Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
The 2010 Iditarod Trail Invitational started on Feb. 28th at 2:00 PM at Knik Lake. Out of 44 racers that started the race 35 finished in MacGrath after 350 miles on the Iditarod Trail. This was Peter Basingers fourth win and Tracey Petervary from Wyoming set a new women's 350 and 1100 mile record. 5 racers continued on to Nome and the 3 cyclist have arrived in Nome. Tom Jarding and Tim Hewitt are still on the trail.
We have already received over 70 e-mails for the 2011 race which will follow the Southern Route.
Sign up for the 2011 race starts April 1 for race veterans that have finished the 350 and/or 1100 mile race before and rookies can sign up starting April 8th, 2010.
Bill and I will be in Germany to visit family from April 1- April 21. Racers should contact us by e-mail to secure a spot in the race for 2011.
On May 1 we are off to Utah and Arizona for 5 weeks to guide a two week Mountain bike trip and then explore more trails in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.
We will be back in Alaska June 7th to begin our summer guiding season here.
We still have some availability for guided sea kayaking trips and river floats in the months July and August for those interested in a guided summer vacation in Alaska.
We hope to do another exploratory sea kayaking trip in Prince William Sound in June.
Our favorite areas are based out of Valdez, Alaska.
Last year we explored Glacier Island, Columbia Glacier, Sawmill Bay, Shoup Bay and Jack Bay.
In the fall we did an exploratory trip in Southwestern Alaska in Wood Tikchik State Park.
I am exited about another summer filled with adventures by bike and sea kayak in the Southwestern USA and Alaska.
Kathi M.
We have already received over 70 e-mails for the 2011 race which will follow the Southern Route.
Sign up for the 2011 race starts April 1 for race veterans that have finished the 350 and/or 1100 mile race before and rookies can sign up starting April 8th, 2010.
Bill and I will be in Germany to visit family from April 1- April 21. Racers should contact us by e-mail to secure a spot in the race for 2011.
On May 1 we are off to Utah and Arizona for 5 weeks to guide a two week Mountain bike trip and then explore more trails in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.
We will be back in Alaska June 7th to begin our summer guiding season here.
We still have some availability for guided sea kayaking trips and river floats in the months July and August for those interested in a guided summer vacation in Alaska.
We hope to do another exploratory sea kayaking trip in Prince William Sound in June.
Our favorite areas are based out of Valdez, Alaska.
Last year we explored Glacier Island, Columbia Glacier, Sawmill Bay, Shoup Bay and Jack Bay.
In the fall we did an exploratory trip in Southwestern Alaska in Wood Tikchik State Park.
I am exited about another summer filled with adventures by bike and sea kayak in the Southwestern USA and Alaska.
Kathi M.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Exploratory trip to Wood Tikchik State Park
After a great summer guiding all over the state of Alaska Bill and I ended our season exploring the nation's largest State Park Wood Tikchik State Park in Southwestern Alaska.
Here are images from our trip to Wood Tikchik this fall in late September.
Here are images from our trip to Wood Tikchik this fall in late September.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Florida Everglades November 2008
After visiting relatives in Florida this fall Bill and I decided to do a week long paddling trip in the Everglades after spending all summer kayaking and rafting during our guiding season.
After doing some research online about the Everglades National Park, about back country camping, where to start from and where to rent a double kayak we decided to stay at the Ivey House that owns North American Canoe Tours in Everglades City that also guides trips in the area and rents boats as well. Turned out they were great folks, with knowledgeable guides and friendly personnel and a cozy atmosphere in the B&B. We spent the night, got up early and started at the Gulf Coast Ranger Station early in he morning of Nov. 3.
After packing the double Amaruk kayak with our supplies, 15 Gal. of water ( there is no fresh water sources in the Glades), dehydrated meals, cook stove, camping gear we started paddling down the 3 mile causeway along the road that leads to Chokoloskee and up the Turner River into the Hurdles Creek route. Our final destination and camp for the first night was Sunday Bay chickee. Chickees are raised wooden platforms in the Everglades swamps with a vault toilet connected to the platform. Some are just big enough for one tent with up to six people, others can accommodate up to two parties, or 12 total campers.
After reading in the National Parks brochure that 93% of the birds that used to inhabit the Everglades have vanished, we were excited to see grey herons, ibises, roseate spoonbills and osprey on our first day of paddling. We arrived at the campsite early at 2:30 in the afternoon after paddling 10 miles. We enjoyed the sunshine and a lazy afternoon and watched the sun set and change the lighting in the swamp and sunset around 6:00pm.
Day 2: The route today wen through several large open bays past the Chatham River and more large bays. We took a break at Darwin's place, one of the few spots in the Everglades with an actual piece of land. Most of the Everglades in this part of the park is mangroves as far as the eye can see and it all looks the same, no landmarks to speak of.
We had mapped out our route using "A paddler's guide to the Everglades" by Johnny Molloy a very informative guide book, describing many different routes, campsites in the park and more. We connected into another bay via Alligator Creek and Plate Creek, some of my favorite paddling sections on this trip. We did see one large Alligator bathing in the sun on a log in Plate Creek.
Our night's camp was Plate Creek Chickee, one of the most unique chickee campsites, the site of an old water tower and with its own dock. We finished our days paddle early again at 2:00pm after covering almost 17 miles.
Day 3: We got up just before dawn, starting up the MSR stove to make some instant cappuccino. We would anticipate the amazing sun rises in the mangrove world and be on the water by 7:00 am.
We saw many Dolphins and Tarpon in these open bays and more birds. The most special experience was a Manatee sticking its nose out of the water right next to the boat. He actually came up twice next to us, checking us out, then with a lot of bubbles and a swirl in the water, he was gone. That was somewhere near Onion Key. We were actually following the markers on the Wilderness Waterway route that runs 99 miles from Everglades City to Flamingo.
It was pretty easy to follow those markers which were not always within sight of the next one. Using the GPS and having the book really helped a lot too. We never had to backtrack once. Bill is part Salmon anyway, he always know which way to go, even in places he's never been before.
Todays campsite was Rodger's River chickee. Another beautiful spot. We saw only one boat all day. I had just pulled my feet out of the water after taking a bath in the brackish water with my cup when Bill said " Oh there's another alligator." And this one was realy curious. He hung around all afternoon only diving a few times. Sunset was spectacular again.
Day 4: Today's paddle would be down the Rodger's River inhabited by large numbers of alligators to the Gulf Coast. The tide was going out and we knew we had to be at our campsite at Highland Beach before low tide, so we wouldn't be stuck far away from the beach in the mud.
We had several alligators whirl right next to the kayak and saw 6 on the shores, which actually had some mud bars, where they would lay in the sun. Arriving in the river delta of the Broad and Rodger's river was amazing, so many bird species in such large numbers. We saw a flock of the endangered wood stork sitting in a tree. Shortly after pitching our tent on Highland Beach near the mud flats of the rivers it came alive with all kinds of shore and wading birds. We got there at 10:00 am, fast paddle down the river. Another alligator was laying around in the Gulf waters near our tent. We watched hammerhead sharks in a feeding frenzy during the low tide. This place was absolutely amazing! And no other people around. The beach was nothing but sea shells, a paradise for beach combing. A found some really nice shells. We spent the afternoon on a long beach walk all the way to Highland Point 4 miles away.
After doing some research online about the Everglades National Park, about back country camping, where to start from and where to rent a double kayak we decided to stay at the Ivey House that owns North American Canoe Tours in Everglades City that also guides trips in the area and rents boats as well. Turned out they were great folks, with knowledgeable guides and friendly personnel and a cozy atmosphere in the B&B. We spent the night, got up early and started at the Gulf Coast Ranger Station early in he morning of Nov. 3.
After packing the double Amaruk kayak with our supplies, 15 Gal. of water ( there is no fresh water sources in the Glades), dehydrated meals, cook stove, camping gear we started paddling down the 3 mile causeway along the road that leads to Chokoloskee and up the Turner River into the Hurdles Creek route. Our final destination and camp for the first night was Sunday Bay chickee. Chickees are raised wooden platforms in the Everglades swamps with a vault toilet connected to the platform. Some are just big enough for one tent with up to six people, others can accommodate up to two parties, or 12 total campers.
After reading in the National Parks brochure that 93% of the birds that used to inhabit the Everglades have vanished, we were excited to see grey herons, ibises, roseate spoonbills and osprey on our first day of paddling. We arrived at the campsite early at 2:30 in the afternoon after paddling 10 miles. We enjoyed the sunshine and a lazy afternoon and watched the sun set and change the lighting in the swamp and sunset around 6:00pm.
Day 2: The route today wen through several large open bays past the Chatham River and more large bays. We took a break at Darwin's place, one of the few spots in the Everglades with an actual piece of land. Most of the Everglades in this part of the park is mangroves as far as the eye can see and it all looks the same, no landmarks to speak of.
We had mapped out our route using "A paddler's guide to the Everglades" by Johnny Molloy a very informative guide book, describing many different routes, campsites in the park and more. We connected into another bay via Alligator Creek and Plate Creek, some of my favorite paddling sections on this trip. We did see one large Alligator bathing in the sun on a log in Plate Creek.
Our night's camp was Plate Creek Chickee, one of the most unique chickee campsites, the site of an old water tower and with its own dock. We finished our days paddle early again at 2:00pm after covering almost 17 miles.Day 3: We got up just before dawn, starting up the MSR stove to make some instant cappuccino. We would anticipate the amazing sun rises in the mangrove world and be on the water by 7:00 am.
We saw many Dolphins and Tarpon in these open bays and more birds. The most special experience was a Manatee sticking its nose out of the water right next to the boat. He actually came up twice next to us, checking us out, then with a lot of bubbles and a swirl in the water, he was gone. That was somewhere near Onion Key. We were actually following the markers on the Wilderness Waterway route that runs 99 miles from Everglades City to Flamingo.
It was pretty easy to follow those markers which were not always within sight of the next one. Using the GPS and having the book really helped a lot too. We never had to backtrack once. Bill is part Salmon anyway, he always know which way to go, even in places he's never been before.
Todays campsite was Rodger's River chickee. Another beautiful spot. We saw only one boat all day. I had just pulled my feet out of the water after taking a bath in the brackish water with my cup when Bill said " Oh there's another alligator." And this one was realy curious. He hung around all afternoon only diving a few times. Sunset was spectacular again.
Day 4: Today's paddle would be down the Rodger's River inhabited by large numbers of alligators to the Gulf Coast. The tide was going out and we knew we had to be at our campsite at Highland Beach before low tide, so we wouldn't be stuck far away from the beach in the mud.
We had several alligators whirl right next to the kayak and saw 6 on the shores, which actually had some mud bars, where they would lay in the sun. Arriving in the river delta of the Broad and Rodger's river was amazing, so many bird species in such large numbers. We saw a flock of the endangered wood stork sitting in a tree. Shortly after pitching our tent on Highland Beach near the mud flats of the rivers it came alive with all kinds of shore and wading birds. We got there at 10:00 am, fast paddle down the river. Another alligator was laying around in the Gulf waters near our tent. We watched hammerhead sharks in a feeding frenzy during the low tide. This place was absolutely amazing! And no other people around. The beach was nothing but sea shells, a paradise for beach combing. A found some really nice shells. We spent the afternoon on a long beach walk all the way to Highland Point 4 miles away.
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