This is my adventure.

2013-06-03T01:16:00.001-08:00

just got home and happy to be in my own bed. not looking forward to waking up for work in the morning...

102 hour trip outside Alaska
30 of those spent flying
72 hours in New England
90 degree temperatures
12 hours on the road between destinations
3 states covered- VT, NH, MA
2 countries with a rooftop drink in Montreal
1 awesome wedding on Lake Winnipesaukee with Dana and Jon Ewing

so great to see old friends and meet new ones. the visit was way too short- hopefully there will be another trip east soon for those of you I missed this time around.

Fall in Anchorage

2013-02-04T19:47:00.003-09:00

Fall in Anchorage. Night time photo shoots, Hiking to Flattop and Hidden Lake, Kincaid Beach, and cycle-cross races.

Valdez - September 2012

2013-02-04T19:36:00.000-09:00

Took a weekend trip down to Valdez with the family back in September. Quiet time of year with lots of wildlife.

2013-02-03T19:36:00.001-09:00

First global food night starting with "A"... Afghanistan. Cooking Kabeli Palau with Nina.

2013-01-07T08:52:00.001-09:00

Welcome to 2013! I'm about 4 months behind on photos and stories... will be playing catch-up.

Fall photos, Hawaii, Skiing, Info on my 2013 Art Show...

Check back for updates soon!

Blackstone Bay: September 1-3, 2012

2012-09-04T20:30:00.000-08:00

August 2012

2012-09-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

Kenai River Dipnetting: July 28, 2012

2012-08-10T16:58:00.002-08:00

Denali Highway: July 21, 2012

2012-08-10T16:57:00.001-08:00

Eklutna Lake: July 15, 2012

2012-08-10T16:56:00.001-08:00

Gull Rock Point: July 13, 2012

2012-08-10T16:53:00.001-08:00

2012-07-26T21:20:00.001-08:00

its about time we get some nice weather in town... sunset dinner on the roof!

sleeping lady brewery - anchorage, ak

2012-07-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

Drove up to the Denali Highway last weekend. 135 miles of dirt road and 600 miles total. Saw moose, porcupine, caribou, and a black bear!

"That's a Bear!"

2012-07-07T15:22:00.003-08:00

I took a trip out to the Kennicott Copper Mines with some friends last weekend. Kennicott is about 300 miles East of Anchorage in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The last 60 miles are on a rough dirt road, infamous for getting flat tires because it sits atop the abandoned railway. The mine was started in the early 1900s and closed in 1938. The stories about it's history and the mine itself is amazing for it's age.

We left Anchorage Friday evening and after a stop in Palmer to pick up groceries and a few sight seeing stops we were well on our way. We set up camp our first night at around 3am. To get to the town of McCarthy or into the Kennicott Mines, it's either a 4.5 mile walk/bike from the end of the road or you can take a shuttle. Personal vehicles are left at the end of the road.

We hiked about a mile and a half past Kennicott along the Root Glacier Trail to the Jumbo Creek primitive camping area to set up camp and stash our food in the bear-safe container. Our camp looked out over the Kennicott Glacier with views of the Root Glacier in the distance. We organized our gear and started hiking up to the Bonanza Mine around 4:30pm. It was about 11 miles round trip between getting to the trailhead and the hike itself. Unfortunately, we had very low visibility and heavy rain. We got back to camp around 11pm cold, wet, and hungry.

Sunday morning was a little nicer. There were signs of a bear in the area the next morning, but we did a good job at packing away all our food and cooking far from camp. We packed up and headed back into Kennicott for a tour of the mines. The tour of the mill was incredible. 14 stories- the tallest wooden building in the country. We were all pretty interested in the way it worked considering we were a group of 7 engineers.

I will need to make another trip out there with more time and better weather hopefully. There is still plenty to see.

Check out my trip photos below. Generally I don't like to do any major edits to my photo work, but I decided to do a black & white and red contrast on three of the photos from the mine tour... I loved the vividly painted red buildings. You'll be able to tell which photos were edited.

For more information on the Kennicott Copper Mines, go to this link:
http://www.nps.gov/wrst/historyculture/kennecott.htm
You can find more information and history, historical photos, and engineering drawings.

Sea Kayaking in Seward

2012-06-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

I went on a sea kayaking adventure out of Seward last weekend with Heather, Allan, Nina, and Brendon. We drove down late Friday night and camped out Exit Glacier Road. We lucked out with beautiful weather all weekend.

We had 2 foot waves and a 10-15mph head wind Saturday afternoon when we launched the boats making the paddle a lot of effort. We saw seals and an eagles nest close to shore with what sounded like young eagles. The weather calmed down after a couple of hours, but we decided to call it a day once we reached the North Beach of Caine's Head. We would have liked to have gone further to the South side of the point, but we lost a lot of time early on. The mid afternoon start didn't help. We had a great evening relaxing and cooking.

Sunday morning was beautiful and calm. Allan and Nina paddled back to town early. Brendon hiked up to the old WWII fort. Heather and I paddled another mile out to the point where Resurrection Bay opens open. We watched a sea otter playing in the waves. It was a nice morning. We regrouped with Brendon for lunch and started the paddle back. We were working against the tide, but with a strong tailwind, we were able to make it back to Seward in only an hour and a half.

More adventures to come soon...

A weekend in St. Louis

2012-06-24T12:28:00.000-08:00

I took a weekend trip down to St. Louis last month for my brother's graduation at Wash U. It was busy weekend with some really hot weather. We did some exploring around the city, went on the classic Anheuser-Busch tour, and checked out the Chain of Rocks bridge. Exhausting, but a nice weekend trip with the family.

Photos from the iPhone:

2012-05-18T02:57:00.001-08:00

Headed to St. Louis for a quick weekend trip.

2012-05-09T12:33:00.000-08:00

Salmon Yamon Surprise!

2012-04-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

Spent the weekend moving into the new apartment. Back at it Monday morning. Anchorage sunrise... Not a bad way to start the week.

Nosebleed: Mar 18, 2012

2012-03-21T18:44:00.001-08:00

Nosebleed - March 18, 2012
Toured out to Nosebleed with Brendon and Mike for a couple Sunday laps. Beautiful weather, great snow on the North-facing slopes. The snowpack is starting to get interesting with the spring melt/freeze cycles starting up.

Turnagain Pass: Feb 24-25, 2012

2012-03-21T18:39:00.000-08:00

Eddies - Feb 18, 2012
Easy tour with Mike up Eddies. Bad visibility, but deep powder!

Magnum - Feb 18, 2012
Long day with Peter and Mike. Did a couple laps in the Magnum area, one on Goldpan and finished the day with Corner Pocket. Saw a huge cornice drop on Goldpan... pretty crazy.

Presidents Weekend: Feb 18-20, 2012

2012-03-21T18:30:00.001-08:00

Snowbird Glacier Attempt - Feb 18, 2012
Due to attempting a new route to the glacier, we didn't make it to the hut. We climbed several ridges, did some rock scrambles by foot, and in the end had to turn back because of avalanche danger and losing sunlight. We saw some incredible views and skied some areas that I would not have been to otherwise. Fun day nonetheless.

Presidents - February 19, 2012
We were sore and exhausted after a 10 hour tour the day before. We decided to go out for an easy lap on Presidents to get some exercise. Perfect for Presidents Day Weekend

Lazy Mountain - February 20, 2012
Did an exploratory skin up Lazy Mountain. Followed the summer trail up and found some powder fields on the way down.

Motivation

2012-03-21T18:06:00.000-08:00

I had been lacking a lot of motivation since the new year. Finally decided it's time to play catch up. Too many details to remember all the specifics, but I can fill you in with photos. Trips include another Snowbird Glacier attempt, a weekend in Turnagain Pass, and some tours in Hatcher Pass... I also took a trip down to Jackson to collect myself and regain my sanity. It was a great week and now I'm back in AK, the days are getting MUCH longer, and spring skiing is on it's way. Departing tomorrow night for a weekend trip to Valdez!

Photo posts following shortly...

2012-03-03T01:29:00.001-09:00

Wyoming bound... Jackson for the week.

Snowbird Glacier Hut February 11-12, 2012

2012-02-13T21:37:00.000-09:00

I went on a weekend tour out to Snowbird Glacier with Allan and Mike. I've been there a number of times in the summer, but never during the winter... and I had only been to the old 'dome' hut. A new hut was build last year, so the plan was a quick, one-night scouting mission. We wanted to figure out how long it took to get in and out, see what the new cabin is set up with, and check out the snow conditions.

The ski in took about seven hours, all uphill. We made it to the cabin maybe an hour before dark, which gave us just enough time fill the fuel tank, get the heater working, and to start melting snow to refill our water supply. Mike started cooking dinner; steak, peppers, onions, and sweet potatoes. Pretty much the best way to end an ass-kicking tour. After dinner we had some hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps and looked through old photo albums... photos of people like us at the old hut back in the 80's. Many of them still live in the area. Pretty cool.

Sunday morning was pretty lazy. Brewed some coffee, watched snow fall, and cooked some breakfast. We spent about an hour cleaning the cabin and packing up for the ski out. The trip out took about three hours, but definitely could have been a lot quicker. It was almost completely downhill.