Advertisement
There’s a land where the mountains are nameless,
And the rivers all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
And deaths that just hang by a hair;
There are hardships that nobody reckons;
There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There’s a land — oh, it beckons and beckons,
And I want to go back — and I will.
-Robert Service, from
Spell of the Yukon Well Faithful Reader, I have returned from yet another excursion into the great wild yonder, and while my written recounting of the events that have unfolded will in all liklihood be quite similar other such entries, I do think that my pictures will be quite neat and I even have a video that I'm about 40%!s(MISSING)ure I can figure out how to attach. So if you can see it, then I done did good! Woot! Anyway, let's start at the beginning. We first got into the field on Friday, June 13th, 2008. Did you know that fear of the number 13 costs the American public a billion dollars a year in lost wages, cancelations, etc? That Lizzy Borden uttered a total of 13 words at her murder trial? Or that every year is gaurenteed to have at least one, no more than 3, and that 14 months can exist between fridays the 13ths? Well, I knew these things, and oh so much more. I also made sure my students knew them as well. It was a good day.
As far as first days of a
course go though, this one was fairly burley. We were on trail for maybe a kilometer (one of only 3 kilometers of man-made trail for the entire course) and then we got into the bush and went uphill. We wanted to get above tree line, and sure enough we did... 2000 vertical feet later through a bunch of willow and dwarf birch that tried to trip me every step. Both student and Chris were thinking "What the hell did I get myself into?!?!?" As always, that first day wasn't over when we got to camp, there were tents to set up, stoves to learn how to use, food to learn how to identify, blisters to learn how to fix, and all sorts of fascinating stuff. It went well though, and we pushed on through the course. All in all we traveled a little more than a hundred miles and climbed about 13,000 (13? Oh no!) vertical feet. We had 3 ration periods (8, 6, 8 days respectively) and each time a re-ration happened our food was brought in by a sea plane landing on large glacially created lakes, very far away from "civilization" (or should I say civilisation, being in
Canada and all? Did you know that the reason that the U.S. spells things differently from the British Empire is actually based on the Webster's Dictionary's attempt to create a seperate
American language
? I think that's interesting, but most definately beside the point.)
The biggest highpoint of the course for me was without a doubt the student group. They were incredible! Not only did they come to the course already fairly experienced, but much more importantly they came in proactively trying to learn. They had attention spans that would put me to shame (displayed in the ability to sit through 4 or 5 classes in a row!) and stepped up to grab as much ownership of the course as they could. Way to go guys! And that's all well and good and everything, but the biggest thing for me was that they were just fun to hang around camp with. I feel like I have several additional friends after the course and I hope that one or two of them follow up and contact me after they get out of the field. That'd be sweet.
And yes, they are still in the field as this blog entry is being typed. You see, this particular course was a semester, so those stinky guys are going to be in the field for 3 months. The first month is what I helped with, the hiking section. Right now, in month 2, they are learning how to mountaineer, and next month is river canoeing. Pretty dang sweet. On the 5th, I came out of the field with the person who brought in the re-ration and the 2 new instructors. You might be asking yourself, "Self, I remember being told that re-rations happened via sea plane. Does that mean..." And to that I say, "Yes, it certianly does!"
I got to fly out of the field on a sea plane, taking off from a remote lake and flying between amazing peaks (instead of above them) in a tiny plane with a pilot named Gerd. I got to wear the headset and everything, and it was one of the most exciting things I've ever done. And, I got paid to do it! I love my job, I'll tell you what. It was really sweet, and I hope I can get this video up of that experience.
If it's not there, I'll be on my computer so just ask to see it sometime. It was awesome though, and while it didn't make up for the bummer-ness of having to leave the field, it was a completely seperate sweet experience that I had been looking forward to for a month. Good stuff.
So what's next for Soarpheat? Turns out that's fairly complicated too. I have about a week and a half off (after hopefully flying into Louisville at 8:30 AM on Tuesday the 8th of July) then it's off to Eric and Rachel's wedding in Evansville, then up to Chicago to pick up my Grandmother, then up to Michigan to hang out at Uncle Dave's, then it is looking like I'm flying out to California for Ash's family reunion, and getting back to Louisville just in time to pack my truck and drive cross country with my dad for a week ironically back to California. I anticipate killer stories and pictures coming from all of those things, and I can't wait to share them with everybody. Happy Trails eh? (That's ok cause I'm in Canada.)
-Soarpheat
Still trying to figure this out, but sea plane
video at this address:
Sea Plane Ride!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.122s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.07s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Alana
non-member comment
Wishing I could join in from afar...
Chris, there is no way for me to express my extreme jealousy. Here I am, sitting in an office cubicle in a city, looking at your pictures of absolutely sublime scenery (great photography by the way...feels like I'm actually sitting there in those mountains!) and feeling more determined than ever to set off on a journey of my own. What amazing adventures! You're driving to California, eh? Does this mean you're planning to swing through a certain notorious city in the southern end of Nevada to visit a friend? ~Alana