DAD

HEY DAD!

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.  FOR 30 YEARS NOW, YOU HAVE DONE MORE FOR ME THAN ANY SON EVER COULD HAVE ASKED FOR.    FROM DAY ONE YOU WERE MY BIGGEST FAN.  ALWAYS IN MY CORNER.  THERE WERE TOO MANY TIMES THAT I MADE IT HELL ON YOU.  YOU'D BREAK YOUR BACK FOR ME, AND I'D BREAK YOUR HEART BEING A PUNK.  I GAVE YOU EVERY REASON AND THEN SOME TO GIVE UP ON ME, BUT YOU NEVER DID.  I WILL FOREVER BE SORRY FOR WHAT I HAVE PUT YOU THROUGH OVER THE YEARS, BUT KNOW HOW THANKFUL I AM THAT YOU STUCK BY ME.   THERE WERE ALSO MANY TIMES OVER THE YEARS THAT YOU SAW MORE IN ME THAN I COULD SEE IN MYSELF AND YOU GAVE ME THE STRENGTH TO KEEP FIGHTING THE FIGHT, REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION OR THE ODDS AT HAND.  I HAVE SIZE 9 FEET AND YOU ARE 13S AND I THINK THAT IS ONLY FITTING.  I WILL CHALLENGE MYSELF TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE TRYING TO FILL YOUR SHOES AND BECOME HALF THE MAN,DAD, AND FRIEND ETC THAT YOU HAVE BEEN TO ME, OUR FAMILY, AND ANYONE ELSE THAT HAS HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF KNOWING YOU.  I MAY NEVER FILL THOSE 13S OF YOURS, BUT I AM GOING TO DO MY DAMN BEST TO TRY.  YOU ARE EVERYTHING THAT I ASPIRE TO BE.  I DON'T KNOW WHERE IN THIS WORLD I'D BE WITHOUT YOU.  CERTAINLY NOT UP HERE IN ALASKA LIVING OUT ONE OF MY DREAMS.  THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR EVERYTHING.  YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND. YOU ARE MY HERO, AND I'M SO SORRY I WON'T BE THERE FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY.  I WILL SEE YOU SOON AND CAN'T WAIT TO HIT THE LINKS.  THAT IS, IF YOU AND JIMMY HAVE NOT LOST ALL MY CLUBS BY THE TIME I GET HOME.

I LOVE YOU AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY

PROUDLY YOUR SON 

MARK JUDE

PS. I WISH YOU WERE UP HERE TAKING ON MOUNTAINS AND GRIZZLIES WITH ME.  NEXT TIME!

PPS.  Heading out to sea off the Kenai Peninsula in Seward, Alaska!

MY OLD MAN AND ME PLAYING CLEMSON BACK IN THE DAY!  IT'S A PICTURE OF A PICTURE I KEEP WITH ME ON MY TRAVELS.

The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Hey Everyone!

 Be sure to wish my dad a Happy Birthday tomorrow, August 22.  I'll do my best to ask a Grizzly to borrow their cell phone in the backcountry, but I'm guessing they will say no.  So help me out and give him a buzz.  508-888-8091 !

I am taking off here shortly.  Don't know where exactly.  Don't know when I'll be back.

Hopeful Itinerary: more backcountry trekking, mountains to climb, fjords, glaciers and crampons, ocean liners, king salmon fishing etc.

I am armed with the new Dispatch album that came out this morning, Circles Around The Sun, and ready to go!

Be good
Mark/Chops

The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days

35 MILES, 9 BLISTERS, AND 1 HITCHHIKING EXPERIENCE WITH A PRIEST!

Hello again!

Beyond fulfilled.  Beyond exhausted.  This is my journal, almost verbatim.

Day 1

Took a bus an hour to Eagle River.  Then hitchhiked 40+ Miles to the Eklutna Lake Trailhead.  An Absolute doll named Ardie picked me up.  Such a joy to meet such a wonderful woman.  Not to mention, she saved me hours of walking to the trailhead, if I ever got there at all.  Thanks Ardie!! You are getting a birthday card whether you like it or not!

6:00pm - Reach the trailhead

7:28pm - Cross Bold Creek- Mile 5.  Every river/water crossing now has me proceeding like molasses

8:28pm - Mile 8!  Cruising! Make way down to river to fill up on water

8:45pm - Starts to rain.  Stop to make camp.  OK with this as I have made serious progress on Day 1 even though I started much later than planned.  Make successful one match fire!  Boil Chicken and Rice.  Hits the spot

9 Miles under my belt! Not bad on a very short day.

SLEEP

Day 2

I crawl out my 0*F rated sleeping bag.  I cringe as it MIGHT be 40* outside my sleeping bag, although I don't think so.  I start my morning by making fire to sterilize my knife.  I am dealing with about 6 blisters that need tending to.  Boil water for breakfast.  Freeze dried bacon and eggs + 2 packs of Nature Valley bars for breakfast.  I see the sun coming up over the mountains! Incredible.  As my cameras were destroyed, earlier this week, you are just going to have to take my word for it.  Break down camp

10:41am - Get back on the Eklutna Lakeside Trail

11:31pm - veer off main trail to take East Fork Trail up to Mount Bashful.  13 miles roundtrip.  Fill up on water

12:47pm - Reach Tulchna Falls waterfall.  Breathtaking.

2pm - Reach the end of East Fork Trail.  My map shows a glacier field up over the mountains.  I can't pick up trail.  Probably for the best.  Don't have the skills nor supplies to make this happen.  Make the sound decision to turn around as my original plan entailed.

2:53 - Raining again and much colder.  Stop to fill up on water

4:06 - make my way to East Fork Trailhead/Eklutna Lake Trail.  This is a great sign as I now know exactly where I am.  Always a good thing.

4:30pm - group of 3 mountainbikers come by.  First two say nothing in response to my saying hello.  3rd says " Hey man!  Be careful at mile 9 we saw Black Bears right on the trail"  This leaves me thinking that the first two bikers were NOT voted friendliest in high school superlatives nor will they be receiving Good Samaritan awards as they said nothing to me. No "hello."  No "hey man we just saw a bear!" Nothing.  Who doesn't notify a fellow hiker that there are bears around the corner???

4:44pm - I make it back to previous night's camp.  Only 6 hours of hiking but a grueling 6 hours of backcountry tough terrain trekking.  No bear sighting.

Make fire tonight with steel wool and a 9V battery.  Drier lint used as initial fuel source.  This has me recalling my childhood.  Mom would say " You boys are going to burn the house down if you don't start cleaning out that lint trap in the drier!"  Mom, you were right!  We would have.

Sustain fire for 5 hours with no wood larger than a ruler.  I needed a reading light and some warmth.  Not a forest fire.   I read 150 pages of the 3rd Hunger Games book.  Katniss Everdeen is a badass!

13 Miles on Day 2!  No question I'll sleep well tonight.

Day 3

10:30:  Finish taking down camp and hit the trail!

Noon:  Stop down at the river to reload on water and eat!

1:04pm: Mile 30 and I am hurting big time.  I yell at myself for being soft and keep moving.  The more I stop, the harder it is to continue.  No more stopping!

2pm - I reach the Eklutna Lake Trailhead!  Mile 32! Finished!  One small problem... I am standing alone at the trailhead with no ride out of the State Park!  Frown.  Highway is 10 miles away.  I start walking again.  No other choice.

3pm - I am now 35 miles in, when out of nowhere a couple from Texas pulls over and gives me a ride to the highway!  Yes!  Saved me probably 3+ hours of walking.  Maybe more as my legs are destroyed at this point.

3:05pm - Do you believe in miracles??  Augustine, a priest, pulls over to the side of the highway while in his priest outfit!  He is on his way to Anchorage to give Mass!! He took me the next 40 miles right to the door of my hostel!  Beyond incredible!  Fr. Augustine is such a nice guy!  Probably a few years older than me.  We talk about all sorts of interesting things.  Great conversation.

4pm - Unknown to Fr. Augustine, I show up to Mass and grab a seat to the Fr. Augustine Show!  I cannot recall going to mass in the last 5 years.  Aside from an occasional holiday I suppose. However, I am excited to see my new friend in action!

4:10 - I truly don't know what language mass is being given in.  Fr. is facing away from the pews almost the entire time, and I am slightly deaf. And slightly blind while I am at it.  I am thinking MAYBE he is giving mass in English, PERHAPS Spanish, and MIGHT be LATIN.  I swear to you, I really don't know.

4:15pm - Fr Augustine welcomes his "visitor"!  I can only assume it is me he is talking about.  I can also only assume that he saw I had at least one eye closed, and possibly two when he made this announcement to his parishoners!  I think I am going to hell!

4:55pm - I receive communion.  Also, it hits me that the Mass may in fact be in Russian.  I am dead serious.  I think it might have been.

5:10pm - Mass is over.  I thank Fr. Augustine again for both the ride and Mass!  He says "Mark, you should check out the picture of Pope John Paul II by the tabernacle before you go!"  I don't know what or where that is that he speaks of, so I give Fr. one last firm handshake,smile, nod, and go out the back door and walk home to my hostel.

Mark/Chops

PS.. I AM GOING TO HELL!

PPS.  For 35 miles, I was looking at the pictures that famous artist guy used to paint on his easil on TV in the 80s, I think, but brought to life!  I don't know his name, but you know who I am talking about.  Maybe you don't.  Alaska is blowing my mind.  Rivers and lakes and glaciers and mountains etc etc.  Remarkable.  I will try and get a new camera before the next adventure.  Until then, use your imagination and check out some pics I found online.  This is where I was and to be completely honest, the only difference between these and what I would have taken, is there is no me in them wearing youth medium tshirts.

The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days

ROUND 2: 31 MILES

Hello again,

Yesterday I took to recovering from my trip the previous few days.  I managed to stay in bed most of the day.  I was beyond exhausted.  I finally got up to consume a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, and a pound of turkey bacon: split between two meals.  Aside from that, I took a short walk over to the Anchorage Museum to loosen up my stiff muscles a bit.  I am not much of a museum guy, but it was worth the $11 all day long. As an aside, I keep saying I am not much of a museum guy, but I keep going to museums...

This afternoon I am taking off once again.  I have decided to head into the Chugach State Park where I intend to take on 31 miles of Alaska around Eklutna Lake (said to be spectacular) and ultimately up to Mt Bashful, the tallest mountain in the park, at 8,005 feet.  As with my last trip, I have made my plans known to the hostel I am leaving from, and will touch base with the Chugach State Park before heading out.  Again, this is a challenge I look forward to taking on and have planned accordingly.  Weekend Forecast: cold and rainy!

The big IF to these plans is the fact that the trail head for this route is about 15 miles off the beaten path/main road (if there are such things up here)  Keep your fingers crossed that a passerby gives me a lift!

Talk soon

Mark/Chops

PS.. Happy Birthday Lindsay!

MY NEW FRIEND TERRI, MOTHER OF 5, MADE MY DAY TAKING A PICTURE OF ME AT THE EAGLE RIVER, ALASKA FINISH LINE AFTER MY RIVER ADVENTURE! 26.2 MILES BABY!  ABOUT TO COLLAPSE.

The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days

CLOSE CALL UP HERE IN THE FINAL FRONTIER!

Hello all,

I was 25 hours into my 26.2 mile trek through the mountains and glaciers of Southeastern Alaska.  The Iditarod National Historic Trail!  I came across a river crossing situation at mile 20.  Like many before, I took every necessary measure before beginning to cross.  I secured my knife, emergency kit, map, and a liter of water to my body.  I loosened my 45 pounds of gear significantly too.  Unbuckling my waste strap as well.  All like I had trained to do in survival camp.  I tested out the log/limb built foot bridge and it held my weight by the river bank.  Then I proceeded to make my crossing.  The next thing I knew, the bridge gave way!  For a moment, I didn't know where I was or how I got there.  I was in a glacier river which fed the much larger and faster moving, Eagle River.  Face down with a 45 pound pack on my back.  A split second later it hit me.  I thought, "Chops, you are in some real sh*t right now.  First thought, no time for a pity party.  I got myself into this mess now I need to get out.  1., get this pack off my back and surface from under the water. 2., get the hell out of the freezing river.  In a matter of a minute or two, I managed to do both.  It felt like hours.  I got myself to shore!   Adrenaline pumping, but freezing.  I saw that my pack was caught by the river bank and thought I NEED to get it back if possible.  I am as cold as I have ever been in my life.  My limbs are beyond numb and my soaking wet clothes are cemented to my body.  I run to the bank and grab my pack.  Yank it to shore.  I strip down to nothing as my clothes soaked are doing me no good.  I must get warm,  and fast.  Time, I didn't have.  The weather where I was could change in a second and although it wasn't currently freezing out, getting dry and raising my core temperature back up were my top priorities.  I tossed my pack back on, naked, and started jogging with it back to the trail.  My quads were numb and my fingers/hands/feet were frozen too.  After about a half mile of moving as fast as I could with what was now about a 75 pound pack as everything was soaked, I was significantly drier, and much warmer.  I had 7 miles to go to get out of the mountains.  Needless to say, I don't recall much about this part of my trek.  In just under 3 hours, I made it to the trail head where luckily, a nice young woman named Laura, from Michigan picked me up and took me to the bus station 12 miles away.  Bless her heart.  I took the bus back to Anchorage.  I am here in one piece now.  Took a hot shower.  Gosh, it was the best shower of my life.

No doubt this situation could have turned out much differently, but as I shared with my family, I was incredibly proud of my planning, execution, and toughness.  There are always risk when doing something like this, but I had prepared and had a plan.  No doubt, I used up one of my nine lives today.  August 15th, 2012.  

The last two days in the back country, just as I had imagined, were a challenge.  In just over 30 hours, the last few I'd care to forget, I made it 26.2 miles on a solo trek across some of the most magnificent and challenging landscape in the world.  My first ever marathon!  That, is something I am very proud of.   

Love,

Mark/Chops

PS. a big thanks to two strangers, Laura and Terry who helped me when I got out of the mountains at the Eagle River Trail Head.  THANK YOU.

PPS.  I lost both of my cameras to the river today, but all things considered, who cares.  Some pics were saved.  Enjoy them, but they don't do this place any justice.  Alaska is INCREDIBLE.

PPPS.  I have absolutely no idea how The Iditarod dog race takes place on the terrain I just covered.  I'm baffled.

HITCHHIKING OUT OF ANCHORAGE ALONG THE ALASKAN RAILWAY TO THE CROW PASS TRAIL HEAD

MILE 1 OF 26.2!  HEADING THAT WAY!

MILE 2

TIME FOR A BREATHER

GLACIER WATER CREATING A CANYON OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS!

WORKED MY WAY UP THOSE SWITCHBACKS.  SERIOUS ELEVATION GAIN.  THINKING ABOUT THROWING MY 45LBS OF GEAR OFF THE CLIFF.

THE TIGER PAW IS SIDEWAYS BECAUSE I AM SIDEWAYS MOUTAIN GOATIN' IT UP THE MOUNTAIN.

HELLO ALASKA!

I DESPERATELY WANTED TO SLEEP.  COULDN'T.  NEED TO ALWAYS BE ALERT IN BEAR COUNTRY!

GLACIER LAKE

SUPERMAN IS ALMOST WALKING ON WATER.  MOUNTAINTOP LAKE.  THE COLOR OF THE WATER WAS INDESCRIBABLE.

ALMOST LOST MY LUNCH THE FIRST TIME I SAW THESE!

STOPPED FOR LUNCH SHORTLY AFTER SEEING THESE FOR THE 100TH TIME.  BEAR TRACKS AND SCAT WERE EVERYWHERE! HIKED WITH MY KNIFE IN ONE HAND AND BEAR MACE IN THE OTHER!

IN A MATTER OF 5 MINUTES, TEMPERATURES DROPPED +/- 30* WHILE CROSSING THE GLACIER FIELDS!

KEEPING 4 POINTS OF CONTACT WHILE CROSSING!  SLOW AND STEADY!

TRYING TO STAY OUT OF SOME OF THE WIND.  IT WAS C O L D!

CROSSING JEWEL GLACIER!

YOU DON'T SEE A SIGN LIKE THIS EVERYDAY!  TIME TO KEEP MOVING!

IF I FELL OFF THAT ROCK, SEE YOU LATER ALIGATOR!

NEEDED TO WORK MY WAY DOWN ALONG THAT RIVER

BREATHTAKING

RIVER/WATERFALLS COMING FROM THE ALASKAN SKY!

RIVERBED TREKKING. PRIME BEAR TERRITORY!

GEARING UP FOR RIVER CROSSING WITH MY FORDING STICK! 5 SECONDS IN THE WATER FEELS LIKE AN HOUR

GLAD I CROSSED WHERE I DID.  THE RIVER TURNED TO THIS!

HACKING THROUGH THE BUSH!

KNEES ARE BIGGER THAN MY THIGHS.  FROWN :(  AT LEAST I HAVE SWEET SOCKS!

WHAT'S UP ALASKA!

SUN WASN'T COOPERATING.  ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR SIGHTS I HAVE EVER SEEN.

10PM AND APPROXIMATELY 14+ MILES IN. MORE THAN HALF WAY!  CALLING IT QUITS FOR THE NIGHT AFTER 10 HOURS OF HIKING.  WHO WANTS TO SET UP CAMP FOR ME?

COME AND GET ME BEAR.  KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT A TIGER, WITH A KNIFE AND BEAR MACE!

I HAVE TO CROSS THIS? SERIOUSLY?  EAGLE RIVER, ALASKA!

EAGLE RIVER

SURVEYING THE RIVER AND WHERE TO CROSS!

DOUBLE FILTERING MY WATER THROUGH MY SUPERMAN T-SHIRT TO FIRST REMOVE THE SILT CONTENT.  THEN ADDING IODINE TABLETS.

BLESSED! I HAD NOT SEEN A SOUL IN A DAY AND THEN ROB AND TAMARA SHOW UP OUT OF NOWHERE FOR THAT EAGLE RIVER CROSSING TWO PICTURES BACK!  WE USED THE TRIANGLE TECHNIQUE AND FORDED THE RIVER!  I'D HAVE DONE IT SOLO BUT WAS THRILLED TO HAVE A FEW TEAMMATES!  GREAT FOLKS! 

THUMBS UP!

RIVER CROSSING.  VERY VERY SIMILAR BRIDGE SETUP AS THE ONE THAT GAVE WAY WHEN I FELL IN.

FLATEST GROUND YET!.  ABOUT MILE 17!

THE ONLY THING MISSING HERE ARE THE BEARS PLUCKING OUT SALMON!

STUNNING!

SILVER WATER FROM THE GLACIER/ROCK RUNOFF

AVALANCHE SITE.  WARNINGS POSTED.  

WHEN I THINK ALASKA, I THINK THIS!

ON POINT.  MATCHING MAP WITH A RARE TRAIL MARKER.  MILE 20. LAST PHOTO BEFORE MY ACCIDENT!

The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days

INTO THE WILD

Hello all,

Alaska was almost over before it started.  As many of you know, I am addicted to pretzels.  That said, it was an easy choice when being offered my complimentary Alaska Air inflight snack from the lower 48 up to Anchorage.  "Pretzels puhlease ma'am.  Thank you ma'am."  As I tossed back that first and only handful, as those airplane packs are the size of a silver dollar, I had an instant reaction and it wasn't good!  Flight attendant Robynn, yes two Ns, failed to mention that the pretzels were honey mustard flavored!  My brain started firing on all of its tiny pistons for an escape from this living hell.  (Most of you know this, but for those that don't, I'd rather eat a punch to the face or raw sewage before condiments.  They are one of the few things in this world or any other world for that matter, that I am truly afraid of.  The others, pretty women, not the movie, and Chuck Norris)  So what did I do? Well, I instantly unloaded the poison into my seat pocket barf bag, ripped off my jacket as I was now sweating profusely on a freezing cold airplane mind you, ordered cranberry juice on the rocks, and started licking my tongue on my tshirt.  I'm alive.  Barely alive, but alive.

I have landed safe and sound in Anchorage but I'm on the move.  In the morning I am hitch hiking about 40 miles outside of Anchorage to a section of the Iditarod Trail known as Crow Pass.  I will be embarking on a 26 mile 3 day trek taking me through the mountains, across glaciers, and ultimately to and across Eagle River/Glacier Lake!  This stretch is thought to be one of the crown jewels of southeastern Alaska and I cannot wait to give it a go!  I should be back in Anchorage by the end of the week.  Rest assured I have notified the hostel I am staying at of my plans and will be checking in prior to my departure with park rangers at the trailhead.  They will know when I am going in and when I should be out.  I have also taken many proactive measures to handle such things as potential wildlife encounters, temperatures etc.  I have no doubt that this will be a challenge, but it is a challenge I have prepared for.

As my dear friend Kevin Broome pointed out to me, Mark Twain said 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”  

I'm exploring, living a dream, and can't wait to see what I discover.

Catch ya soon!

Love,

Mark/Chops

HELLO ALASKA!  IT LOOKS HOTTER THAN IT IS! BRRR.

MY DEAR FRIEND GREG CORCORAN IS AS CLOSE TO SUPERMAN AS ANYONE I KNOW.  I'LL TRY AND DO HIM PROUD WITH THE NEW T!  TIME TO BUNDLE UP AND HIT THE TRAIL!

The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days