Posts
Ruby, Alaska To travel between Kotzebue and the Alaska Range, I’m using snowmachine trails, which are hands-down the most practical way to get around terrain that is either swampy and buggy or covered in snow and ice. The snowmachine trails “connect the dots” of bush villages in rural Alaska. These villages are not connected to…
Ruby, AK I’m almost three weeks into this trip, and today I feel much more hardened than I did when I landed pre-dawn in Kotzebue 500 miles ago. The process of morphing from just an aspiring adventurer into a lean, mean adventuring machine has three components: physical, mechanical, and mental. Physical The body must become…
Unalakleet, AK Tomorrow morning I head inland via a historic portage route between the Bering Sea (the Unalakleet side) and the Yukon River (at the village of Kaltag). This is a transitional point in the route—moving from the coast to the interior—and a good opportunity for me to wrap up the last 280 miles. My…
Koyuk, AK A few hours out of Buckland things felt like they were really coming together. It was calm, sunny, and in the high-10’s—ideal Nordic skiing temps. My kick-and-glide rhythm felt expert-like compared to when I skied out of Kotzebue 100 miles earlier. For the first time on this trip, my mind began to drift,…
Buckland, AK It was -25° F when I started this trip on Sunday. It warmed up some, to -15°, but it was offset (and then some) by the 10 MPH crosswind from the west. Monday wasn’t much better — it was -20° F in the morning and -10 deg F mid-day. The weather finally broke…
Kotzebue, AK The contents of my pack are almost entirely need based. During this trip, my legitimate needs will include staying hydrated and nourished, keeping my body temperature regulated, and traveling efficiently and safely over the land–snow-covered tundra, glacier-fed rivers, and dense alder forests. I can think of only one item, my camera, which can…
In February and March 2009 I hiked from Arches National Park to the Grand Canyon, which I traversed from east to west. The trip was 800 miles long and took about 4.5 weeks. I finished a day earlier than I anticipated, on Tuesday March 17th, and could think of few better things to do with…
Special thanks to Rob O’Dea Photography for letting me include a few of his images on this page. Pulling into Twin Lakes on the inbound leg (mile 60). It’s uncommon to see ultra-runners carrying trekking poles, which, frankly, bewilders me — trekking poles are invaluable during the climbs, especially steep ones: they allowed me to…
Approaching the Twin Lakes aid station for the second time (at mile 60.5) I spotted my housemate, Kristen. “I feel like crap,” I told her. Pointing to my bloated stomach, which made it look as if I’d done more training for the race at the local bar than on the local trails, I explained, “Nothing…
My last day in South Africa started with another pre-breakfast game drive. Somewhat sadly it was devoid of big animals, which I think everyone was disappointed by since it was our last morning at the lodge—we were all hoping that nature would put on a magical show for us, like in the YouTube video Battle…