Hands down, this was my favorite trip to date. The aesthetic was so unique, Jay is one of the greatest guys to trip with, it was kind of a unique itinerary, and we had a few really cool experiences.

1. A Bear. It’s pretty rare to have a *close* bear encounter without almost crapping your pants. Early in the float I got hungry. (Should have eaten more breakfast). I started digging in the bag on my boat deck and pulled out a mildly soggy roast beef sandwich. I picked it up, got a little sour-pussed about the wet bread, but pulled back the paper to take a bite. Right then, Jay somewhat stangely, yet timidly, yet forcefully called, “ Uh Heath! Bear!”. I slowly turned to my right, and the bear was RIGHT THERE. Like 10 feet away towering over the river. Easily within chomping distance. But once my eyes fell on him, he’d made this imperceptible yet subconsciously recognizable decision to turn tail and run. Deep within me, I knew there was no danger even though we were so close. So I never had that adrenaline rush, I just got to experience it. I got to look at him. I didn’t drop my sandwich in the river. We had a pretty good laugh about it afterwards as Jay had thought I’d seen it and was getting my camera hence the atypical bear warning.

2. Grayling. As night fell late in our float trip, fear started to penetrate the shell of my drysuit. You’ll hear more of that in a minute, but suffice it to say, we almost got ourselves into some shit. Once it was pitchblack, and we were navigating by headlamp, it was inevitable that the beam of light would turn into the inky water. And when it did, magic appeared. Grayling! And a LOT of them. Darting, diving, twisting. Our lights reflected off their iridescent bodies, casting ghostly glows all across the river bottom. So that was nice.

A hiking and packrafting trip from Nabesna to McCarthy in Wrangell-St.Elias National Park & Preserve, Alaska

A 100 mile Bike/Run/Ski endurance race in the White Mountains Recreation Area, Interior Alaska