Rocks. We had entered a kingdom of rocks – rocks the size of refrigerators, some as big as microwave ovens, and tucked in between, boulders the size of basketballs. As we slowly moved upward, we…
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As we worked our way up the south-facing ridge of 5,450-foot Pepper Peak in the Chugach Mountains, about 25 miles northeast of Anchorage, it was easy to skirt around patches of winter’s residual snow. It…
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With a dearth of snowfall this winter and unseasonably warm temperatures, winter has eluded some of us in Alaska, particularly those in the southcentral region near Anchorage. For whatever reason—climate change or shifting jet streams—I…
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“You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted; but to see it, you have to toil from month to month…
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Cold hearted orb that rules the night, removes the colors from our sight; Red is gray and yellow white, but we decide which is right. And which is the illusion? – Moody Blues Despite…
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“It’s the cursed cold, and it’s caught right hold ‘til I’m chilled clean through to the bone…” – Robert W. Service People sometimes ask me what the coldest place is I’ve ever been. Without hesitation,…
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Anyone who has spent any time in the outdoors has made mistakes–more than we’d like to admit. I’m not going to dwell here about obvious backcountry survival faux pas–like forgetting mosquito repellent, matches, raincoat; or…
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The lightweight tarp I had stretched from a large rock cracked sharply in the wind, spraying water in my face from melting snow as I burrowed deeper inside my sleeping bag. It was early June…
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Autumn seems to rush past us like a gust of wind, and try as we might; it’s difficult if not impossible to prolong it so we can savor the brilliant colors, brisk mornings and snow-dusted…
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