1992 Alaska Mission Trip

[The following notes are from a trip I took as part of the 1992 Campus Crusade for Christ Men's Summer Mission Project in Anchorage, AK.]

August 21st, 1992 Anchorage, AK
I woke up this morning to find Chris and Dave saying goodbye. They're on their way back to Colorado now, the Alaska Men's Summer Project is over. I wonder if I'll ever see these guys again...

It's 9:45P.M. Bill Nachand and I have flown into Iron Creek of the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska. Paul, our pilot, flew us in all the way at a hundred feet off the ground. It was the only way to get below the clouds. Tonite we'll sleep in a shack next to Joe's house. Joe is a gold miner who lives out here. Neat guy, totally lost. He made us dinner though, along with Paul (a 'nola from Virginia) and his wife Judy. We had wild rice, corn, beef and steak of Dall Sheep. Excellent. From the plane we saw a black bear and a herd of sheep. The fishing should be good, 12-16 inch Dolly Varden.

Joe loves company, he hasn't stopped talking since 6:00. He and Paul have hit it off great.

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August 22nd, 1992 Talkeetna Mountains, AK
9:50 P.M. It's getting dark. I've been in the tent now for 3 hrs. Bill and I got to this lake at 5:30. It was the mother of all humps. My pack must weigh a hundred lbs.

Bill just got back from fishing. He's back early 'cause he spotted a grizzly bear about a half mile away. He says the fishing is great. Dolly Vardens- about 8-10 inches. We can see two bears, other than the one that surprised Bill, in the distance. I pray they'll go away and leave us alone. Tonite we'll sleep with one eye open and the shotgun between us... The bears are travelling fairly close together, it may be a mother with two yearly cubs. They seem headed away now.

[Note added 12/2/05: I remember sleeping that night with a white nuckle grip on the shotgun. It was a Mossberg 550 I bought in Anchorage for just that occassion. Bill didn't bring a gun, but had his hatchet in hand as we slept. Sometime during the night a pretty good thunderstorm blew over us. It was scary being in that storm with the wind whipping the walls of the tent and the howling through bushes nearby. Bill and I both expected an angry sow griz to come barreling into the tent at any moment, but the bears never did show up... I had the gun load with 3-inch slugs and attached a pistol grip and 18.5-inch barrel. The first time I fired it I nearly broke my wrist. It was sore for a couple of days.]

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August 23rd, 1992-Sunday
What a day. Got up at 11:30 or so and had oatmeal breakfast. Bill was right about the fishing-I caught close to twenty Dollys between 8 and 12 inches. I used a Mepps Aglia 0 and a Panther Marten. They hit both equally well. Its really awesome out here. No bears today, but when you go for a walk anywhere you watch your back. Its rained pretty much all day. Dinner was fresh Dolly and scalloped potatoes, some crackers and hot cocoa, tea and a Nutri-grain breakfast bar.

When I woke up this morning I read several chapters of Exodus, the ten commandments and some of the other laws. I ought to start over when I get home, I'm not really studying as much as just reading. I hope the tent holds up, I'd hate to be all wet this early in the trip. On the other hand, we have a lot of food residue in here so maybe we'll see a bear tonite (I hope not!)

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August 24th, 1992 Talkeetna Mountains, AK
Today I caught 16 Dollys before I gave it up. My attitude gat so lame I was actually swearing! I'm sorry Lord. Than you for forgiving me. Change my heart that it may not happen again.

The weather has been nice today, it stopped raining about noon and hasn't started since. I'm reading Exodus right now and I pray that God will open my eyes to see His plan for me and the rest of the world more clearly. Hopefully I'll be in Leviticus by tomorrow.

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August 25th, 1992 Talkeetna Mountains, AK
It's very cold out there [outside the tent]. We woke up to sunshine, but its cloudy and cold now. Today was a good day for reading so I read; 70 pages of Red Storm Rising [by Tom Clancy], the entire book of Mark and the 1st ten chapters of Leviticus. It's only 6:30 though. One thing I haven't done since I got here is pray. I need to pray much more often. I also read Damon's [Damon Yauney] letter yesterday. I'm hoping we can live together this year, I'd like that a lot. For now, I need to pee, so TTFN. Ta Ta For Now.

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August 29th, 1992 Glenallen, AK
Left Anchorage @ 11:00 Saturday Morning. It's 2:43 at the Tastee-Freeze in Glenallen, AK. There seems to be a bike club making a trip from Anchorage. I was supposed to be out of Anchorage yesterday, but I believe God had a different plan. I was devoting all of my strength to get home and ignoring my relationship w/Him and as a result He held me back 'til I came to my senses. 1st, nothing went right with packing, etc, and then He gave me the Mexican two-step. Sorry, Lord. Tonight I want to be in Dawson City, God willing.
P.S.-The curly fries are great here.

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August 30th, 1992-Sunday
2:12 PM-Whitehorse, Yukon Territory-Praise God, man! I'm a day late, I lost an hour to the time zone, I'm in Canada with no Canadian currency, I'm alone.
I've been doing some praying in the car and listening to a Parkside Church tape. [Parkside was one of the churches our mission team attended in Anchorage] I almost hit a wolf cub a little while back, he ran right in front of me. I wonder if I'll ever see the Parthenon in Greece? [And as of 12-2-05 I haven't!]

I missed Dawson City because the border there closes at 8:00 so I stayed on the Alaskan Highway and spent the night in White River, 480 miles from Anchorage. A short 1st day.

10:00ish. BLAM! A flat tire!! I'm sitting in the restaurant of the Watson Lake Hotel. I'll be spending the night here. Boy that waitress sure is cute. Anyway, Lord! Hear my cry, please... Get me home safely without any further mishaps. Thank you for blessing me with such awesome parents. I pray that you would bless them as much as you've blessed me.

Things could be worse, much worse. I was rushing it, driving too fast for the road construction being done on the road. I wanted to get to Watson Lake, Yukon by 7:00 so I could get the last half of the service in at the local Anglican church. I got here at 8:30. After I put on the so-called "spare" (it was a doughnut, not a tire) I discovered I'd left my lites on and run my battery down. Luckily I was only 80 klicks from Watson and some drunk Indians helped me jump it. Incidently, I called the Anglican church to see if I could borrow their floor, but nobody was home.

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August 31st, 1992 Fort Nelson, B.C., Canada
5:30 P.M., CoachHouse Inn, Fort Nelson, B.C. After leaving Watson Lake at noon, I was determined to make Nelson by six. On my way through Rock Mountain (?)Provincial Park I stopped to photograph some Dall sheep and caribou by and in the road. Totally cool! Thanx God. My next stop should be either Fort St. John or Dawson Creek. God willing of course. Jake and Heather Dykstrhuis live in St. John (or at least they did). Maybe I'll look them up.

[Note: Jake was a roommate of mine in Cabin C at Caperwray Harbour Bible Centre in the Winter semester of 1989-90. Heather was also at the school at that time. I have many fond memories of my experiences there. We used to say that the 'C' on our door stood for CLASS.]

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September 1st, 1992
12:30 A.M. The odometer says I've gone 1678 mi. I'm just south of Dawson Creek now and I'm going to bed. Nite!
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Prince George, B.C. 1:00 P.M.-This is getting Boring, I hope to be in Vancouver by midnight.

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September 2nd, 1992 Abbotsford, B.C., Canada
1:00 A.M.-Abbotsford, B.C. Tonite I am spending the night at Chris and Kim Madland's house. Praise God for good friends. On no notice at all they've produced some great hospitality. When I think back on all the memories I have of Capernwray (where I went to school with Chris and Kim) I'm overwhelmed with... joy! God has truly blessed me through that. Not hardly a day goes by that I don't reflect back on something I learned there.

After having swapped bear stories w/Chris, I'm going to bed.

P.S.-Jake and Heather were here when I arrived (Amen).

[Note: Kim and I actually dated for a while. Chris literally stole her from me, and in hindsight, I ought to thank him for it. They seemed happy together, she was pregnant. Her complexion had changed though, for the worse. I don't want to sound mean, but seeing her for the first time in a couple of years I was really not attracted to her AT ALL! Shallow of me? Yes. But true, nonetheless.]
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11:00 P.M. Bainsbridge Island, Puget Sound, WA. I will fall asleep and wake up to the sound of waves lapping up on the shore. I'm staing tonite at Tim Keller's parents' home in WA. I pray that through my actions and attitudes they might have their eyes opened to the reality of their need to know Jesus as Tim and I do. Help them, Lord, to know you. People as nice as this shouldn't go to Hell, they deserve to be saved, as least as much as I do/did.