Why Go Into The Wilderness?

Wittier, AK (~6100 miles traveled). I know, its been quite a long time since I last posted here..but I've been busy exploring and having fun. I've also been away from my laptop and wireless signal (nice to do every once in a while, trust me).

Denali - a rare clear view

When I started telling people about this trip, many of them questioned the choice of Alaska as one of my key destinations. They’d cite all the usual stuff, its cold there, its rugged, it’s a long way away, and there are grizzly bears in Alaska. All true. As for the cold, yes indeed it has been cold. I think it fell below freezing every night. But as a fellow hiker told me, “there is no such thing as the wrong kind of weather for hiking, there is only the wrong kind of clothing!” We went out everyday, and enjoyed some of the most spectacular scenery imaginable. I consider it an honor of nature that on the first day that we went to see Denali, it was perfectly clear and we saw the entire mountain in all its glory. Something that is really very rare I am told. Denali is glorious. Its jagged, snow covered peaks present a sharp contrast to an unbelievably blue sky. It has the highest absolute vertical ascent of any mountain on earth (I know Everest is taller, but Denali has a greater overall bulk and vertical rise).

me - Denali Park
I did travel over 6,000 miles to get to Alaska, and I guess that’s a long way, but going a long way was entirely the point of this trip in the first place…..which has been great. We saw many animals in Alaska, including grizzly bears. It happens to be the time of year when the salmon are making their run upstream to spawn, which provides a veritable feast for the bears. One night while we were camping along the
beautiful lakeshore of Quartz Creek Lake, in the Kenai peninsula area, a bear decided to give our trailer a shove in the middle of the night. The three of us woke with a start. My brave dog made a beeline for our bed, and once firmly ensconced in my lap, managed to muster enough courage to growl at the bear outside.



The bear left without incident (no doubt in fear for its life after hearing from my ferocious dog ☺ ). The next morning, the only evidence that a bear had been about was a deep recess in the beach that the bear had dug to lie down in, and a few salmon skeletons scattered about. I don’t know why the bear decided to shove our trailer, perhaps just to remind us who is king of the forest in Alaska. Which brings me back to the question of why go into the wilderness. There was a time when people were drawn to Alaska, not so much for the wilderness itself, but for what it contained. The gold rush of the 1800’s is a great example and of course there’s the modern day “gold rush” for oil which is unfortunately still going on. Others have gone and continue to go in order to pit themselves against nature itself… .a contest that takes no prisoners and has claimed a number of lives through the years. Another group of people, and I met a few of them, go to Alaska in search of a simpler life, relatively free from the modern world. I didn’t go for any of those reasons. I went because I wanted to see and feel what one of the few remaining wild places on earth was like. I wanted to walk on the tundra, climb in the mountains, plunge my hands in glacial melt and splash my face with the coldest, cleanest water imaginable. I wanted to see animals in their natural habitat, living as they were meant to live. I was able to do all these things and more. I took nothing away from Alaska except pictures, memories and a more profound sense of my own place in the greater order of things.


Go if you can.

Being Fierce

Watson Lake, Yukon (3,500~ miles traveled) Shortly before leaving for Alaska I began reading a book titled This Was The North, given to me by my neighbor, Bob Reynolds. The book is the autobiographical story of Anton Money. It’s a fascinating read about a young man of 22 who comes to Alaska in 1923, leaving behind a life of privilege in England. He begins his life in Alaska as a clerk with the Hudson Bay Company. He does not long remain a clerk however. The rugged beauty of the North, the chance to pit himself against one of the most harsh climates on the planet, and the potential of finding gold all conspire to lure him away from his desk job. He tells a moving story of developing new skills, learning to work with different cultures (The Native Americans) and building the confidence needed to strike out on his own. Lastly, in many ways it’s a story about being successful on his own terms. He eventually does make a gold strike, and builds a cabin on Frances Lake in the Yukon Territory. He lives here happily for many years with his wife and 2 sons. There are other stories like his about the people who came to settle this part of America. They were all rugged, fierce individuals. As most of you know, many came here during the gold rush, few ever found gold, and even fewer had the capacity to live here.

I am leaving in few hours to go to Frances Lake to search for Money’s cabin. II'll be a there a couple of days. ts been quite an adventure already, just trying to figure out how to get there. The major challenge is the fact that this place is so remote, there are no services available. In particular there is no gas available for over 233 miles. When I pull the trailer, I cannot drive 233 miles before needed to fill-up. My first thought was to purchase a couple of those plastic fuel carriers and a manual pump. This seemed like the way to go, until I imagined careening down a desolate, bumpy road with all that fuel…hmm, rocket man. Maybe not. Then I thought about parking the trailer in Watson Lake and driving the SUV, buying a tent to camp-out in and hiking to Money’s old cabin. I looked at the maps and realized that Money’s cabin (general direction…I don’t know where it is exactly) is a long way from any road…lots of hiking….maybe days worth. I was actually going to do this, until a local told me about a couple that have a wilderness camp up on the lake. I wrote them and they have agreed to let me stay at their camp, and we’ll go by boat in search of the cabin.

You may be wondering…why go to all the trouble? I could tell you that I promised Bob I would go to the cabin, and that would be a true statement. But, it is more than that. I am beginning a new phase in my life. I am inspired by people like Anton Money. I love the idea of success on your own terms, especially after you’ve tried it on someone else’s. Most of all, I’d like to be a little fierce myself