Bekah - Rebekah Luhrs

As of now, I am working in Anchorage, Alaska where I hope to experience as much of the state as possible.

Why Alaska? Maybe because it is the Last Frontier, the state least touched by man. Possibly it is because of my over all curiosity and unexplained desire to explore this unique state. Perhaps it was due time for another drastic change. Maybe I needed to distance myself from the person I was so I could rediscover who I am on my own. There are so many reasons.

For those of you who followed my trips throughout Southeast Asia, these blogs may show a different picture. As I write about my experiences I hope my writings offer some insight into what Alaska is like, what challenges people face, and most importantly, a new appreciation for the natural struggles we are meant to face.

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Joined on: January 23rd 2006
Last Login: November 22nd 2009

Blog Entries: 42
Photos: 613
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Bekah, order by Date newest first.

By Bekah
September 18th 2009

Fall Bike to Girdwood North America » United States » Alaska » Girdwood

First Bend

We had an amazing summer this year and I was not ready to admit that fall was on its way (or more accurately had actually arrived). There were a few trips I still had on my list for the summer and the bike ride from Anchorage to Girdwood and back was at the top of that list. Easily enough I convinced my Tour De Beer Partner, Chad, to join me on a fine Friday afternoon post work. The Seward Highway, especially on the Turnagain arm is probably on someone’s list of most scenic routes in the world. The road curves along [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
September 11th 2009

Canoeing/Backpacking the Swanson Lake and River Trail North America » United States » Alaska » Kenai

Jodi
My adventurous Canoe buddy!

For the Labor Day weekend I was invited to go on a 3-day backpacking/canoeing trip with one of my hiking buddies from last summer. The trip included a series of 10 lakes, a “difficult passage,” and a 22-mile river. My eagerness for outdoor adventure is at its max. Fall is beginning to show her colors in sheets of red draping down the mountainsides and through the puffs of fluttering feathers on the tips of fireweed. I am not ready for winter and have all intentions of spending as much free time exploring new corners of Alaska. Needless to say I jumped [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
June 24th 2009

Where Milk is $14.89 a Gallon North America » United States » Alaska » Napakiak

Drying fish

In the third week of June, I made my first site visit to Napakiak (nuh-PAH-key-ack). Napakiak is a rural ALaskan community located in the Western region of Alaska along the Kuskokwim River. I first flew in to Bethel, which is a hub only about 15 miles northeast of the community. I took a small Cessna 207 that was packed full with 3 passengers, the pilot, all of our gear, and what looked like about a week’s worth of mail and packages. The plane ride over was a short 10 minutes, and we passed over the lagoon and marsh-like landscape, well below [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
May 17th 2009

Early Summer: Canoeing Ice covered, Glacier Fed Lakes. North America » United States » Alaska

Chillaxin

Summer is here. It arrived with cool breezes and bright sunrises in the early mornings of May. Last summer the ice and snow didn’t melt from the Chugach Mountains until the early/middle of July. This year the sun has swept the mountains; the rivers and streams run ramped with the eager thrill of melting winter. I started hiking up the snow banks on Flat Top the first week of May. The snow was soft and compact leaving enough grip to make it to the top and enough cushion to slid down the face of the mountain in snow pants. In my [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
October 11th 2008

Summer. A long time Comming. North America » United States » Alaska » Kenai

Peak Two
From the Backside of Flat Top

The talk of this summer is the continuously cold weather, overcast and rain. The few days when the sun breaks through the clouds and pours onto the pale skin of scattering ants, people flood the parks, the trails, the water ways, and highways. After a long winter of an average 5 degrees and 2 feet of snow, the thick overcast, as far as I am concerned, is greeted just as warmly as any other summer day would be in Tennessee (maybe even more so without the extreme humidity and unbearable waves of heat). After I have done my time in the [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
October 6th 2008

Snow, Fire, and Rain: Welcome to Fall in Alaska. North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage

Fireweed
The bitter end of summer.

Welcome to fall in Anchorage (which is NOT the capitol of Alaska, as several journalists have wrongly regurgitated in recent articles I have read). The leaves have already turned and the fireweed has bloomed and burned past its flame like color into a fluffy white fringe. Since mid September, layers of snow have slowly been creeping down the sides of the Chugach Mountains as a constant reminder that summer has ended. In fact the first snow is falling in the city as I write this, in the form of a mushy slush blurring windshields and striking fear into the hands of [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
December 12th 2007

Where the Ocean, Mountains and Sky Blend into One... North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage

Overlooking The Coast

The grey of the ocean meets the base of the Chugach Mountains as they rise into pillars of ice and snow, almost transparent against the dull, white sheet of a sky. From the city their presence are always felt as they tower over buildings and peak into the city through the open streets running from South to North. The sun rises later each morning from the breast of one peak, simply to fall a little earlier each day between the crevices that lie between two others. Even the Alaskans who have spent their lives in the city watch these ever-transforming giants [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
January 4th 2007

North Korea...still? Asia » North Korea » Kumgangsan

On the Kumgangsan Trail

The intense responses and interest kindled by the blog from North Korea has brought me full circle into the realization that this is a living subject that needs to be updated on (to see origional blog go to: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/North-Korea/Kumgangsan/blog-53381.html). I have had many responses and many questions that have all left me not only grateful for this experience but also feeling inadequate to answer many of the questions asked. On one occasion I was sent a message by a mechanical engineer from IRAN wanting to know what I though of him taking a job at a shipyard in N [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
August 12th 2006

Tributes to Seoul Asia » South Korea » Seoul

The shelter of Tranquility

For all of those I met in Korea, this is for you. I Left Bangkok on Wednesday morning, and flew back to Seoul after a short layover in Hong Kong. The last weeks have been ones of adventure, of breathtaking temples, torrential rain, burning whiskey, muddy schools, spicy foods, and smiling faces that shadowed tears. The thought of returning to Seoul was like the thought of returning home. Seoul, in many ways, had become my home over the last months. I found shelter in the temples, peace in the eyes of the strangers, and comfort amidst the towering skyscrapers. The [View Full Entry]

By Bekah
August 12th 2006

Korea...time is up. Asia

Peace Out, Korea

I was lucky to have the chance to see everything one last time, to absorb the atmospheres, to taste to food, feel the sensations of empty Buddhist halls and the sparks of powerful memories. As I walked down the busy streets of Sinchon that had been my home for most of this last year, all vivacity of the newness in this great place was last. In my awareness of cultural differences and recognition of the taboos of Korean lifestyle, I had become comfortable. The familiar streets were just as familiar as they had been several weeks before I had gone to [View Full Entry]

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