LOOK/READ: Alaska 1968

Opening day. June 7, 1968 - Sneed Adams & Dave Cassell strike out for Alaska.
C assell had returned from a year in Viet Nam.
Adams had returned from 16 months in India.
It was time to do other things and see other places. 

Ektachrome color slides have started to loose their color.
Looking north up the spine of the Canadian Rockies.
The road to Jasper goes up this valley. The scenery along
this highway is some of the finest in the world. 

One of the advantages of camping at elevation 6,700 ft. in July. Snow that is.
Not non English speaking French teenagers.

At camp in Eagle, Alaska. Dave reads from the book of Robert Service poems.

The Cremation of San McGee

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tails
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

Time has taken its toll on this slide of Dave crossing the same railroad bridge.

We loaded the Caribou onto the top of the scout and then put the canoe on top of the caribou. It looked funny but it worked. So we drove to Chitna looking like this. Must have been 300 miles

See more from this amazing journey here.

LOOK: Lake Clark National Park, Alaska 2006

"Established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is a United StatesNational Park in southwestern Alaska. The park includes many streams and lakes vital to the Bristol Bay salmon fishery. The park allows a wide variety of recreational activities year-round.

Lake Clark has been called "the essence of Alaska", for it concentrates in a relatively small area of theAlaska Peninsula, Southwest of Anchorage, a variety of features not found together in any of the other Alaska Parks: the junction of three mountain ranges, (the Alaska Range from the North, the Aleutian Range from the South, and the park's own rugged Chigmit Mountains), two active volcanoes (Iliamnaand Redoubt), a coastline with rainforests on the East (similar to South East Alaska), a plateau with tundra on the West (similar to Arctic Alaska), and turquoise lakes.

No roads lead to the park and it can only be reached by small aircraft, floatplanes being the best method. The park, one of the least visited in the National Park System, averages just over 5,000 visitors per year."

The park is also known as the former home of the legendary Dick Proenneke. Read more about the park and Dick's cabin over on NPS.

See all 187 photos here.

LOOK: Alaska in the 1950s & 60s

See more here.

VISIT: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Wooden Wand - The Mountain

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in southeastern Alaska. It was established in 1980 by theAlaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The park area is included in an International Biosphere Reserve and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the largest national park in the United States by area, covering an area of 20,587 mi² (53,321 km²), or over 13 million acres(53,000 km²). In fact, it is larger than nine U.S. States, and its size is comparable to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

Photo via Secondary Reality

Photo via Marie-Lauren Even

Photo via  robert_vst

WATCH: Journey on the Wild Coast

"A married couple attempt to walk, paddle and ski under their own power from Seattle to the Aleutians along the wild and remote northwest coast of North America. This documentary was filmed with a tiny hand held video camera by the adventures as they traveled through northern Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Experience this modern adventure through their eyes as they encounter breathtaking scenery, harsh weather, amazing wildlife, starvation and danger. This modern adventure demonstrates that the most significant aspect of a journey is not reaching the final destination but how the journey changes the trajectory of the rest of a person's life."

This looks great and hopefully I'll be able to get hold of a copy! Also be sure to visit Ground Truth Trekking where you can read more about this journey and other journeys completed and also take a look at some of the stunning photos here. Beautiful stuff! You can also check out some more videos from the journey here, including a very close encounter with a grizzly on the Alaska Peninsula!

via Cold Splinters/adventure journal

WATCH: Katmai National Park/Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

Just came across this vintage documentary from 1979 about Katmai National Park whilst checking out some stuff on Google Earth. Some great footage and I can't help but love the soundtrack and dated voiceover. "Come with me. Fly low and forget time..." Also be sure to check out the below documentary about the famed Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes entitled 'The Forge of the Vulcan.'

'Katmai National Park's old film on the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is presented here for your retro-enjoyment. Dated and "quaint", this film is no longer shown in the park.'

LOOK: More Dick Proenneke Photos

Gene Clark - The American Dreamer

Geoff over at So Sweaty just posted up a load of great pics from Dick's 'One Man's Wilderness', which I am still to read and I thought I'd share a few, as if you're anything like me, you'll proably never get sick of reading/watching/looking at anything related to Dick Proenneke. In fact, I just noticed it's only £7.45 on Amazon, so it's about time I bought it! See the rest here.

WATCH: Never Cry Wolf (1983)

Incredible photography. Beautifully melancholy film. Watch the remaining parts here.

'Never Cry Wolf' on IMDB

LOOK: Alaska 79 Kenai to Denali

 

 

See more here.

Building a Log Cabin in Alaska

The Youngbloods - Country Home

I just discovered this website and it's absolutely perfect reading/dreaming for a lazy Sunday morning with a cup of tea.

One night in the spring of 2004, probably at 2am, Aaron and I were sitting at the computer, each drinking a beer, and looking for land in Alaska. We couldn't believe it when we found a piece that wasn't only affordable....VERY affordable, but was in our favorite area of Alaska. We bought our five acre parcel of land and started dreaming up what we were going to do on it. We told our folks we were going to build a cabin; I think my parents didn't believe me and thought I was a little crazy! Aaron and I were so excited we just started cutting trees, branches, anything....oh the feeling of owning your own piece of land! Over the course of five months Aaron and I drove every single weekend five hours to our land and gradually a cabin came together. Aaron's brother, Adam, joined us for 2.5 months; we'd never have done it without his help! Please take your time on these pages, click on the pictures to see the bigger view, and enjoy the building process of a log cabin by two people who have never built much of anything before! The links above will take you through each process of the building. Originally all the photos were on one page, but that was like 300 pictures, so I split the building process up into six pages. 

Read more here.

  Preparing the land

Nice pile accumulating of peeled logs.  For the whole weekend we moved 13 logs out of the woods and I peeled 15 logs.

The Log Walls

Finished the weekend with 16 logs put on the walls.

 

 

 The Gables, Roof and Windows

Aaron & Adam working up the gables to the ridge pole. We are almost out of workable logs!

 

 

Alaska Log Cabin In Winter

Caulking the gables on the front of the cabin  where the logs have checks or where they didn't fit tight.  The southern wind we get here tends to blow rain right up under the roof and against the logs.

 

 

 Log Spiral Stairs

Lagging the stairs in place.

 

 

 The Cabinets & Front Porch

We just need to finish the loft railing and the stair railing. We ran out of logs, so we had to cut a couple more trees and peel them. 

 

 

Return to Alaska & Our Log Cabin 

Moose at Iniakuk Lake, Alaska

WATCH: Heimo's Arctic Refuge (VBS.TV)

In 1980, Jimmy Carter established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Alaskan Interior, cutting off 19 million acres of prime boreal wilderness from the mitts of fur trappers, oil tycoons, and would-be lodge owners alike. Only six families of white settlers were grandfathered in and allowed to keep cabins in the refuge—of them, only one still stays there year-round living off the land. His name is Heimo Korth, and he is basically the Omega Man of America’s Final Frontier.

Raised in suburban Wisconsin, Heimo set off in his teens to the Alaskan Bush to pursue the Davy Crockett lifestyle in more or less the only place it was still possible. Amid numerous setbacks and misadventures, Heimo gradually learned how to master his terrain, provide for his Eskimo wife, and rear children in one of the most inhospitable environments in North America.

In this premiere edition of Far Out, we take a bush plane to the middle of nowhere, Alaska, to catch up with Heimo and his wife, Edna—now reaching their golden years. Over the course of our ten-day stay, the Korths show us everything you need to know about fur-trapping, caribou-hunting, caribou-eating, river-crossing, boredom-staving, bear-avoidance, and bear-defense to live happily over 100 miles from the nearest neighbors. Vegans, you have been warned. Heimo’s epic journey and adventures have been documented in the critically acclaimed book, THE FINAL FRONTIERSMAN, written by Heimo’s cousin, James Campbell.

BOOK: Alaska by Bern Keating (1969)

 My mum, sister and her boyfriend were recently over visiting and I took them on a day trip to Lund. Lund's full of great second hand book shops and I found this beauty whilst browsing in a shop and had to have it! On the inside of the book there's a hand written note that says "Thore, Though you might like this. Kevin. 17/1/77." The book is called 'Alaska' and was released in 1969. The one thing that struck me whilst reading the book was how refreshing it was to read about the people of Alaska. I love Alaska's wildness and the natural beauty, and don't get me wrong, the book covers plenty of it, but it was so nice to read about the people that live there, from Fairbanks, to the Eskimos and Aleuts. It was especially interesting also, to read about Alaska at the end of the 60s. So many things have changed since it was written, but Alaska's beauty and it's wild ruggedness still remain, which in this day and age is quite an achievement.

Simon & Garfunkel - America

The Beach Boys - Feel Flows

"On a recent visit to Alaska I discovered theat the 49th State is both an enchanting and a frustrating land. Enchanting in its immense beauty, size and variety, and frustrating for much the same reasons - the average visitor, with only a few days or weeks to spend, sees only a tiny portion of its 586,400 square miles. Whatever the portion, it is likely to be memorable. Mine included a solitary evening beside a small lake in the southeastern, or panhandle, region and a five-pound rainow trout that arched from the still water to take a fly.

 There are other memories, but far too few of them; I want a great deal more of Alaska. So, too, do thousands of members of the Society, judging by their letters urging publication of this book on our largest state. In response, the Society has produced this richly illustrated volume that to me presents the enchantment without the frustration - its 208 colorful pages ARE Alaska.

 To capture Alaska in all its breadth and detail, the Society commissioned a gifted free-lance author, Bern Keatin, to roam the 49th State with George Mobley, one of the National Geographic's ablest staff photographers. Four months and 11,000 miles of travel produced some startling discoveries on Mr. Keating's part, at least one of them a source of modest profit back home in Mississippi. Since his return he has won a number of bets as to the easternmost point in the United States - not Eastport, Maine, but Pochnoi Point on Semisopochnoi Island in the Aleutians, which lies just beyond the 180th meridian and thus in the Eastern Hemisphere.

 Mr. Keating found that Alaska today reflects many chapters from the Nation's past. Homesteading that stimulated settlement of the early West continues in the 49th State. Railroads and highways have barely penetrated the vast interior. An industrial revolution threatens to trap native populations - Indian, Aleut, and Eskimo - in a cultural squeeze between the proud past and an uncertain future. The historic lure of gold has given way to a rush for oil on Alaska's rich north slope.

 During my visit I flew by floatplane north from Ketchikan in the panhandle into the vastness of Tongass National Forest. My companion was Pete Cessnun, a veteran bush pilot with a consuming urge to share the grandeur of his state. Within an hour we landed on the edge of a small lake, 100 miles from the nearest traffic jam, shopping-center, neon sign, and - for all I know - fellow human being. Only the rustle of the woodlands sounds and the lap of water against the shore disturbed a peace that I have come to think of as distinctly Alaskan.

 Alaska is the only state in the Union without an official nickname, But I can understand the dilemma of the phrasemakers - what catchy saying or slogan could capture the majesty of Alaska?"  Gilbert M. Grosvenor

The Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II and connects the contiguous U.S. to Alaska through Canada. It runs from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon. Completed in 1942, it was 2,237 km or 1,390 mi long, but is becoming shorter due to rerouting. The historic end of the highway is near milepost 1422, where it meets the Richardson Highway in Delta Junction, Alaska, about 160 km (99 mi) southeast of Fairbanks.

One day I WILL drive along The Alaska Highway!

Also, be sure to check out this free online book called 'The World Famous Alaska Highway' over on Google Books.

Marshall Tucker Band - Take The Highway