Sitkinak Island: The Drill

Niblack Project: Old Camp

Niblack Project: The Core Racks

Niblack Project: The Core Shack

Niblack Project: The Trail

They have been a gorgeous trail through the mossy forest from the barge landing to the core shack and old camp about half a kilometre away. No ones uses it except. Everyone else drives the road. I love it. The other night coming back in the pitch black I saw the illuminated eyes of our neighbourhood American marten!

The Drift

Today, I was given a tour of the property including an underground visit into the drift.

Niblack Anchorage, Moira Sound, Prince of Wales Island

I left Sitkinak Island on November.6, spending a night in Anchorage where the lovely cook, Victoria put me up in her home. The next day I flew to Ketchikan via Juneau and Sitka, and then hopped on a float plane to the barge we are living on.

Sitkinak Island near Kodiak, Alask

Starting in mid-October, I spent just over 2 weeks on remote island, one of the Trinity group near Kodiak, Alaska looking for placer gold deposits in the beach sands.

Denali National Park and Preserve

On Sept.4.2009, Andrew and I flew up to Anchorage, Alaska to spend several days in Denali National Park and Preserve. We arrived at the park entrance where we chatted with Backcountry rangers and decided upon a region of the park to explore. We picked a spot at the western end of the 90 mile park road where the old mining town of Kantishna lies nestled in the valley of Moose Creek. Sourdoughs or old-timers began exploring the area in 1905 for gold. As a result while being inside the park, the area is dotted with cabins belonging to the descendants of these prospectors. Also there are some old roads, which facilitate travel, and many streams area contaminated with heavy metals, making locating drinking water an issue. I picked the Kantishna Hills because they lie due north of Mt McKinley and other peaks in the Alaska Range, offering potentially incredible views. There are basically no trails in the park so it was up to us to find our way around. We picked a route up an old mining road onto Quigley Ridge and along the Hills to Spruce Creek where we descended cross-country to Moose Creek. We followed another old road along the creek, fording the extremely frigid creek 24 times on our way back to the main park road.


Denali/Mt McKinley, 20320ft

Getting started on our four-day hike through the Kantishna Hills, an old mining district in the park on the north side of the Alaska Range.


Our first night's camp, with Mt McKinley on the horizon. We were able to find ample spring water in the hills.


This was the highest point on our trip: Glacier Peak, 4310 ft. Incredibly, treeline lies between 2500 and 3000 ft at the park's latitude of 63 degrees.


Rainbow over Spruce Peak in the Kantishna Hills.


A view of the Alaska Range, the mountains that surround Mt McKinley


Our second night's camp on the slope's of an unnamed peak.


As I was getting ready to go to sleep, fog began to enshroud the mountain with a misty aura.


Morning Tea.


Bacon for breakfast.


This is the bear resistant food container we stored all our goodies in.


Every morning I take care of my feet with No-Blister Care: hockey tape on my heels.


The Denali caribou herd, 2000 members strong, reigns throughout the park.


Our third night's camp on a bench above Moose Creek.


I picked bog cranberries and cooked them in brown sugar to top the oatmeal.


Fording the heavy-metal contaminated, freezing Moose Creek. We did this 24 times. Brrrr.


Uh oh!


Wet boots!


Dry socks.


We saw a Grizzly mother and her two spring cubs near Sable Pass on the bus ride back to the park entrance.


Moose on the main Anchorage-Fairbanks highway.


Home of Sarah Palin!

August.16&17: Mackenzie River Trail, Central Oregon

After cycling around Crater Lake, Andrew and I headed to Mackenzie River in the central Oregon Cascades, where we mountain biked the 26 mile Mackenzie River Trail. This single track national recreation trail parallels the river closely, passing lava flows, brilliant blue lakes, incredible waterfalls, and 600 year old Douglas-fir forests.

At one point the river heads underground through lava tubes and pops up in the most vivid aquamarine pond. We clambered down a cliff and dove into the coldest water I have EVER swam in.

Further down the trail, we had a serious mishap when Andrew fell over his handlebars as his bike slid off a 40 foot cliff into the river! We were able to climb down and retrieve the bike, which seems to have survived fairly unscathed. Andrew was able to ride 15 miles on it to the end of the trail!

The ride was pretty long, with some rough lava sections, but all it all, it was super beautiful and well worth the trip.

August.15&16: Crater Lake

This weekend, Andrew and I headed down to Crater Lake in southern Oregon to cycle the 33 miles road around the lake and spend a night in the beautiful 1915 Crater Lake Lodge, a generous wedding gift from Mosie and Donnie. We have been to Crater Lake many times in the winter to cross-country ski and camp around the lake. Cycling was a totally different experience. The fall colours have started and the scenery was beautiful. The ride took half a day, with lots of stops for crackers and cheese and chocolate. This was a lot faster than the two days it takes to ski. Being summer, we were able to hike into the caldera to the lake shore and swim for the first time. We took a boat tour around the lake, getting a totally new perspective of the volcano. Our hotel room had a full-on view of the lake and we lazed in the sun with a book and coffee in the morning on the veranda.