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

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