Recent Adventuring

16Sep 202116 Sep 2021

If my book was a playlist…

I have a very early memory (as a 6-year-old? 8?) of my mom using lyrics from a Beatles song to…

Shallow Water Crossings (Wading)

I returned home after a day of swiftwater rescue practice to messages about a hunter whose body was recovered in…

13Aug 202119 Aug 2021

The Whale’s Tail

The “Whale’s Tail” is a unique mountain peninsula in Denali National Park. The Tail is bounded by massive glaciers in…

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Putting the Shoulder in Shoulder Season

29 Nov 202013 Dec 2020

A recent fall on the ice gave "shoulder season" new meaning for me. This post is about shoulder dislocations and a reduction technique that you can teach yourself. Based on…

Packraft Field Repair Kit

28 Aug 20206 Dec 2020

Let's talk about tape. My field repair kit has evolved from anticipating a glued patch to expecting tape to be enough. This is largely because simple tape repairs have been…

Route-Planning with ESRI Worldview

14 May 202018 Jan 2021

Whenever possible, I do route planning with Google Earth. Google Earth's 3D imagery allows me to fine-tune a route and identify features I might otherwise miss in two dimensions. But…

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For Sale or Trade, One Reverse-Averse Van

I wrote this Craigslist advertisement in 2018 and am belatedly giving it a home here.I think the advertisement is the most popular thing I've written; it even reached a friend…

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The Adventurer’s Son

11 Feb 20209 Mar 2020

The Adventurer's Son, by Roman Dial, will be available February 18th, 2020. Anchorage friends can join Roman Wednesday, February 19th, for a book release event at Bear Tooth Theater.You can…

satellite imagery…

Transferring Satellite Imagery to Gaia GPS

8 Feb 20203 Jun 2020

In November of 2019 Greg Mills and I pulled off an incredible trip. We flew to the Inupiaq village of Selawik, then ice skated 125 miles to Kotzebue. Our route…

DIY Ski Binding Inserts

9 Jan 20209 Jan 2020

Binding inserts allow you to swap bindings between skis, so that you don't need to buy additional bindings. Anyone can install inserts at home, but it requires a few specialty…

satellite imagery…

Satellite Imagery: Active sensors (Sentinel-1)

5 Jan 20208 Feb 2020

Active sensor imagery, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), provides recent images that can be extremely useful for remote trip planning. SAR imagery penetrates through clouds and does not require…

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Village Recreation Programs

25 Nov 201925 Nov 2019

While living in Anchorage I struggle with a lack of connection to village life. My parents used to fly me home to McGrath when their chore list piled up, but…