RUSSIAN RIVER – The crowds that have made this gin-clear stream Alaska’s most famous “combat fishery” were missing Wednesday. A mature black bear that emerged behind the lone angler occupying the well-known […]
Empty state
Dangerous bear?
If you are on the Kenai Peninsula north of Seward, Alaska, be careful where you hike on the Iditarod National Historic Trail. A grizzly bear or bears could be coming for […]
‘Seward’s Folly’ redux
Coming off the warmest year in Alaska history, the state’s largest city appears headed for the fifth or sixth coldest January in the local climate record. As of Wednesday, the average monthly […]
Playing with ice
Why is it so many spend so much time worrying about social media providing a platform for “fake news,” and so few if any seem concerned about the same media facilitating the […]
Thank Pebble
Inadvertent though Pebble’s role might be, the hugely controversial, proposed, copper mine near Lake Iliamna clearly deserves some credit for inspiring at least a small effort to pick up some of the […]
Deadliest day
Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the deadliest recreation-related avalanche in Alaska history, and in the days leading up to it the state has suffered the first two avalanche deaths of the 2018-2019 […]
Helmets really?
Where and when the idea that safety gear in and of itself makes people safe entered the American mainstream is unclear, but it has now reached the point of a dangerous absurdity. […]
All cracked up
Before ice-covered Portage Lake east of Alaska’s largest city came alive this week, skater Paxson Woelber heard the ominous crack of a glacier near its head as did the acquaintance standing […]
News fiction
Some days now it’s hard to avoid wondering if I’m a fool for believing anything printed in the New York Times. Old habits die hard, and most journalists who grew up in […]
Moto-roulette
Sunny weather brought snowmachine riders out to play in Alaska’s Turnagain Pass over the weekend. Thankfully no one died in the tumble of human-triggered avalanches that followed. The Chugach National Forest […]
