Alaska Railroad

I traveled The Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks to Denali to meet my mom after her first two days of adventure in Anchorage a couple weeks ago.  We hit up Denali National Park & Preserve for an all-day wilderness tour and saw some amazing animals and natural beauty.  Later that day, we took the rail back to Fairbanks and I showed her around town the next few days, which included an unexpected 8-hour round trip drive to the Arctic Circle, checking out UAF's Museum of the North, Pioneer Park, and picking blueberries just off the Steese Highway.  This video highlights my meeting her in Denali the first couple days.  My sister also visited the week before.  I'll see about trying to compile a similar video that highlights that fun, too.
[Music: "Train" by Mother Mother]

Eyes in the Sky: Voices from Youth on the Street

While I'm waiting to hear back from a potential funder to start my music lessons and receive an approval from my organization's board for an exclusive art club with an amazing local retail store, I'm happy to inform you of an exciting event that the Street Outreach & Advocacy Program (SOAP) is putting on soon.  On Friday, September 3rd from 5-8pm at The Artisan's Courtyard, we'll be showcasing photos and videos that have been taken by our homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth clients over the past few weeks.  My colleague Anna Dale and stellar, multimedia extraordinaire Caleb Kuntz have been working hard in compiling their artwork this month and getting it ready for the big show.  It's been great to see our clients' creative skills at work and allow their stories to be told - stories they can tell through their eyes.


We invite the general public to attend this First Friday event and open your eyes, heart and mind to some breathtaking imagery.  These snapshots and short video clips should give you a great idea of what our clients experience on a daily basis on the streets of Fairbanks.  See the flyer above for more details and we hope to see you there!  If you have any questions, please contact Anna at 907-374-9913.  Do your part by helping those around you who might otherwise not be easily recognized in our usually busy lives each and every day.  My AmeriCorps VISTA experience thus far has only enhanced these values in my personal life and I invite you research the same.

Wildhorse Mountain & Sevenmile Lake

I finally found some time to compile some of my previous footage of a few of us hiking up Wildhorse Mountain over Memorial Day Weekend this year.  You can reach the area by driving the Richardson Hwy to the Denali Hwy, drive to mile marker 40, then park off the road at Glacier Lake Trail and hike a few miles into the Amphitheater Mountains.  We hiked muddy marshes, camped valley plateaus, scaled near-vertical mountain cliffs, sled down mountainsides, and somehow still survived.  Pretty much one of my favorite holiday weekend adventures to date!


Enjoy the sights and sounds of pure Alaska nature while a couple of my favorite bands score the adventure - Minus The Bear & Talkdemonic..

Running For Joe

Equinox Marathon Course Map and its ridiculousness.

http://runningforjoe.weebly.com

Hey!  I wanted to plug that I’m running the tough-as-nails Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks on September 18th as a fundraiser for my cousin Joe Vogel and his family.  He's been a HUGE inspiration to me, my running and life in general.  The same can be said for so many other people's lives he's touched, too.  This makes-ya-wanna-sweat-just-looking-at-it course spends just over half of the distance traversing about 2,000 feet in elevation on mostly wooded, uphill ski trails within UAF, then connecting to Ester Dome Road and a few trails all the way to the top - only to repeat most of the same type of course on the way back down.  My legs will be screaming, "STOP!" many times, I'm sure, but doing it for Joe will only keep me going no matter what Alaska's terrain throws at me.


Please, show your support by visiting the website above and donate whatever your pocketbook might allow.  All thoughts, prayers, and contributions are greatly appreciated! :)