I was standing almost hip deep in the grey, muddy water- in the deepest part of the bog. My 1,200 pound ATV was laying on its side, half under water with the handlebars submerged somewhere around my knee level. My body was the only thing keeping it from rolling completely upside down. With 2 or 3 other guys to help, it would simply have been an ugly moment to laugh about, but by myself, it was a s...  Read More

I forgot rope and a tow strap. Hunting solo with an ATV requires thoughtful preparation. It is very common, especially when going through mucky terrain, to need far more than 50 feet of winch cable. Trees don't grow in the muckholes, and without another machine, trees are all you have for an 'anchor' to winch out. I usually have a tow strap and 100 feet of heavy rope. Because I didn't have those t...  Read More

The mountains are calling. Something about the wilderness stirs my soul. We were created to live in perfect harmony with the natural world. I'm already anticipating the mixture of scent coming from the. fireweed, spruce, and lush green. The stillness is only broken by songbirds, flowing water and the wind. Fall colors are full on at higher elevations- yellow, orange and red, with a massive carpet ...  Read More

During the summer a truck could drive on this trail, so I was leading the  heavy equipment in. We had to 'walk it in' (drive it) about 6 miles. Our piece of equipment was half off the trail with the right two wheels in a muckhole and perhaps 4 feet lower than the left two wheels (which were still on the trail). We brought along two heavy chains, but I did not believe that my truck could pull it ou...  Read More

It could have happened to anyone. It was just a tiny swerve to miss a pothole- to make the ride smoother- and two wheels of an 11,000 pound piece of heavy equipment were off the road and buried in a quagmire. 'Off the road' in a thousand other places wouldnt have been a problem. This was one of the very few 'soft spots' on a trail that was many miles long. The narrow strip of gravel was safe, but ...  Read More

I could clearly see two 'forks' on the young bull moose. This made him legal, and I almost pulled the trigger at 300 yards. I was calling him in by imitating a cow 'call' and a bull 'grunt.' I almost shot him at 200 yards. I almost shot him at 100 yards. It wasn't until he stepped out of the brush at 50 yards that I noticed a third tine on both antlers. This meant the bull was NOT legal. I almost ...  Read More

One of the differences between summer rain in Alaska and most other places is that our rain is cold. I don't mean 'refreshing' cold, I mean if you're out in the wilderness and are unprotected you could die of hypothermia. While the wild animals are seemingly comfortable in every kind of weather, you and I need to clothe ourselves properly. The same thing is true spiritually. Collossians 3:12 says,...  Read More

After three spectacular days, it's raining again. Water is life-giving. It's essential. There's nothing quite so peaceful as being next to a clear, trickling brook on a warm, sunny day. But water can also be dangerous, violent, contaminated- leading to death rather than to life. The Word of God is pure Living Water. It is both life-giving and life-sustaining. But if it is contaminated by false doc...  Read More

Alaska is a land of extremes. When I was younger I made many trips every summer down to the Russian River after working all day. It took several hours to get there so I would begin fishing a little before 10 PM, catch that day's limit, and then after midnight, catch the next day's limit and be back at work by 6 AM. We give time and energy to what we love, don't we? Like so many men, hunting and fi...  Read More

Though I was not yet excited about Alaska, I was thankful to finally be through with all of the continuous harassment and 'head games' that were part of basic training. I thought, "Now we'll finally be treated like men." Imagine my disappointment when at my first meeting with my Platoon Sergeant he lectured me for nearly 2 hours in what he called 'preventative counseling.' He had seen that I had a...  Read More

As I stood in formation at the end of Airborne School, the jumpmasters asked us if we wanted 'blood wings.' This is where they put your Airborne pin through your shirt with no back on the pin and then punch it into your chest. Obviously I said, "Yes," but those soldiers with a more delicate nature declined. Testosterone is a great thing. It's part of what it means to be 'man' created in the image ...  Read More

Jesus called out to some commercial fisherman, "Come! Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!" At once they left their boats and nets and followed him. There is an important spiritual principle here. The very first time that these men encountered Jesus, they obeyed IMMEDIATELY. Isn't that interesting? They didn't say, "Talk to us when we're done with work." They didn't say, "We'll think abo...  Read More