incredible, for a bear to be out in mid day, in the sun, sleeping on a carcass. It proved to be the perfect scenario for us to get close. Circling back, we were able to crawl up to within 70 yards of the bear. Then it became a waiting game.

For over an hour we waited, with more than one anxiety attack every few minutes when he would lift his massive head and look around lazily, and us getting ready, and then as he put his head back down, we would wait again. All the while I had Jason’s video camera rolling. Not only was this an incredible experience, we were going to get it all on film. It seemed like forever, but finally, he slowly got up, stretching his front legs, but he never got up any higher than that. With a whisper of “I’m Gonna Dump Him”, his muzzle blast nearly blew me away, but it did its job, and the bear dropped like a rock. His roars were loud, but i don’t think they were as loud as us. One more shot in the back quieted him, but he was paralyzed from the first shot so he was not going anywhere. The camera was rolling and victory was sweet. Whenever walking up to a bear, they always looks smaller than you think, but once we saw those feet, and the head, we knew we had ourselves a Monster, or in the words of Jason, “A Tank”. We could not believe it, and it was quite some time before we actually calmed down enough to take any pictures or more video. We did not know exactly how big it was, but it was huge, definitely the biggest bear I had ever been involved with.  The pile that he had made was about 3 ft tall, and he had cleared an area at least 50 ft. in diameter. Cameras clicked away, I think more than on a red carpet at the Oscars. We even hailed Preston on the radio, and had a fly-by of approval. And to wrap it all up, it was a beautiful sunny day, which is pretty rare for the Peninsula. We got back to camp by dark, tired and still excited. We could hardly sleep, but we did, and in the morning we headed back to base camp.

Once there I only had a short while working on the big bear hide, before I was called out to Eric’s Camp. The river there had flooded, and the bear that they had shot was unreachable due to the high waters. So in pouring rain, and hard winds, Preston literally “dropped” into a little gravel bar,  and sent me from there to retrieve the bear. He was able to fly Eric to there as well, and together we skinned the bear. The Super Cub only holds one passenger with gear, so we had to wait our turn to fly back to base camp. Once there we had to finish the process of taking care of the hide, which involves a lot of knife work. We helped each other though, and got done before the night was out. The next day brought yet another round of clients, and the departure of those that were done. only one hunter left empty handed, but he will be back to pursue those brownies again in the near future. One of the hunters that arrived was from Canada, and he was my fourth client. We returned to my camp again, hopping to continue the quick successes we were having there. Sure enough we saw a bear on one of the carcasses while retrieving water. The next morning we went up the side valley again, and after waiting for a while, spotted a bear on the carcass. He ended up bedding down in the brush just above the torn up area. A wide sweep through the brush, and a stalk up the hill brought us to 100 yards. A similar situation to Jason’s Bear, but we only had to wait a little while before the bear got up, and Tim put him down with one shot. Once again, excitement was exuded, and pictures and memories were created. It was not as big of a bear as Jason’s but still a good bear. We made it back to base camp the following day, and we were met by yet another successful hunter, who had harvested an awesome big bear. The weather cleared up and was nice all the way until we left a couple days later.

We left the area 5 days early, which was greatly appreciated due to the fact that it was a very long hunting/guiding season for us, and I was happy to be at the end of it. Those small comforts of a warm shower, and a soft bed, are luxuries to guys like us that spend more than 60 days out in the field, in a tent, on cots or on the ground, and it was a great thing to come back to. The season wrapped up nicely with 10 bears taken on the Peninsula. The work continued back here at the Lodge, drying hides and such, but many great memories were created, and it was yet again another season come and gone, but it will always be something that is thrilling and heart pounding, to hunt the hunters.

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It is odd the think that at 1 am in the morning, it can be light enough to see, let alone experience adventure with out the aid of artificial light. Well in Alaska it is possible! Having just past the summer solstice not long ago, on the 21st of June, the endless summer nights are still in full swing. Many people come to Alaska, and have to cover the windows, and wear shades on their eyes, just to catch a few z’s. But what I have found is that when you work hard, and enjoy the outdoors, it is quite easy to fall asleep, even under the sun, rather than the moon and stars. It is a very different concept for sure, but it is something that must be dealt with. And what better way to deal with it than to go on an adventure. And not just any adventure, but a climbing one!

Before this year I really had not done much consistent climbing, but after an extended stay in Idaho this spring, (check out adventure in Idaho here), and meeting a few people that were really into it, my already present desire for climbing began to grow. I was privileged to attend a few local climbing competitions, not to try and win, but to meet new people, and to learn more about the sport. I was able to do both, and grew a lot. One was a bouldering competition, and the other a top rope competition. Meaning one was without ropes, and one was with. If you ever get a chance to try out a competitive climbing event, I would strongly suggest it. Whether or not you are skilled enough, it puts you to the test, and really grows your climbing knowledge. And you get chances to get Schwag, i.e. free stuff. The climbing extended beyond the gym though, and I had the chance to climb with others outdoors, which is much better than indoor, so if you are able and want to try something new, jump on some real rocks. The feeling is phenomenal. However, make sure you are with really experienced people, with the right gear, because it can become a very serious situation, and more dangerous than in a gym with pads.

When I finally made it back home to Alaska, I still had the climbing itch in my fingers and feet, and it would not go away except with some use of both. So a few other hardy fellows and myself set out to find some climbable walls, cliffs and boulders in the Lake Clark region. The amount of rock and cliffs were in a large abundance, however, finding some with decent faces, and non-crumbly rock was another matter. We got lucky though, and the first cliff we found produced some great results. Although it was only some thirty feet high, it satisfied my craving, at least for a little while. We had several people in our party, and we even got some new climbers on a wall, and they learned the “ropes”. It was very rewarding to see others enjoying the sport, which is what its all about, sharing the experience with others.

The lack of a wide array of climbing spots and gear was limiting, but it did not keep us back. We stuck with top roping, and bouldering, which proved successful, on short walls that had a sufficient amount of solid rock. The best climbing outing came about on a trip with a different destination. It was a full day trip that took use 30 miles up the lake, to a gorgeous place called Little Lake Clark, home to the Cave Falls. It is a water fall that cascades over a hundred feet, into a roaring basin, that creates its own wind. All of which lies behind a huge cavern, that is large enough to climb into, and observe the water fall and the lake from within. (Look for a post about that amazing place, coming soon). Along the hike some granite boulders were observed, and proved to be sufficient for a short little send up its beautiful face. Then our destination became the inlet of the Lake, and we were surrounded by huge granite walls, with a beautiful sun above. The nearest wall was not the highest, but once again served to give us a few different routes. An easy 5.8, that most everyone was able to try a hand at, and then a 5.11 with a wicked overhang, that had less holds than was needed to accomplish the accent, for our slightly amateur skills. It proved a good challenge though, and filled our day with many hours of fore arm burning enjoyment.

Since then I have not been able to return to the granite cliffs, and unfortunately there are none closer than 20 miles by boat. But we have not forgotten the joy we had from climbing together, and I am looking forward to getting out again soon, and testing the arm and finger strength. Once again, the adventure had to be discovered, and I hope that you will get out there and discover yours.

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I was privileged to have an opportunity to spend five days in the Big Apple, and really enjoyed the time, but also realized a few things about it.

First – It would be extremely difficult for me to abide in a place such as that for a long period of time. Although don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the city, and the hustle and bustle of business and busyness. But there is a strong desire inside of myself to get out, and away from it all, and go climb a mountain, or breathe fresh clean air. I was surprised, however, that the air in the city was not as dirty and bad as I had expected, but i guess it is just the common misconception of the City, to always be dirty and unclean, but it was in pretty good shape.

Second – How much things become common place when around them so much, and how you hardly get to slow down and realize the things you have around you, when you see them every day. Living in Alaska I find this very true as well. It is also a big tourist destination, but living there and spending a lot of time there has caused me to become used to all that majesty and amazing sights that there are, and I tend to get used to seeing all the mountains and rivers and take for granted what is all around. So when I was in New York, at first I was looking up at all the tall buildings that were all around me, and got lost in the hugeness of everything, but by the time I was Leaving, I found myself getting used the hustle and bustle, and the greats sights. Not that I ever actually got used to all of the people, it was almost suffocating.

Third – You can find adventure anywhere, even in a big city. Although the big touristy attractions were great, I actually enjoyed the adventure of finding the small, hardly noticed things and exploring rather than the typical locations. One of my highlights from the trip was bouldering, i.e. rock climbing with out a rope. Met some really cool people, and got to borrow some chalk and crash pads. My Sister was gracious enough to take some pictures and video of me ascending the rock slab. There were some decent intermediate routes, but i had not packed my climbing shoes, so my feet had to endure the brunt of the pain, but it was well worth it. Through the people there, I found that there were several rock gyms in the city, and that even in the midst of so many people, there were some little known treasures to be discovered to satisfy even the outdoor adventurers.

It was these things that made the trip interesting, and kept it different at every turn. If it was not for my sister living nearby to the city, I do not know that I would have made the trip. But now that I have been there, I can look and say that it was worth while. The time went by very quickly, and by the end we were both pretty tired from all of the many miles that were trekked. Although we had purchased bus passes, and train passes, we actually rarely used them, and actually spent most of our time walking. My sister, Naomi, was able to get a four day weekend off of work, so we were able to spend the entire time together. Her knowledge of the City and how to get around was a huge help, and I was very grateful to have her with me. All in all it was a great trip, and It was alot of fun, and I learned alot from the experience. More pictures can be viewed on flickr in my photostream. The sights, the sounds, the people, the various cultures that seem to change on every street corner, created a unique and exilerating experience. Look for the Video coming soon that give you a look into my point of view of New York.

The principles in this post can be applied to many different locations and trips. So next time you are traveling, don’t just go down the tourist path, try the adventurous one instead.

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So, most everyone enjoys making movies, watching movies, or being in movies. Which ever is your fancy, Movies, Film, and Theatres are a huge part of our culture these days. Whether we are watching them on our ipods, televisions, DVD players, computers, or big screens, our eyes are consumed with movies a-lot. It is such a huge moneymaker in this and many other countries, and some people end up in the industry to make a living. Unfortunately those wrapped up in “Hollywood” usually end up being exposed by the media for every little thing, and get followed and photographed at any possible moment. It is amazing how the lives of movie stars become so much like a soap opera, and it is a shame that the movie industry is so caught up in the fads and basically anything that will sell a ticket or a DVD. Sex sells, and it embarrassingly true. There is nothing that is off limits for film anymore, and so many movies are watched, even ones deemed G rated or kids movies that should never see the light of day.

Now people get on me for being a movie critic, and I don’t say that I am sorry, because I am not. That is because when I look at a movie, I do not look at the cover, or the action, or just that everyone says that it is good, but I look deeper.  I do not believe that you have to make movies that follow the trends of the times, and the wants of the people, because many of those wants and desires are appalling. I believe that you can show love without nudity and sex, I believe that you can make movies that are appealing to different generations, and that their does not have to be an F bomb thrown every other word to make it cool. I spend quite a bit of time behind a camera, and you could say I have an eye for film. I have a creative mind and try to portray that creativeness to the screen.

I am not saying I am an expert by any means, but I am saying that through my experience I have learned to pick up on other things that make a movie worthwhile that many people may not consider. These are -

1. Cinematography. This phrase is not commonly used in describing a good movie, but it is what I am looking for. Creative camera angles, artistic shots, beautiful scenery and compilations, really make or break a movie. You can have a great actor, but if the shot is not set up well, then things just get boring. It is really hard to describe what I am talking about in words, but it is just something that catches the eye, and plays itself out to the eyes, like a symphony plays to the ears. Something that goes along with this is action and suspense. Filmmakers spend millions on stunts and explosives, and it really takes a lot of big booms to thrill us these days, but action can get over done as well, and unless it is supposed to be a fictional movie, I prefer the more realistic aspect of adventure.

2. Acting. It is so terrible when you have a great movie idea, but bad acting involved. Movies require emotion and the act of an actor or actress becoming one with the person they are portraying in the film. You would think that those who get paid so much, and make a living in front of a camera, would be able to perform better on a regular basis. A film should be believable, and be something to make you a part of the story.

3. Plot. I am one who really enjoys movies that have an intricately woven plot, that makes you have to think to figure out the movie, but this can be over done. I am also not one for having happy endings all the time either. Thought provoking movies, and ones that drive one to action really hits it home for me, and even though it is all acting and screen work, it should have an impact on you that will last much longer than the film. So what are you taking with you when you are done watching it?

4. Script. There are people that write and write, script after script, and the amount of them that actually end up becoming a movie is quite small. However, this does not mean that there are ones that become a movie and are still not film worthy. Cheesy lines, and predictable quotes can really put a movie on the bottom of the scale for me. It is not always the actor’s fault when there are words coming out of their mouth that shouldnt be. Yes, the 10 minute long motivational speeches are okay, when used sparingly, but really, when does that actually happen in real life. Yes it is a movie, but if it is not believable then keep it in the fiction category.

5. Clean. Believe it or not there are actually some movies out there that have no sex scenes in them, and that are actually good movies. Yes, there are some movies that require certain elements to portray the whole picture, but if it that means dirtying it up then I will just not see the movie. It is a shame that we become numb to all of the cussing and swearing and scantly clad women, and we say it does not effect us, but is that 100% true? What is going on on the inside?

This list could go on and on, but it gives you an idea of what goes through my head when some one asks me if a movie was good, or what I thought about it. Videography is one of my passions, and I enjoy the opportunity to share that passion with others through the videos I make. I may offend some people in this article, but someone needs to go against the grain of society and the film industry, and show that there is a different standard to judge things by. So next time you go to a theatre, or sit down in front of the “Tube” think twice. I am not saying don’t watch movies, but be a critic, if you so choose, and you may find your enjoyment in entertainment get just a bit better.

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There is a yearly event that many people watch on TV, and a select few get to experience first hand. It’s called the Oscars. Its that night when all of the celebrities, filmmakers and movie stars get together, done up in their best, or sometimes worst, fashion attire, and head down the red carpet with cameras flashing, and video rolling. It is always the hype of who is wearing what, this person dating that person, but most importantly, who will go home with the Oscar. People enjoy watching it, and cheering on their favorite movie, actor or actress, and hoping for some creative phrases that some come up with when receiving the coveted gold colored statue. However, the fun only goes so far for the viewer, and unless they get lucky, or work hard pursuing a movie-making dream, they may never get to be a part of it. So, Family Life Church, in Nampa, Idaho decided to change all of that, and recreated the special occasion, and started “Oscar Night.”

It began last year, in 2008, as just an idea, but has now grown into a full-scale production. So basically the church leaders picked out six teams, with appointed Directors, Cinematographers/Editors, with different genres that were pulled out of a hat. Then each team wrote a script, formulated a plot, and then recruited actors and actresses to fill the roles required, but not necessarily in that order. They were given a few guidelines, but had pretty much full flexibility on plot and story within their genre. With that the minds and cameras took off. The time frame given was about a month the first year, which you would think would be plenty of days, but when it comes to organizing and filming, it takes a lot of time. Most of the films actually only got completed in the last few weeks before the event, but it was still entertaining to watch them, and laugh and cheer. only one of the films did not make into the final night, but the rest came in quite late though. The night before the event, was spent editing all of the films, and resulted in lack of sleep for the editors, but it paid off and it all came together just fine.

The night finally came, and brought a great turn out. Everyone was dressed up in their best outfits, just like the Oscars, but minus the news interviews and tabloid stalkers. The red carpet was rolled out, and everyone got a chance to shine on their way in. Hore deurves were served as everyone mingled, and then the showings began. Everyone enjoyed the variety and creativity. The film that won the most Oscars was “Dude Wheres My Speedo” in the Sci-fi category, and they went home with five Oscars. The second place went to the Chick Flick category, with the film “Mclandings Quest for Love“. They took home four Oscars, including the most coveted of all the awards, Best Film. The rest of the films followed suit. The Western film “El Paso”, The comedy “Dodge Ball, the true story”, “Undead Past”, in the Drama Category, and “Never Die” to fill in the action slot. All in all it was a great event and everyone had a great time. That was just the start of the now annual Oscar Night, and this year it improved dramatically.

The rules were the same, to keep the film under ten minutes, and they gave nearly two months to do it. A few teams started right away, and it showed in the final productions. I was selected to be a part of 2 teams, but by the end of the time, I had my hand in four of them. My brother and I were on opposing teams this time however, since last year we were together and went home with best film, so you could say there was a bit of a rivalry going on. His team got Chick Flick again, and mine received Comedy and Drama. I ended up putting a bit more time into the drama, since I was limited in time to spend, and had to choose a priority. We had almost too many people joining the team, but it was great to have such talented people to work with. It was difficult however to organize everyone, and get all of the shots needed. All in all the films went well, and ended up in an even better event this year, hosted at the church. The Chick Flick once again won Best Film,  with Josiah, my brother, as the director, but the leaders said it was a tough choice between His and ours, which was the Drama. The movies ended up a bit longer than desired, but when you have some good stories to tel, the time does not matter.

Everyone had a great time, even though some took home more Oscars than others. The Top two videos can be viewed on the Videos page of this site. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did making them.  The movies were shown at FLC in Nampa, hosted and put together by The NXT youth church.

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Top Ten Items I Keep In My Shoulder Bag

1. Macbook Pro Computer
   1. There was a certain time that I was not into Macintosh computers, but as soon as I bought one, I immediately loved it, and have been faithful ever since. Of course not everyone needs to have a Mac, however, in all the three years I have had mine,I never had a virus that I know of, and for design and video, there is no alternative.
   2. $1999. However if you are a student you can get a discount at the Mac Education Store
2. Western Digital, My Passport
   1. This amazing little piece of equipment is hard matched by much else. Super small portable hard drive, that runs off of the power of you computer, so no messy cords to mess with, and really easy use. Very Portable
   2. $149.99
3. Skull Candy in ear Headphones
   1. Small, light weight, slight noise cancellation, and great comfort, and for a cheap price.
   2. 13.99
4. Panasonic DMC TZ5 Digital Camera
   1. A great camera for a point and shoot. 10x optical zoom really gets it out there.
   2. $330.00
5. Logitech Pocket mouse
   1. This paired with a mouse pad, and a jell wrist support, make the set up a hundred times better
   2. cheap
6. 1 G. USB Flash drive
   1. Sandisk is a good brand, but there are many different brands, they just keep making them bigger and bigger.
   2. $25.00
7. Multi Memory Card Reader
   1. Saves having to carry the cable for your camera to transfer pictures to your, and also allows a freedom to get pictures from various other cameras and formats.
   2. $30.00
8. Black Berry Pearl
   1. I got by for quite sometime before I bought my first smart phone, and I never regretted the decision, even though it cost me more money in my monthly bill, It saved me money, to be able to schedule and look up on maps, it has become one of my closest items.
   2. $30.00, with 2 year contract with Verizon
9. Misc. Cords etc.
   1. I always carry a fire wire cable, headphone splitter, VGA video adapter, start up discs, USB 2.0 cables, so anyway, it doesn’t hurt to have a few extra backups for when projects pop up out of no where.
10. Good old Pen and Paper
    1. Its hard to beat the good old standby. Some things only can be explained in sketches, or on something tangible, so make sure you keep the old fashioned in with the new.

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There is a job out there that has been deemed the most dangerous for anyone to attempt. It is King Crab Fishing in the Bering Sea of Alaska. It has been Hollywood-ized a bit by the famous TV show, The Deadliest Catch, and many people have lived the life of a sailor through that series. However, until you have actually been out there, on the high seas, you really cannot know, or experience what it is really like to brave the elements, and put your self out on a limb. Well, all that to say this, I have not, and probably will never end up on a Crab Fishing Boat. However, I have experienced a job that I would put very close in the rankings of dangerous jobs, and it does take place on the high seas. I am talking about Commercial Fishing for Salmon off of Kodiak Island.

Now just because it is not taking place in the Bering Sea, Does not mean that it isn’t adventurous or dangerous, so let me paint the picture for you. You are on a big boat, 58 feet long, which is longer than most houses. It sways constantly with the roll of the swells coming in from the Stormy Pacific. You are living off of four hours of sleep, and no showers for weeks. You have not stepped on land for 16 days, and its starts to show. The meals are hearty, but nothing fancy. The morning starts with the raise of the anchor, and as you roll out of your bunk, your feet hit the floor, and you are off into another day. You shove down some cereal and coffee to get you going, and as you slip on your extra tuff boots, the salty air, and the salt stains in your clothes hit your nostrils. Not just salt, but seaweed, and fish, lots and lots of fish. However, by this point, after being out on the water for so long, you really don’t smell anything irregular, despite the wreak of your own stench, due to the lack of cleanliness. You pull on your rain gear, which is cold and damp from the previous days work. Orange gloves and ball cap complete the uniform. Now it begins.

The guy in the skiff takes off, attached to the net, which is neatly stacked upon the deck, and begins to unravel the corks and leads that string out for nearly a quarter of a mile. Meanwhile, the skipper maneuvers the boat into position, along the shore line, or off of a rock fixture, and this allows for a 30 minute window to catch up with the day, which is how long the net sits there, gathering fish, until you are headed out to man the ropes and stations. This style of commercial fishing is called Purse Seining, which is where you bring together the two ends of the net, and pull the rope on the bottom portion of the net, which forms a purse. Your job then is to take all the extra net that is floating around, and stack it carefully on the deck of the boat. Now this may seem like an easy job, but now lets throw in the variables that make it interesting.

First off, the position you are in is the Leads, which is the heavy portion of the net that weights the net on the bottom. Each side of the net must be stacked, separately, corks on one side, leads on the other. This means that you are holding your hands up in the air, to stack the line on the deck. Not only that, you are in a hurry, to get done and get the fish on board as quickly as possible. And also you are in 10 foot swells, with water sloshing over the sides of the boat that are only a foot tall, so they would do nothing to aid you in the event of a fall. The net always passes over your head, which is filled with not only salt water, but also jelly fish! They get caught in the net, and as it is swinging around in the wind and roll of the boat, it tends to slap you right in the face, and causes a very painful sting, but there is no rest for the weary. So then add the fact that there are fish that get stuck in the net that must be retrieved ASAP, and your skipper is yelling at the top of his lings at you, and you are messing up, since you are quite knew to the position, and on top of that, you have up to 30,000 lbs of Salmon, that are waiting to be rolled onto deck once the net is all done being hauled in.

Finally, the net is stacked, the fish are stored, and the skiff takes off once more for another round. All of this takes place in the matter of about 20 minutes. Sounds like fun huh. Well I didn’t really think so at first, and there were many days during that month aboard the Millennium, that I wanted to quit and be done with it, and actually sleep. But that was not an option, and the longer it went on, the tougher and more knowledgeable you become. And also after it is all over you look at the paycheck, and all of that hard backbreaking work seems to fade into history. But the experience is still there, and the memories never go away. It was one of the best and worst experiences of my life, and I was so privileged to be on a boat with such a great crew, and one of the best skippers in Alaska. We worked very hard, and stayed busy even way past the ending date for the other boats. So it was an amazing experience that was multifaceted. We saw bears on the Island of Kodiak, met some very interesting people, went dear hunting, worked on boats, washed dishes for a month straight. That would not be the last time I would be on a boat on the high seas, and the skills gained on that trip helped me to enjoy the trip on a catamaran in the BVI in  2006. However it wasn’t all just a good time. I actually learned a great deal from this adventure.

There was a saying that my Skipper, Jerry, always said. “There are two things that make boys into men, Commercial Fishing and the Marines.” I believe it, at least the fishing part of it. The skills gained, physically and mentally were huge. Some of the things I gleaned from that trip were as follows. In those tough situations you must man up, and get past the physical affliction, and take control and make something happen. You cannot let your emotions get the best of you, when that person is dishing out some discipline for the mistakes you made. You still need to accept it, move on, and learn from it. Also it is amazing how quickly you learn something when you jump in and do it, even though you don’t have everything figured out. That’s how it worked on the boat, you take a task, and learn it by doing it, and yes you may mess up, but its the learning curve. Also, I learned about team work, and knowing that we must keep the team together. There is definitely no room for fear, when the going gets rough, and it is up to us to make the best out of it. These principles can be applied in many areas of our life, and when those times get tough that is when our true colors are shown.

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