Ellen cooking outside the cabin

Inside the Nation River public use cabin. look Dad I have my gun with me - aren't you proud? :)

Identifing invasive plants along the river.

Look at the giant growing smoke cloud behind me. It just kept growing and growing!

This is one of the fires that we rowed past the last night. Pretty intense! By the way - thats my scared face :)

LIFE

So I realize that it has been quite some time since I have updated my blog with any text, so here I go.... I have come to the realization that I completely love Alaska. It truly is a great place to live. The people are friendly, the scenery is beautiful, and the weather and sunshine has been great so far. I really am so glad I came up here to experience Alaska for myself. It was hard at first - like most good things, but has defiantly been worth all of the heart ache in the beginning. I have found a new love - trail running. I know what your thinking "but, you hate running" that's true I did HATE to run, but I have been running on the trails through the forest by the campground and it has been so nice. At first I would go running with Kori and I didn't enjoy it at all. She was fast, graceful, and in shape. And I was none of those :), but it has been a couple of months now and I'm getting faster and my lungs and legs have improved to the point where I enjoy the run. (I don't know about the graceful part, I still trip over some of the roots, and look goofy, but who cares about that, right). Kori has moved on to bigger and better things on Juneau and now Jen is my wonderful running partner. Last night when we went running we were heading down the trail and down a hill when we ran into a bear and two little little cubs (SO CUTE) luckily Jen is very cautious and we had bear bells and bear spray with us. Thanks Jen, if I was by myself I probably would of had neither with me. We decided to cut the run short and do a loop and not our usual run. I think that was a good choice cause this morning when I was walking to my van I ran into the bears again! but much closer this time - we were about 15 feet apart when I saw them and started yelling at them to get. Pretty crazy stuff, the momma bear ran back into the forest and the cubs scampered up the closest tree. I have never seen cubs so little in the wild - I mean they are tiny, like the size of a med. dog. I tried to take some pictures of them but my camera sucks so the pictures didn't really turn out. I think its time to get a new camera if I can scrounge up the money. Well enough about the bears....

Today is my day off so I'm spending money, packing, and working on my van. I have been working on my van so much lately that the guys in Shucks automotive know me by name - its kind of funny. One of the guys told me today that he wants to set me up with his nephew, he said " you guys would get along so well, he wants to get a Vanagon to fix up and live in while he is traveling around!" I thought that was so funny!!! Anyway my latest project on the van is to change the break pads, which should be easy right - well I can't get the lug nuts off (I think that its been years and years since the tries have been off) I'm going to take it to a Midas in the morning to see if they will use one of their tools to loosen them so I can take the tires off to change the pads. We will see how it goes.

Now about my little trip... I'm getting ready for my expedition and I'm so excited! We will be on the river for around 33 days traveling via a raft on the Yukon from Whitehorse, YT to Eagle, AK which is about 800 river miles. It should be a blast - well I'm hoping it will be :). I have environmental service set up with the NPS to identify invasive plant species along the Yukon through the Yukon - Charley National Preserve. And I'm also trying to get some community service set up in Eagle Alaska - the Yukon flooded this summer and did some major damage to the town. Hopefully that will go through so we can serve the people of Eagle. We will be leaving anchorage on the 8Th of July for Whitehorse, wish me luck.....

So I know everyone has been dieing to see my van so here it is in all of its glory! HAHA!!!!!!!

Here are some pictures of Alaska
This is a view from the Eagle River Nature Center in Eagle River

The Kayaks at Eklutna Lake

Bold Mt. at Eklutna Lake

Welcome to Alaska - Ha!

So as most of you know, I'm in Alaska. I am staying Anchorage for the time being and am actually hoping I can get out of the city ASAP!!!! I flew up here which I thought would be a great idea - it was a cheap flight and I thought hey I can take the bus around and all will be great. Well.... things didn't turn out how I would have liked to hope they would have- but that's life right? When do things ever turn out the way you want? For me not very often :) Anyway Gabi White (a friend of a friend) has been kind enough to take me in, and I am staying with her at her house. When I first got up here I was taking the bus everywhere - trying to figure out the city and looking for a job. The bus is great if you have nothing to do all day - you can spend your time sitting on the bus for hours at a time wondering if your ever going to find a transfer station to get on a different bus that will actually take you where you need to go. I have met all sorts of interesting people on the bus and at the different stops - really all sorts :) The first week I was up here I was riding the bus around and got really sick - like so sick I thought I was going to die! I abruptly pulled the cord so I could get off at the next stop. I ran off of the bus and tried to find a place to go that I could use the restroom. Luckily I was close to REI so I went in and used the bathroom (cause I thought that would help) well it didn't. I had the worst stomach pain I have ever had before and I thought that my appendix had burst! So of course like a little baby who do you call other than your mom? So I called my mom and told her what was going on and she of course told me to go to the hospital. I didn't want to go cause I don't have insurance, but I did cause I'm a good girl and listen to my mom :) Anyway to make a long story short I was admitted to the hospital and spent the remainder of the day in the ER. My appendix didn't burst but I did pass kidney stones - which I was told is worse than child birth! So I think that having kids will be no problem at all :) I was also told that I have another one of those damn stones in my kidney and I could pass it anytime - an hour or a year from now, great right. So after my lovely time in the ER I was leaving and trying to brace myself for the big bill that was coming, I walked up to the counter and handed the man my papers and he had the nerve to tell me that my bill was $3000! I was like no way! I can't pay that! I have no job, I have no money! I tried to convince him that the bill was only $3 but he didn't buy it. I was so sad! I gave the man my money and walked out of the hospital vowing to never go back - I don't care if I'm dieing I'm not going back there. Those dirty bastards! Anyway back to the bus situation, I was getting tried of trying to find a job while on the bus, its was taking me all day just to stop at a couple of places to pick up applications and then the whole next day to drop them off. I thought - this is crazy!!!! So I started to look on Craig's list for a vehicle, just something to drive. So I was perusing Craig's list and I came to a 1983 Volkswagen Vanagon (which is a camper van) for $700 I was so EXCITED!!!!! So the next day I went and looked at the bus and it seemed to run great, it wasn't that pretty but I didn't care - cause I wouldn't have to take the bus anymore!! Hurray! I told the man that I wanted it and that I could give him his money the following day and come and pick it up. I thought it was such a steal. Well..... it was good for the first day or two, then I went to go and get out of the city and see what Alaska was really like. I was heading down the road and about two miles after I hit the highway my roof of my van blows off!!!! How the Hell does that happen? So some guys pulled it off to the side of the road for me and I got off of the highway and turned around to see what the damage was. I got back to the wreckage aka roof and realized that I had no idea what do do with it. It was too big to put inside of my van and I couldn't put it back on so... I left it there. I went back the next day with one of the guys that I live with and he helped me strap it back to my roof. So now I have a huge hole on the top of my once cool van. Not quite sure what to do about it - any suggestions? Also I went to get it tuned up cause I thought hum I should have someone look at it and make sure it runs OK so I can drive it and be somewhat safe. So I took it in and payed the ridicules 200 dollars for the tune up and now it doesn't run quite right. Hum.....I'm starting to think that I have really bad luck! And that is no fun - no fun at all. Everyone is telling me to go back to Idaho and work - and I really have been thinking about it but I have a couple of interviews within the next couple of days and I will see what happens with that before I decide anything. I know that I make it sound like Alaska sucks but it hasn't been all bad. I have been on some really cool trails and I have been able to go climbing and yesterday I went with a couple of friends and we hiked Bird Ridge which is a lot of fun. Maybe I'll grow to like Alaska - who knows.

Beauty

Have you gazed on naked grandeur where there's nothing else to gaze on,Set pieces and drop-curtain scenes galore,Big mountains heaved to heaven, which the blinding sunsets blazon,Black canyons where the rapids rip and roar?Have you swept the visioned valleywith the green stream streaking through it,Searched the Vastness for a something you have lost?Have you strung your soul to silence? Then for God's sake go and do it;Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.

From "The Call of the Wild," by Robert Service

ALASKA ADVENTURES!

The time has come to let all of you out there know that I am heading to ALASKA! I am planning an Adventure Service Expedition on the Yukon River. Me along with a few others will be heading to the Headwaters in Canada at the end of May to float to the Bering Sea 2000 miles across Canada and Alaska. The jurney will take roughly four months. We will be doing service along the way in the different communities and on the banks of the Yukon. Here is a little preview of what we will be doing:

Yukon Service Expedition is a nonprofit group created by outdoor guides of many sorts, dedicated to the protection and preservation of the priceless Yukon River wilderness, along with the communities along its shores. In order to help raise awareness and provide needed environmental and community assistance to this unique area, our group will be embarking on a service expedition. During the summer of 2009, its members will be paddling the Yukon Passage in Alaska from its headwaters in Skagway, Canada to its end in the Bering Sea (2000 miles). Along the way, we will be performing environmental service focused on alleviating the shores of the Yukon River from invasive species in order to preserve its natural ecosystem. We will be documenting our experience in order to help raise awareness of the threats and needs of the Yukon River and thus inspire further work. We will also be connecting with the local communities along the river to educate and involve them in this cause. Along with educating the communities about us and our environmental goals we will be performing a variety of services in the communities to help fill any needs they may have. Yukon Service Expedition’s ultimate goal is to create an organization that will provide an annual service expedition similar to this in order to continue the preservation and protection of this priceless resource.

My hopes are that this trip will go well and we will be able to continue our work on the Yukon in the furture. I hope to create and establish a well needed non-profit orginization that will not only involve the people in Alaska but also colleges throughout the world. I hope to bring under graduate and graduate students on Adventure Service Expeditions where they learn outdoor skills, leadership (emphsizing on Service Leadership), and environmental needs for the Yukon. This would be a great trip for Biology students and recreational managment/leadership students to learn more about the land we live in and how to create solutions for the problems that we are faced with. I feel that this trip will open many doors for my future and I am excited about the new challenges that I will be faced with.