Notes From A Long Strange Trip

blue day

Scott Capshaw — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:55:38 +0000

This afternoon a friend from Anchorage came down to cross country ski and brought his kids and son's girlfriend.

I didn't notice until I looked at the pictures later but because of the snow and quality of light, the day looked totally blue!

Just beautiful!!!

Penguine Ridge

All told, our trip was about five miles with lots of ups and downs. This is pretty good considering that one person in our group had never been on skis before!

Winner Creek all frozen up

Frosty beard!

Our group!!! They were a WHOLE lot of fun!

the first step is the hardest

Scott Capshaw — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:20:26 +0000

Well…it’s been a while since a blog entry has gone up. Sometimes when you let something like this go for so long, it’s hard to get back on the horse. But, I’ve got a New Year’s resolution to do more of this kind of thing. So, if anybody is out there to actually read this stuff, here are some of the things that have happened in the past few months:

At the end of the summer (yep...it's been a while since I've posted anything) Jenn's cousin came up from Arkansas and we had one of the most beutiful days of fishing I've had since living in Alaska!

This is some of our boat's catch for the day. It was one of the best charter companies I've gone with. We limited out pretty soon. The silver's were really hot and really fun!

We did a pretty good bit of hiking this fall too. This is an early fall view of Portage Pass!

Here I am with our really good friends Mike and Erin at Portage Pass! It was way cold at the pass that day.

Jenn and I enjoying dinner with friends. Isn't she pretty!!!

In the Fall, we had an opportunity to travel back to the Lower 48 and see friends and family. It was such a blessing to be with family!!!

One of the real treats while being down south was discovering quilts that my grandmother sewed years ago. We even found tops that were never finished. Jenn brought a couple of these home to finish. I really never knew that my grandmother was such an artist. She took the time to make such a functional item a thing of beauty!

One night our Mosaic group found creative ways to express the intersection of God and life!

This winter has been incredible for Alyeska. We've had one of the best opening seasons in quite a few years. We've had snow everywhere (369 inches since October!). I've been teaching skiing full time this winter and really enjoying it. Jenn continues to love here job at the Hotel.

This winter we made goodies for all of the departments at the hotel. We also made goodie bags for lifties and other outside employees and skied around the mountain on Christmas morning delivering them. These were extremely well recieved!

Ok, well…there it is. In short form, this is some of what has been happening in our lives over the past few months. I’ll try to keep this going more in the future!

Bears…bears…and more bears!

Scott Capshaw — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:36:55 +0000

For about six months, Jenn and I have planned a trip to Katmai National Park in southwest Alaska. Katmai is a bear preserve where very large coastal brown bears come to feed on salmon. We traveled as a group of 8. It was a trip of a lifetime!

Here's a beautiful bear looking for new finds on the beach!

This was a bear named Otis. He's shaking off in this picture. He liked to hang out in a whirlpool near the rocks.

Pretty cool huh?

Getting a better view!

We were able to stay in close proximity to the bears because they had an ample food source and we didn't represent any threat.

Sometimes the bears would block the floating bridge that we used as a walkway across the river.

Here's a nicely framed shot. By the way, I took none of these pictures. These are from various friends who were on the trip.

Jenn on the floating bridge with a bear in the background.

This is the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. It was formed when a volcano erupted in 1912. The walls of the canyon are 100 feet in places. That's 100 feet of ash!

A lone bear crosses the river on a beautiful night

Jenn called this bear "poser". She decided to take a nap at the entrance to the floating bridge and closed the bridge for nearly two hours! You've got to be patient around bears!

Here's a juvenile brown bear

Here's a cool shot!

Mike and I went out with the other guys to do some wildlife photography. We were in the water with the bears, so we had a chance to get really close!

closeup!

Here's a picture of me taking a picture of a bear in the grass.

ok...time to move!

Chris waiting on a bear!

A brown bear with a fresh catch!

More birthday fun…otherwise known as jumping off a cliff!

Scott Capshaw — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 07:23:32 +0000

For her birthday, Jennifer had the opportunity to paraglide off the top of Mount Alyeska! Here are her pictures.

So what do you think...is she crazy?

A great view of the Chugach mountains in the background!

A view of Girdwood from above!

Dipnetting

Scott Capshaw — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 06:42:13 +0000

It’s been a busy summer and I haven’t had much time to update our blog. So, as the season changes and snow begins to fall on our mountains, I’m busy uploading pictures!

This year we achieved residency status! So...we are allowed to dipnet for sockeye salmon. We went with some great friends down to the mouth of the Kasilof River to try it out...it was a learning experience. By the way, the mountain in the background of this picture is Mt. Redoubt. It's an active volcano.

Getting ready to go out. My waders are too big, so I have to cinch the belt down tight!

Heading out!

The water was WAY cold!

Some of my fish! Filling the freezer for winter!

Jenn learning to clean fish!

Today it was summer!

Scott Capshaw — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 06:07:39 +0000

We love doing life with friends in Alaska! For our birthdays, we spent a couple of days camping at Byers Lake with some of our closest friends! It is truly wonderful to "do life" with great friends! Thanks Erin for the pictures!

Denali!!!

Mount Foraker - the "wife" of Denali

There were many times this weekend when I found myself saying "Today it is summer!". With warm sunshine and glassy water, truly it was a great way to spend our birthdays!

Crazy mushrooms!! And no I didn't eat any!

It was a stunningly glorious day!

That's Denali behind the clouds.

A walk with Thomas Merton

Scott Capshaw — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 05:48:26 +0000

I took an impromptu walk to Crow Pass for the night. It was a bluebird day that turned into an incredible night! The little blue dot by the creek running into the lake is my camp!

This was a spot above the lake where water pooled in a marshy area. The water was like glass!

Another shot from the marshy area

Jewel Glacier

Raven Glacier

Close up of Jewel Glacier

Crystal Lake with the forest service cabin in the background

Runners on the Crow Pass race this morning. The race is a 24 mile cross country race that includes a river crossing! The winning time today was just over 3 1/2 hours!

I had several of these little visitors this morning. They were very curious about my camp!

The walk down from the Pass is pretty spectacular! On the way down I found a patch of blueberries by the road. I left my pack by the road to pick the berries. While in the blueberry patch I heard an engine idleing. When I walked out of the woods I found someone about to steal my pack! ...good timing!

I took Thomas Merton along as a traveling companion. Merton was a trappist monk in Kentucky in the 60s and 70s. I'll be posting from some of his writings soon!

Family Adventures!

Scott Capshaw — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 07:00:01 +0000

Jenn's dad came up for a visit...they had all kinds of adventures!

One day they took the train down to Seward for a day cruise.

Another shot of the train!

A view from the top of the train.

A beautiful lake somewhere along the way!

A glacier along the way.

"Sunset" after a long day - actually the sun didn't 'set' that day until about 11pm!

We also did a little fishing. If you look closely you will see two black spots behind Jenn's dad. That was a mother black bear and her three cubs!

“Doing Life” Together!

Scott Capshaw — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:22:28 +0000

One of the best things about living in Girdwood is the opportunity to "do life" with a wonderful group of people!

Time to relax!!!

Don't burn the bun!

Carson didn't want to get too close to the fire - which was a good thing!

After our cookout, we took a short hike up to Byron Glacier.

Spring gardening fun!

Scott Capshaw — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:35:45 +0000

Recently I got to help plant a garden at a residential treatment facility in Anchorage.

Two friends of ours contacted Home Depot and they dontated all of the necessary supplies to build the raised beds!

These are tripods for the sugar snap peas. Last year the guys like them so much they couldn't wait for the peas to develop. They ate them right off the vine!

This project is really great for the guys. It teaches patience and step-by-step decisionmaking. They are able to have fresh vegetables all summer long and more importantly they are able to see where their food comes from!