What can I say?? I've been in Alaska for 3 days now and i don't think I can explain how positive my outlook is already for the rest of the summer! There's really no way to describe how beautiful it is here! I'm in Glacier bay/Gustavus now for my training through the next week. Then, next saturday I'll head back to Juneau for one night and on to Yakutat, my final destination for work.

So, yesterday was such a great day! I rode a bike (the green bomb) that I found here to "town," which is really just a spot where two roads intersect. There's a small cafe and an art gellery with a little coffee shop that just opened so I went inside. Met the girl who runs it and a guy who just happened to be there from Juneau to give a wine tasting that night. We talked a bit and they invited me to the tasting later that eve. In the meantime, I rode out to the Gustavus dock which is absolutely beautiful and everyhwhere you look here, you're surrounded by these beautiful, snow-capped mountains. So I'm out on the dock, feeling like I'm on top of the world and the day just can't get any better! I get back on the bike and as I'm headed back off the dock, this Bald Eagle swoops down in front of me out of nowhere! Literally like 10 ft from my head! I slammed on the breaks and slid the bike around and started digging my camera out of my bag. He just posed there perfect for me and i got these great pics! It is quite common to see Bald Eagles around here though so not such a rarity as it is in SC. The locals might even get a laugh at people who are so excited to see them but I'll try not to be that way no matter how many I see. Just because you see them often doesn't lessen their beauty! To say the least it was a great day! Then, of course i went on to the wine tasting and mingeld with the locals. They were all very nice and inviting. By the end of the night I had made some great friends and we were all talking about how I'm not gonna want to leave at the end of the week if i keep making so many friends! Finally, around 10:50 pm i took off on my bike for the 9 mile ride back to the park where I'm staying. It was a bit chilly but I wasn't feeling any pain, just listening to my ipod and I don't think I ever even broke stride the whole way back. I was in the zone, and just hoping there wasn't a nice big black bear standing in the road since my headlamp only reaches so far! The only encounter I had was what I think to be a Porcupine who ran in front of me for about 30 yards.

Tomorrow I start my training for the week so that should be interesting. There is only one other person here whom I'll be working with in Yakutat. He's also going to be my roomate, so the rest of the folks I'm meeting now will be employed here at Glacier Bay NP and Preserve. Everyone take care! Be back soon!!

Click to enlarge

My article about the epic rescue mission of our little Mae Mae came out in "Around the Panhandle Magazine" in WV.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
These are not my photos but it won't be long!

Great News!!!!

Since the last post i have landed a great job in Alaska! I'll be working as a Park Ranger in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Its in southern AK and i'll be working from a place called Yakutat on the coast. I'm very excited and eager to build some experience working for the NPS and also to spend 5 months in "The last Frontier!" Yakutat is a remote area about 200 miles from the nearest road. It is only accessible by boat or plane and the population is somewhere around 650. Around half are native Alaskans, known as the Tlingit. They are the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

I will be working a lot with them, operating a visitor's center/ranger station, and also going out on a boat and boarding Alaskan Cruise ships a few days a week to give interpretive talks to the passengers about the Geographic features, history, and culture of Wrangell-St. Elias and the immediate area.

I'm leaving on monday, April 19 and working there until around the end of Sept. I know its going to be a great experience and I should have some amazing pictures! I would think some of the best yet! There's lots of wildlife in the area including: brown bear, black bear, moose, wolves, caribou, whales, several species of bird, and much much more!

Wrangel-St. Elias is the largest designated wilderness in the US at over 13 million acres. It is larger than 9 US states and covers an area of 20,587 square miles! The park is also home to the second highest peak in the country -Mt. St. Elias at 18,008 ft.

Surprisingly to me, Yakutat is also known for its knarley waves and lots of people go there to surf! So, I'll definitely be working on my surfing skills, though I'm sure I'll need a wet suit!

It is a truly beautiful place! I know the entire experience is going to teach me more than words can say! I love to spend time in places like this with such vast and great wilderness. It forces one to recognize their place on this earth and I know that I will only be a better man come September! For now I can only imagine all of the great experiences I will have over the next 5 months! I'm very excited!!