The Badlands

It was a vision quest in a raging lightning storm... Straight from the journal...






West... Arising ever so happily over the horizon. The mountains gradually grow as my heart expands from my breath.

The Sun Shines upon my weathered face. The land speaks to me in a strange but thoughtful tongue. As my mind unwinds so does the concept of time. I am the bohemian again and smile, singing a new song.


My spirit is calling out for strength and guidance. The ancient Indians sought me out and showed me the path to simplicity and contentment. The water of life surrounded me last night.

The ancient Realm of the spirit world took a meeting last night.The peace pipe was passed as the lighting came from all directions and zap! For an eternity the storm met directly over the top of me. The lights all sat down for a ceremonial meeting of the Chiefs. They were all present... They allowed me to sit on on their meeting and blessed the weary traveler.




At least I have fresh coffee this morning...

Headed to Alaska!!

One might ask what is the reasoning behind wanting to go to Alaska to be a fisherman? For me that answer was easy. I wanted to get my Captain's license. The problem was every where I went I couldn't get a job because I had no experience and I couldn't get experience because no one would hire me. So after trying the Florida Keys, Corpus Cristi and San Diego a friend said to me, "go to Alaska they will hire anyone..."

So that winter of '92 I worked in Michigan at a auto parts factory to save up to make it to Alaska. So far I made it through 2 years of college that I paid for by myself and I wanted to go back to college in the fall. Alaska was a way to make money to get back to school and also to get my sea legs to see if I really wanted to get my Captain's licence. At the time it seemed like a grand idea.

The first thing I did was get my best friend, OZ, talked into going with me. He worked at a different auto parts factory but we hung out when we were not working and daydreamed about Alaska. We saw an ad in the Michigan State newspaper looking for workers to come to Alaska to make $6000-$10000 a month. We bit at the ad and of course ordered "The Book". It was a joke. It cost $89 and basically gave you names and address of different companies in the Pacific Northwest. It did describe all the different kinds of style of fishing but beside that it was pretty useless. Now, one would google it and look for postings for free. You also have to remember we didn't even have the Internet in our area yet...

So we planned our trip. Got out road maps, daydreamed about places we were going to see and worked hard to make sure we could save enough to make it out to Seattle and Portland. I swear if it wasn't for the fact that I knew I was saving to go to Alaska I am not sure I could have done that hard labor in the factory for long. It was dirty, and had lots of chemicals and fiberglass dust floating in the air at all times. It was a dead end job with no hope...

So the day came when we were ready to go. We packed up my S-10 Blazer named Sheeba queen of the jungle, waved goodbye to our families and roared out of town. We were on top of the world. We were headed to Alaska!!! Kind of...

Chicago!

We left Michigan and passed through Chicago stopping for some food and sight seeing. Neither one of us had been in the Sears tower so off we went. It was a great day. Partly sunny and around 60 degrees F. It was worth the admission for that elevator ride. It screamed to the top!! You get out and feel the building slightly sway. Or was it my imagination? You walk to the window and look down and vertigo sets in... Holy $%#*! This is amazing. We walked around snapped a couple photos and eagerly awaited the elevator ride down!!! What a rush. Speaking of Rush...

Sears Tower under moonlight...

We drove all night and made it to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. It was a rainy and misty day but we still got to see a masterpiece. The monument was eerie. It felt like there was a shroud or mist hanging over our past presidents. It was mysterious and inspiring.

It was fun hiking around the base and reading up on the time it took to build the monument. We took some back roads and ended up with this great profile of George Washington... It looks like he is crying. Like he looks out at our nation and wonders what happened to the country I fought so hard for over 200 years ago. This country has a troubled destiny...

On to the Badlands National Park....

Back in the day...

Alaska...What can I say. The most hostile, rough, rugged and craziest times ever and of course I loved every minute of it. I want to put down in the blog some past fishing trips and some highlights in my brief 7 year career as an Alaskan Commercial Fisherman. I'll start at the beggining and work my way to my final trip.

Safety First!