#NoOtherLand

Consider less the length of your commute and more of how it looks. #HainesAK

#NoOtherLand

#BooneNC knows how to represent! Didn't even have to leave the car before I found this sign at the Signpost Forest at Watson Lake. Adventure communities share some pretty deep connections. #fbf

#NoOtherLand

Always important to catch an eddy here and there or else you'll miss the views!

Father Son

Coffee before packing up and continuing northbound on the Alaska Highway

My father has been the single greatest influence on me. Taking chances, pursuing dreams, squeezing every drop out of life; he has always pushed me to be a better person. How I carry myself and relate to others is a direct result of everything he has taught me through long, meaningful conversations and his own demonstration. Never have I met someone who gets more excited about talking with new people at every opportunity, learning about their stories and sharing his own. If there were ever to be a single cause the entire world could make greater strides towards, it would be to be more like my dad. His open mind and willingness to see the world's controversies through the eyes of others have constantly inspired me to do the same.

The prospect of the two of us riding together up to Alaska after my graduation never even occurred to me until he mentioned in casually during our weekly phone calls during my final semester. As soon as he brought it up however, I knew  that it was going to happen. There were considerable hurdles to jump over to make it happen, but as we began making our way west, we both agreed that some things are just meant to work out.

Driving through Banff National Park on the Icefields Parkway was a special opportunity for the both of us. I was able to share with him an area that had already grown in importance to myself and he got his first taste of the Rocky Mountains since his own pilgrimage to Colorado during his college years. It was only appropriate for me to drive that entire leg of our journey as he was preoccupied with bear spotting and picture taking.

Lake Louise, Alberta

Now that we've checked off driving to Alaska, we're both excited to see what next adventure is in our future. Seeing as we both have affinities for water and fishing, a float trip down a wild Montanan river or canoeing in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, both seem all the more achievable due to our completed trans-continental journey. It would have been quite a different, and much less enjoyable, journey if it weren't for him.

#NoOtherLand

Find a canoe. Find a lake. Paddle a bit. Relax.

#NoOtherLand

Chilkoot Lake is just beginning to receive the returning sockeye salmon. From what has been calm and quiet environment will soon turn into one full of wildlife and the continuing demonstration of the salmon's importance to the region.

Finding Water

Tsirku River "Eagle Float" put-in

As it turns out, my passion for rivers and rowing has followed me to Alaska. In addition to being a part of the sea kayaking program with Alaska Mountain Guides, I will also be spending a considerable amount of time on the river rowing through the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. The "Eagle Float," as referred to by the other guides, takes clients through the heart of bald eagle territory where, during the salmon runs, hundreds to thousands of bald eagles congregate and feed on the various types of salmon that attempt to find their way upstream. The sockeye are just now starting to begin their push up to their spawning grounds.

The Tsirku River, which feeds into the Chilkat River 20 miles upstream of Haines, is referred to as a braided river, fed by the high alpine glaciers that carry sediment out to the ocean. It is unlike any river I have ever been on, engaging an entirely different aspect of what it means to read water. After my first few runs during guide training, it was clear that finding the ripples that form in 4 inches of water as opposed to those that form in 3 inches can make all the difference. The water is also full of glacial silt, reducing visibility to less than a few millimeters below the surface. A lot of scraping, a lot of sculling, and working desperately to avoid the looming "booter" is typical in a day's float. (booter - noun: the discovery of water deeper than the 15" of protection waterproof boots provide.)

Growing up in the Southeast US, I developed a love for waterways and the many ways of exploring them. From powering oar rigs down the deep river gorges of Southern Appalachia to gliding through the tidal estuaries of Coastal Georgia, it is no question that I am a boater. The connection one feels with their environment through being on a body of water is like no other. Being in a current, floating through miles of remote wilderness, has a way of bringing me into a focused mentality, concentrating on nothing more than the present, where I am, and what I am doing. There is never a desire to occupy my mind with thoughts or concerns that exist off the river. Water has provided itself, in more ways that one, a necessity to my survival.

Now that I find myself on the glacial waters of Southeast Alaska, I feel as though I am being pulled back to the basics of what is at the core of every outdoor sport: being in a place. The local rivers here may be lacking in exhilarating whitewater, but they make up for it through spectacular landscapes that rival any great vista around the world. Every horizon is occupied by its own mountain range, complete with cascading waterfalls and rocky spines that always require more than just a quick glance. Each day, a break in the clouds seems to highlight a new peak instilling the curiosity of "what's on the other side?" Many a night here is spent pouring over aerial photos and topographic maps of mountains and rivers, studying the endless supply of adventuring that is to be done. It already is becoming clear that just a single summer will just barely be enough to scratch the surface.