Super Awesome Adventures

For those Alaskans employed by the state, yesterday was a holiday. Good old Seward Day. And the weather rose to the occasion, providing three straight incredible blue sky days. And firefighter class was cancelled on Saturday. Oh joy! Free time! It was like a vacation.

First, we drove upriver as far as we could. Unfortunately, this is the first winter in years that they haven't maintained the ice road, which usually connects Bethel with Aniak 150 miles up river. The road currently ends at Akiachak, 28 miles upriver. Still, it was nice to go out for a drive and have an excuse to listen to books on tape.

Saturday night was big time here in Bethel... live music! A Bethel group called Farthest Frost played some punk/metal type tunes. Then The Basile Band played. They are locals who play frequently, but creatively change their name about once a month. Their best name so far was "The Infidel Castros". Then Bethel's own Eminem, Luke Vanasse dazzled the crowd. The last time we saw him, he did a cover of "Oops, I did it again". Highly entertaining. And finally, Da Douce headlined the show and kept the party going til late. They did a sweet Weezer cover early in the night as a warm-up.

Of course, I missed all of it but the opening. I was getting ready for my big adventures into the mountains and beyond. Back in September I started getting pumped about a mission to 3 step. Our first foray was rough. But this time, the weather was awesome and it was pure joy. On Saturday, Rich and I rode out to 3 step. We took the direct route, which is only about 30 miles across the tundra. I brought my board and was able to get in a few turns, probably about 800 feet of vert. Unfortunately, I had to hike back up because I left the Bravo at the top of the mountain and Rich's snow machine couldn't get us both back up. The day ended well and we wandered back home. The picture is of Rich huddled behind a wind break on top of Three Step, looking towards Bethel. The wind was howling!

On the way home, we passed what they call the mud hut. It's an example of an old eskimo style dwelling. Of course, the plastic isn't old style. But the sod roof/wood construction is.

Sunday night was more good fun. Genevieve and I went out for a nice x-country ski mission, and even did some extreme descents of our own. The dog mushers were out enjoying the weather as well.

Monday... ahhh Monday. It was probably one of the best Mondays of my life, and I owe it all to William Seward, or technically, whoever it was who made it a holiday named after Seward. On Monday, I strapped enough extra gas to the Bravo to give me a range of 180 miles and went for the hills past Three Step. From there, the mountains, well, pure incredible goodness. Complete sentences don't do justice to the complete sense of exhileration involved. Pure positive life energy. Maximum stoke factor. Perma-grin.


It was hard to go back home, seeing as I could the other mountains within reach, and a clear path to them. But alas, I had managed to puncture my extra gas can. I salvaged most of the gas, but the loss was enough to keep me from venturing to the next mountain range. Oh well... it's always good to leave wanting more. Yes.