Mother%27s+Day+for+Grandma

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New Pictures!

Here is an update of some pictures of what's been happening to me this summer. This installment includes rafting, hiking, fishing, international beard competitions and more. A second slideshow below shows our amazing trip to Denali when Justin's mom came into town. We had unbelievable weather and I was able to snap some great shots. Future posts will talk about other adventures, including, but not limited to: becoming an on the air DJ, volunteer firefighting and EMS rescue, paragliding, small town living, glaciers, jet boating, and much more. Hope everyone is getting into their own daily adventures.





You can click on the slideshow to link to the album and see them full screen there.

Catch up

Apologizes for the delay in posts. I want to catch everyone up on my random adventures and I'll try to be better at posting shorter stories when it's convenient for me. I'll miss some things in this post, but I'll do my best to keep you all caught up.

First, my living situation. I live in the town of Girdwood. I've never done small town living before, so this is an adventure in it of itself. The town is a little liberal enclave in the red state of Alaska. There's a huge resort in town, Alyeska, so the town explodes in the winter, when the town hits a peak of about 2,000 residents (including Ted Stevens). Girdwood thrives on the tourist industry: guiding companies, gold mining expeditions, restaurants, and nightly and weekly house/apartment rentals. There is also a part of the population who commute to Anchorage (an hour away) and work for big companies or the government. We are officially in the municipality of Anchorage, but it feels like an independent community. Downtown, if you can call it that, consists of a grocery, post office, laundromat, coffee shop, two realty offices, and four bars. Across the street there's a preschool, fire department, library, and park with a softball field, frisbee golf course, and a skate park. Number of stop lights within 40 miles of where I live: zero.

For the first month in town I lived in a Yurt. Yurts are circular homes that are often used for camping in national parks. Mine was a bit more upscale, it had a wood stove, electricity, a sky light, futon, a propane stove, and an incinerator toilet. Basically I had a circular studio apartment minus the running water. I think that everyone, at least once in their lives, need to experience living without running water. When you have to cart every ounce that you drink or use on dishes, you really gain an appreciation for it. Also, when you have no shower, you gain an enormous appreciation for friends with running water. The Yurt was in the middle of the woods and was the perfect place for self reflection during my initial time in Alaska. My original plan was to stay in a trailer behind my boss's office, so I was stoked. I had no TV or internet, barely any cell service, so I read six books, learned to play the harmonica (I'm still learning), and learned how to cook feasts on a tiny stove. Lauren joined me for the last week of my stay.

The yurt turned out to be way too cramped for two people, let alone 3 or 4, so we decided to upgrade. Under fortuitous circumstances (which is the way things seem to work up here), a new friend Tony was moving out of an awesome two bedroom cabin in the center of town with bay windows overlooking the mountain. He hadn't told his landlord he was moving out, so over a handshake we had a beautiful new place to call home. I have about a 20 second commute to work and it is more than comfortable for all of us and our guests. After we moved in, we discovered a massage chair and a fold-out couch. And that first shower under my own running water was glorious.
Justin arrived here two weeks ago and the adventures have rolled in.

I don't want to make this post too long, but I'll do my best to fill you all in on what I've been doing. Adventures include: Denali, icebergs, glaciers, salmon fishing, rock climbing, rafting, Justin's here, Justin's mom, 500 person hipster party/concert in our front yard, and much, much more.

Pictures soon.

ATV'ing in Sarah Palin Country

Last Sunday brought me up to beautiful Wasilla, the small town that Governor Sarah Palin put on the map last year as a Vice Presidential candidate. So much so, in fact, that a British family we took up there had heard all about the town and were dying to see it. Dahlia even borrowed our bear gun to pose with some locals in the back country, she had wanted to take a picture with the gun in front of the “Welcome to Wasilla” sign, but we felt that was not a great idea. The Brits are not allowed to own guns of any kind, so this was a real thrill for her. Wasilla is an interesting town. In the 1980's and early 90's, the town actually voted to get rid of the police, so it was a pretty lawless place for awhile and not much has changed.

As much as I would like to make fun of Wasillians, I can't. Everyone was really friendly. As we ATV'ed along muddy paths and got stuck, the locals jumped out of their cars to help out and said, nonchalantly, “Don't worry about it, we've all been there.” They were all very nice and didn't make us feel stupid even though we didn't know what we were doing and we were blocking their way. I'm embarrassed when I think about all the times I get frustrated with novices. It's easy to make fun of people, it's harder to reach out, find common ground and try to understand; but much more rewarding. We always make fun of what we don't understand. But I understand Sarah Palin, and she is crazy nuts.

I have always hated ATV'ers because they have often ruined the quiet serenity of the outdoors when I'm trying to enjoy a hike. However, after riding one for five minutes my mind is completely changed. I love them, they are so much fun. We rode for 25 miles out to Knik Glacier, which itself is more than two miles across. The ride weaved us in and out of various terrain: desert, Mississippi bogs, forest, river crossings, and glaciers. This was the first glacier I saw close up. There is an amazing power of nature you feel next to glaciers: Humility, awe, joy, and sadness (from the loss of glacial volume to global warming). As I rode past all the 'deep South' Alaskans, I got this image of them 'using every part of the land' ala Native Americans using 'every part of the animal': There were ATV's, motocross bikes, other dirt bikes, dune buggy's, trucks, jeeps, air boats. My favorite was the ATV ridden by 14 kids without helmets, holding onto each other to stay on as they bounded across the terrain.

I don't care if you like ATV's, they're great, just don't do it while I'm hiking.

Address

I've never had a PO box before, but that's the only form of mail delivery here.  If you want to reach me by snail mail, my address is:

Aaron Liss

P.O. Box 274

Girdwood, AK 99587

The crazy long hours of sunlight here have some getting used to, but where else can you take a four hour hike at six pm and still get down with plenty of light?  The Bird ridge was a challenging 3,300 ft climb (that I thought was 1,400 feet tall) with numerous false summits.  As I claimed victory at the apex, a group of two guys comes jogging up to the top, tapping a rock and saying 'one' and jogging back down.  360 degree view of coastal mountains was breathtaking.

Happiness and Ted Stevens

First of all, to clarify: The Ptarmagin is the state bird of Alaska.  There was some confusion.

I've never lived alone before, or traveled extensively alone.  Living alone combined with copious amounts of sunlight allows me to think a lot.  A British Philosopher, Bertrand Russell, thought that "A certain amount of boredom is…essential to a happy life."   I think that there is something to that sentiment.  Too often our affluence breeds impatience.  When I'm in the middle of a task my mind often drifts to other tasks and I think I would rather be someplace else, doing something else…and perhaps be someone else.  Where is our contentment with who we are and where we are?  Where is the enjoyment of the moment? Our impatience undermines our happiness.  When we are bored we turn off our brains by turning to television or the internet or worrying about things we can't control.  I urge you to try a little exercise: sit on the couch or outside and do nothing.  Don't listen to music, read a book, or twiddle your thumbs.  Embrace the boredom and let your mind wander for five minutes.  Don't try to organize your day, don't lay out tasks, don't think about what you're getting your mom for her birthday.  Just be bored for five minutes.

Ted Steven's house - Here it is, the house that stirred all the controversy last fall.  

The bribing allegations that cost Alaska's former senior Senator, 115 year old Ted Steven, his reelection bid.  In my humble opinion, it's very modest.  I pass by it every morning.  Ted Steven was a part of the old boys club who did things differently.  He is a fiscal conservative, he chided the town for building a new library, saying, "Well now your children have to pay for it."  The $29,000 statue of the fish on the front porch is gaudy, the wrap lighting is cheesy, and the surrounding houses are much bigger.  Everyone here, democrats and republicans alike, are surprised how big the whole thing got blown out of proportion.   Things run a little differently here in Alaska and I'm starting to get a sense of it.  The lower forty-eight feel really far away.

The other day I took a jet boat up the river to Carmen Lake where I will be taking people out on kayaks.  The ice is just breaking up and the serenity is intoxicating.  I can't wait to get back here when the ice is thawed.  More pictures to come

me

The adventure begins

Greetings all.  I am now embarking on the requisite blogosphere adventure that comes with the territory whenever my generation travels.  I will keep this blog updated as much as possible to include family and friends on my adventures through the last frontier.

My journey began with a 2,436 mile drive from Seattle to Anchorage.  The Alaskan Highway was constructed during World War II to bring supplies to our troops in Alaska where they feared a Japanese attack.  The US government built the road through previously unaltered terrain where only small wagon roads and steamboats had been before.  Canada let the US build the road as long as they maintained control of it after the war.  It was the most expensive project of WWII, costing the equivalent of 1.8 Billion dollars today.  The road begins in Dawson Creek.

I connected though Craigslist Rideshare to find someone else driving up who wanted a buddy.  This furthers my assumption that if you're flexible enough, you can use craigslist to do anything.  I drove up with Irene and the matching was great.  And as it turned out, we went to the same elementary school back in Minneapolis (albeit 7 years apart).  I love small world connections.  After a quick stop at Costco and 18 lbs of cheese later we were on the road.

The drive through BC and the Yukon is beautiful.  Canada has such an abundance of space.  This was signified by mountains, forests, and rolling hills as well as the various abandoned towns throughout the countryside.  It seems that in Canada, when you want to move, you just leave your house (town) there and move on.

Pics are linked here

All of Canada seems to be on a schedule that nothing is open until May 16^th (maybe this makes sense because 2 weeks ago it was 30 below).  This is really nice when we didn't have to pass RV's every 100 yards, but it also meant that three quarters of gas stations were closed along the way.  One day we literally had to buy gas from an old guy out of a bucket ($40 for 5 gallons if you're wondering…and we needed two buckets).

We camped all three nights at a closed, snow covered campground, a parking lot of a hot springs, and a scenic lookout point.  The third night we set up camp at 11 pm and it was still light out, it felt like 6 pm.  This summer I imagine that I will be very productive or go crazy without a regular sleep rhythm, or both.

The second night we stayed at a hot springs and met the best celebrity ever.  We met the 'hands' that are in the Sham-Wow commercial (not the sham wow guy who is in jail for beating up a prostitute).  He gave us all sham wows, it was awesome.  He was just on vacation and as a testament to the product, he just used a little sham wow as his towel, and being over 300 lbs, that was quite a feat.   The hot springs were an incredible break from the monotony as butt-soreness of driving 1200 miles.

The mountains on the way to Anchorage are beautiful.  I'm used to the towering single behemoths of the Cascades, but these ranges are sustained at 10-15,000 feet and are awe inspiring.  I'm going to like this place.  Now I'm in Anchorage.  I'm really happy that I committed to driving, it helped me to slowly be introduced to Alaska, gave me time to think about my upcoming adventure, and it feels like a right of passage.  Everybody up here has their own Alaska Highway story and they welcomed me with open arms.

My first day was a whirlwind.  I bought a car, met my boss, and schmoozed it up at a guiding company expo.  Things are moving very fast up here, but I feel ready for it.  Today I head down to Girdwood and start to explore the backcountry that I will be taking people out into in a couple of weeks.  Also, as I guide, I get hooked up with complimentary trips in helicopters, planes, kayaks and wildlife safaris.  It is going to be an incredible summer and I hope you all stay around for the ride.