Over the years, I couldn't tell you how many times i've found 'life' in unexpected places. I was snowshoeing across a smooth blanket of snow at −30°, when all of a sudden little white heads started popping up through the surface of the snow. Ptarmigan had been living under the snow. I would never have imagined it. The first time that I saw Dall sheep living up in the craggy gray cliffs, I was surp...  Read More

I was sitting outside my tent at 10 PM enjoying the last rays of sunshine. In less than an hour, 59 caribou walked right past my tent. Two things on my part were critical for this experience: my STILLNESS and my SILENCE. We miss so much of the life and beauty that surrounds us because we are so seldom still and so seldom sit in total silence. Too much activity and too much noise not only drown out...  Read More

A part of me was made for wilderness. In the past two days I saw hundreds of caribou and a great deal of wolf and grizzly sign. I climbed two mountains in a place so remote that it is very likely that no one has ever set foot on the ground where I was walking. I was contemplating this almost magnetic 'draw' I feel in those places. I've decided that it's a longing for home- for eternity- and that t...  Read More

I was in the mountains without cell reception today. Though I am getting older, the 'high country' remains my happy place. When I am alone, the climbing is easier. Thisis because I am able to go at MY pace, which is considerably slower than most of the guys who are sheep hunting. Every person has an individual 'rhythm' for optimum productivity. Some people need a laid back, stress-free work enviro...  Read More

Climbing a mountain isn't something that appeals to everyone. It isn't pleasant... often it isn't fun... but it's GOOD. Most of life's GOOD things include HARD things... GOOD HARD things... things like work and study and effort and sacrifice. But those who spend their lives trying to avoid hard things end up in a much harder place! The party life- a life centered on pleasure- always leads to pain....  Read More

Heaven is real. It's a place, it's out there. Jesus literally ascended into heaven- disappearing in the clouds as his disciples watched. He will return the same way- coming in the clouds. This is a profound mystery, because things happen in the spiritual realm that are much different from the normal 'laws of nature' on earth. 'Ascending' defied gravity. 'Appearing' in the room with his disciples (...  Read More

We had the coldest spring in 50 years and the wettest July on record. This made for an even shorter summer in a place that is known for short summers. My lilac bush bloomed late in the first week of July, and in the first week of August almost all of the blossoms are gone. It simply reminds me that we are surrounded by 'temporary' things. Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but...  Read More

39 roses. It's an odd number, to be sure. Each one represents a different year of my life. No, I'm not saying that I'm 39 years old- that birthday is well behind me. It's been 39 years since I said two little words that changed my life. I said, "I do." Those words are not a guarantee, they are a covenant promise. A bride and groom promise to LOVE each other. They do not promise to be IN love. They...  Read More

Except for the fortunate few who live in remote places, the logistics of hunting Alaska are very different from climbing into your tree stand after work. For most of us, every hunt is an expedition. Planning and packing are critical to success- even more so if you are flying in a Super Cub. Weight and volume matter. The goal is the lightest and best quality and least amount of gear that you can ge...  Read More

Occasionally, when hiking across the arctic tundra, you'll see a flash of pure white on the ground in the distance. Like deer, moose and elk, every year caribou shed their antlers.  It is possible to go for days without seeing a caribou, and yet to pick up a number of sheds or even an entire skull and antlers off a wolf kill. It is rock-solid evidence that life was once here- that a caribou once s...  Read More

In the mountains, the weather can change almost in an instant. On our first morning in the Brooks Range that worked in our favor. All night was 100% cloud cover and rain, so when we stepped out of our tent early in the morning to blue sky, it immediately lifted my spirits. A lot of time and effort went into this hunt, and I wanted the girls to enjoy it. Good weather is a gift that Alaskan hunters ...  Read More

After driving nearly 800 miles and then flying in a bush plane, I was disappointed that I couldn't get my girls on a nice bull caribou. We were hunting for our winter meat, and a big bull has fully twice the meat of a cow. Even so, my girls both shot caribou and then helped cut them up and pack them out- one load of meat at a time- in their backpacks. There was no complaining, no "This is too hard...  Read More