Eleven people, three rafts, two kayaks, a mountain of camping gear, a 250 mile drive, and three miles across a frozen lake, dragging all of it. Our aim was to float the Gulkana River from Paxson Lake to Sourdough, but on Memorial Day weekend, the lake was still frozen. In Alaska's interior at the end of May, you need to be prepared for hot weather, cold weather, and continuous rain. At times you e...  Read More

Several years ago, when my uncle Jim and aunt Kathy came to Alaska with my mom and dad, my friend Dan took us fishing on the Kenai. We had missed the run, but through persistence we were able to land a few fish. When fishing salmon in Alaska, TIMING is everything. When Jesus called his first disciples (who were commercial fishermen), he said, "Come! Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!" ...  Read More

Lifting a bear off the ground is kind of like trying to pick up a handful of jello... that weighs hundreds of pounds. Everything moves away from whatever spot you are trying to lift. Even so, with two men working, we were able to lash the entire bear on a pack frame. That's when the real work started. If you are going to be successful and happy in life, you need to learn to carry your own weight. ...  Read More

The thing about hunting in Alaska is that if you don't find what you're looking for you might find something else. You may be moose hunting in an open area and go home with a caribou or a black or grizzly bear. You didn't get the 'good thing' you were after, but you got a different 'good thing.' This is so often true in the life of a Christian. We are PRAYING for something, LONGING for something, ...  Read More

Three times in my life, friends have flown myself and one (or two) of my kids in a Supercub to go hunting.  Skilled pilots are able to land and take off in a very short distance on extremely difficult terrain- gravel bars, mountain tops, and open tundra. You see, Alaska has many places (including more than 100 villages) that are only accessible by plane. It's true that a person could say, "I'm goi...  Read More

Backpacking Crow Pass was an annual adventure for our high school youth group for several decades. The night before this four day adventure was our annual 'gear check.' This is where 40 students would lay out every item from their backpack on the floor and our leaders would go through each pack- item by item- to make sure that students had every single piece of gear that was on our official packin...  Read More

What really matters to you? Making money? Having fun? Finding the right person to marry? Getting a good job? Those are all good things. But think about the only PERFECT life- consider Jesus. He wasn't focused on making money or having fun or stepping into the right career, and he never got married. When we devote ourselves to pursuing GOOD things in life, it is easy to miss out on the BEST thing- ...  Read More

It seems a lifetime ago that my good friend, Dan Marshall and I spent the night on the snowy ground to fish Montana's Ruby River. Growing up in mountain country, Dan well understood the importance of good gear. After building a roaring fire, Dan laid a quality sleeping pad down on the snow, crawled into a heavy down sleeping bag and went to sleep. Growing up in Minnesota, even though I had been hu...  Read More

Why is a glacier blue? I don't know, maybe for the same reason that the sky is blue and in many places,that the ocean is blue. Color is a wonderful thing, isn't it? One thing we know- it's all wrapped up in how  the addition of LIGHT impacts 'matter'- the substance of a thing. There is something stirring to the soul about a blue sky after days of rain, a blue ocean at the end of a desert, or even ...  Read More

It is a little known fact that caribou love the high places. What I mean is that they love to be on the very top of the tallest mountains, and are very often seen higher than the Dall sheep. When you look up at the cliffs and grey rock, it doesn't seem that there would be anything for them to eat, and yet when you climb those high mountains, you discover that there are tufts of grass and tundra ev...  Read More

Being alone in the wilderness is something very few people ever experience. And yet... there is something about the wilderness that has always drawn me. As a young man I was out continuously. My life largely consisted of packing, going, unpacking, and dreaming of going again. As I have grown closer to the Lord my priorities have changed. I still love the wilderness, but I go much less often. Why? ...  Read More

I've never seen anything like it. It was flat- perhaps twenty feet off the ground at its highest point- and it was below me. I could see it touching the ground on both sides. I could easily have marked the spot. Having a large, full rainbow beneath me and hovering, just off the ground was a new experience. But the purpose of the rainbow has never changed. That part wasn't new. God gave the rainbow...  Read More