One of the fun things I used to do was have my postcards “experience” my trip before I mailed them. So I’d dip a corner of it into the river, rub it in the dirt on the trail, press it into the embossed historical marker, or dribble some beer onto it. I’d then fill it out as normal and mail it.
We spent #opcOnThisDay in 2018 with some friends at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then stopped at Lees Ferry, and got #LostNeededDirections in Flagstaff.
This #MountainMonday comes to you from the rim of Aniakchak Crater in Alaska.
Go home river, you’re drunk!
One useful thing about writing online is that sometimes you end up writing for your future self. I just ran across a public note I wrote three years ago that I really needed to hear today. Thanks Scott, I appreciate your help.
Here’s a short video of our flight back from Aniakchak, taken near Upper Ugashik Lake looking southeast towards the Aleutians. Just gorgeous terrain down there.
Visiting Aniakchak Crater
Five years ago today, I finally made it to the least visited national park unit in the country, Aniakchak National Monument, a collapsed volcanic caldera in the Aleutian Range in Alaska. I really need to blog about the whole story about this.
This park is very remote, requiring a bush flight to access, and the unpredictability of the weather means you might be waiting many days for even a short flight window. It took six days of nervous waiting for us to make it there, constantly checking the weather and in contact with the pilot every couple hours. Many folks get skunked; a fellow park quester had waited ten days just prior to our arrival and never got an opportunity. We got ours on the very last day we had committed to the endeavor. This might be the best text message I’ve ever received, sent by the pilot.
I’ll write and post more about this on rscottjones.com, but for now, here are some photos of our time there.
Visiting Aniakchak was the lynchpin for me completing my quest to visit all 400+ national park units, which happened a few days later in Glacier Bay National Park.
If you’re traveling in July and want to participate in my free postcard exchange, please sign up by Thursday! #travel #postcards
On this day in 2018, we stopped at Edge of the World Brewing in the remote and infamous polygamist town of Colorado City near the Arizona/Utah border. I’m still surprised that this place ever opened, let alone stayed in business.
Don’t ask me why, but back in 2015, my buddy Wayne and I decided to adopt a quest to visit all the sketchy Chinese restaurants in a certain downtrodden part of Phoenix. On this day that year, we visited this gem.
This is one of the elevated walkways and bear gates in Katmai National Park that help keep humans out of the way of grizzlies.
What are 5 interesting things about you? I posted mine, but I’d love to read yours too.
Checking out a new brewery—Pinnacle Brewing up near the Scottsdale airpark—while getting some work done. Nice location and vibes, beer is meh, funny that the weekend bartender here is a regular at my local brewery Wren Südhalle in Ahwatukee. 😂🍻 #CraftBeer #ChooseAZBrews
Five years ago today, we were able to visit Brooks Falls. We were very early in the season, but had optimized our timing around getting to Aniakchak Crater, knowing that we’d return to Brooks Falls in the future. But fewer bears means fewer tourists—so we often had the viewing platform to ourselves!
On this day in 2015
On This Day in 2019, I met my doppelgänger in the remote fishing village of Naknek, Alaska.
A few photos from last night’s moonlight paddle. It’s always great to get on the river, and especially so with a bright moon.
Squiggles, squiggles, and more squiggles #opcOnThisDay in 2019. #Alaska
I updated my /now page so that it displays the latest /now update from a new “now updates” post category. That makes it easier to archive old updates on my /then page, and rss subscribers will now get served the updates too. I also added in my omg.lol status to the page, which I update frequently.
I just unlocked a new hell: being blocked in by a driverless waymo that wouldn’t move until its customer—very belatedly—finally got in the car. I tried to inch pass it, but it started honking annoyingly.