Horseback Adventures, Alaska Big Game Hunting, Life in the Bush by Alaska Chick

I shared, today, one of the lessons I have learned in the last year on line.  My 13 year old son, “humphfed” down next to me and said that often heard (in my house with a 7th grader) refrain, “I don’t know what to write!”

Do you want to know, what I have read, on line, about “I don’t know what to write!”? They say that happens to everyone. Just write. Take a break, go for a walk, sit down (with a pen and paper, if you want) and write. Anything. One sentence. No spark? What else, write the first thing that comes to mind, even if it makes no sense... write.

I have shared so much with my family here in Chisana, over the last year, of what I have learned. I am not sure why this one time is going round and round in my mind.

I told a friend recently, I feel just exactly as excited right now as I did more than a year ago for my life and our future. I can’t wait, each morning to see what the day will bring. I can’t wait to read what some of my friends have written. I can’t wait to see if some tiny missing piece of information, the answer to some question, might be answered or explained in a little bit different way...

An Adventure. My entire life is an Adventure. I live in the wilderness of Alaska. I am a licensed Big Game Guide. We hunt and use pack horses as well as riding horses, our own range horses, that live here in the interior of Alaska with us year round, on all of our trips. We haul water, cut firewood and trap fur. I do not recall ever feeling so very strongly, that my life is an Adventure, as I do now.

As you have most likely noticed, Alaska Chick’s Blog as well as the entire Pioneer Outfitters website is undergoing a “face-lift.” Even if you have looked around in the past, please feel free to investigate again. I am trying to sort out the piles of information I poured into HubSpot’s CMS a year ago.
I really would love to hear your thoughts about the changes. Is it any easier to use? Did you find the information you were looking for? Could you read it easily? Should I include more video, to the different pages, do you suppose? More slide shows, or do you like the pictures simply posted? Most importantly! Do you see (above) one or two rows of the main menu?

I’m still pretty excited about 2012 as well, I’ll have you know! I just had to add that because my son came home from dinner at the Lodge tonight and said to me, “Don’t you think it is sad that the center of our universe exploded a few years ago and it will kill everything for sure now?”

Huh. (I couldn't think of a better response.)

I wanted, no, I needed to share this with you all. A couple of nights ago, as I went to get an armload of firewood, the sky was alight with the Aurora Borealis. I stood transfixed as I breathed deep, first through my mouth to put the clean cold winter air cleanse me, and then through my nose, deep and slow so that I could even taste it.

I did not get to take pictures to share with you, with the baby damp still from her bath. The green, if green could be electric, this was evidence. The sky was a war of two separate slashes, rippling and flowing through the sky, never stretching full length to fade before another tide brightened it from within from it’s own surge of the air’s power.

The pink, just barely there, as someone or something lit a match under it all of the bigger slash. The under line of pink surged much faster than the green that was lit from within, fading and brightening, singing up the slash, as if it had to move faster to win a race before it would vanish again. A pulse of green, another, then suddenly I saw the pink was there again on the other slash of green. Just a living thing moving under all that green, barely there, and yet so obvious.

Do I use pictures not from this night, to share this with you? It seems wrong to me. I couldn’t not share with you what I saw, even with words that are not enough. Something else though, it reminded me, again, why I am here.

Here, online, struggling with the website and the learning curve hitting me now that feels remarkably similar to climbing a mountain and just not wanting to take another step. That wall, runners speak of.

(Just in case you didn't recieve it, here it is!)
Wow! It has been over a year now, since PioneerOutfitters (dot) com was created.  One month gone already of the new year!
The second issue of The Chisana News Wire brings you news of Mother Nature’s twisted sense of direction she’s blowing up. From +20* above to -54* below zero, there is just no predicting what she’ll throw at us next. We have gained over 4 hours (and yes, I just counted!) of daylight. We are averaging a gain of over 6 minutes a day.
Phone calls and emails are flying between Alaska and Canada as we are putting feelers out for more range horses. We hope to bring into Chisana this year a stud. Master Guide Terry Overly had hoped that we would find him last year, but none of the studs Terry looked at made much of an impression. (Fingers crossed! We want to start breeding our own range horses again.)
On Alaska Chick’s Blog a while back, we talked about range horses and what we look for in a horse to live and work with us, in the interior of Alaska. Range Horses, Where, How and Why for Pioneer Outfitters.  http://pioneeroutfitters.com/AlaskaChickBlog/bid/36613/Range-Horses-Where-How-and-Why-for-Pioneer-Outfitters Go HERE to read more.

A WORD FROM THE MAN IN BLACK, MASTER GUIDE TERRY OVERLY
Well, as Amber-Lee has decided I must have input to the Chisana News Wire, I asked her what she wanted me to talk about with you.  “The old days, the horses and the way things were.” That is the answer I received. So that is what I will share.

Alaska Chick’s Blog has past the “newbie” year with 131 posts as of today (before this one! LOL). Hoary! Hoora!! Moving on....
Yet...

I find that I cannot. (and no! It's not because I keep moving my office around!)

We have been working on and around, as best we can, our Star Band, connection and bandwidth dramas these last months and it finally came to a head.
I had NOTHING. What? Not possible. Not even maybe. Now, I don’t claim the gift of patience. Some may even say (and they do- I have heard them) I have a decided lack of tolerance and no threshold at all for fools.

Make. It. Work.That is all I had to say to add to the conversation. They did. A real live human with experience and expertise came on the line, to speak with Nancy, this time when she called. Not only did Ken know what he was talking about, he was the DUDE. The BOSS.

Four and a half hours later, we had internet again, and one PC in pre-op! Two days later, the PC has undergone disease eradication and the second PC was being diagnosed.

The new templet has been put into the website and I plan to check out 99Designs.com for a new logo since every single one of my “leads” dropped me like a dead frog. Ameena Facet’s BIV (Brand Identity Visualization) for Alaska Chick’s Blog has me pumped and ready to go!
But.

Like I said, I have been doing a lot of thinking about this blog and what I have learned in the last year. About what it all means, the website and my role in it, Alaska Chick’s Blog and the goals and purpose for it. What it means to Pioneer Outfitters and what it means to me.

Discovering that so many of the friends, teachers,mentors and blog authors I have substantial time with during the last year, are “my” (Alaska Chick’s Blog) age or just 1-2 years older (Blogs), has given me a great deal to ponder.
The talk of “changing direction,” “re-evaluating” and “taking a short break from blogging” has had quite the unexpected effect on me.

Blogging. Wikipedia says “ A blog (a portmanteau of the term web log) is a personal journal published on the world wide web consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Blogs are usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often are themed on a single subject. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog."

On January 31st, 2011, after almost two weeks with HubSpot, I published my first post for Alaska Chick’s Blog. Alaska Summer Trips, 5 Places to visit.

To say that it was “bla!” is kind, I know. I also know that one of those places is Medicine Man Mountain. So, I am saying, “Happy Birthday, Alaska Chick’s Blog!” And I am saying to you, each one of you, thank you.

There are meeting to prepare for, meetings scheduled to attend. Clients and prospective clients to stay in contact with and speak with, answer questions for. Pioneer Outfitters is located in a fly-in area deep in the Wrangel Mountains. "Weather Permitting" is a law and force of nature (no pun intended!) that is part of our lives, everyday.

The day to day to-do list is long, not always complicated, but varied to run a business or to get to work and do the job, essential for the life each of us has chosen to live.

Deadlines, product launches, unexpected honors and opportunities, employee issues and employer demands. These are moments of each day.

There are children to care for, families to feed, loved ones to enjoy and care for. The laundry needs to be done and the dishes need to be washed and put away. Groceries and shoes need to be bought the car needs new tires.

Life happens.

The power goes out, the phones don’t work. The bathroom has flooded, a slip on the ice, a fall and a trip to the hospital for a broken wrist. Your child is terribly ill. The wind last night topped a tree right onto the corral that holds your horses and broke the rails.

Do you shake your fist at the sky, at fates, at God? Do you ask, “Why me?”

“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.” John Lennon

•*¨*•♫♪♪Happy Birthday to You!!.*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*...¨...*•.¸¸♥¸~ : *¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪Happy Birthday to You!!.*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*...¨...*•.¸¸♥¸~ : *¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪Happy Birthday to You!!.*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*...¨...*•.¸¸♥¸~ : *¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪Happy Birthday Alaska Chick's Blog!!.*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*...¨...*•.¸¸♥¸~ : *¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸. •*¨*•♫♪♪Happy Birthday tooooo Youuuuuu!! .*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*...¨...*•.¸¸♥

Every morning I wake, in Chisana, Alaska, as part of Pioneer Outfitters and my first thought is, “What will happen today?”

Now, I am sitting here tapping the keyboard, wondering how many of YOU thought I meant that with a fearful or a negative attitude.

Hmm? No, actually I am almost always happy (thrilled, even excited would not be an exaggeration) to be awake and ready to see what today will bring.

I wonder if someone I have never met before will ski, hike, get dropped off by charter aircraft or even mountain bike into Chisana and stay awhile to chat, rest or stay a few days.

Maybe I’ll get some incredible photos today, walking around, snow shoeing, snow machining or checking horses. We may even encounter some critters to photograph! (I love when that happens!)

A wonderful opportunity may show itself today. In a phone call or possibly an email. Maybe it will come from that unexpected guest.

The dark still has the day. The moon is brighter than hundreds of flood lights, behind the fog of the temperature change. It is so quiet and still in the air. If you can quiet your thoughts, you can hear the creek where we get water. Maybe a horse-bell. (Lucy is hanging close to home.)

The possibilities... It is the possibility of, well, anything!Oh, sure, maybe the wintertime adventurers might go right by, the snow machine may break down, maybe we wont encounter anything but one “issue” after another, maybe the light will be that flat gray with no light, no shadow, the phones may not ring, my in box may be lonely all day, I may hang out with Twitter and be completely ignored or on Face Book and be flooded by normally interesting, entertaining and inspiring humans that are suddenly obsessed with asking me for a hammer or a fence for their pet albino ground hog ...or some such... (oops!) stuff.

I may not even be able to connect with the world outside our mountain valley, the StarBand bandwidth is proving to be ... limiting.

Breathe.

If I don’t live, to my fullest and strive to be more tomorrow than I am today, everyday, no matter what life may decide to set in my path... then, what am I doing?

The possibilities are endless. The possibilities are there, as sure as the seconds move into the past. Possibilities.

What will happen today? I can’t wait to find out!

A good friend and I were chatting on line about the things that had kept us so busy that we had drifted away from touching base with each other and dreams of not only meeting one day in person, but the support and encouragement that sometimes you are lucky (blessed) to have with another in your industry.

She asked me if I would be interested in taking part in an interview of sorts, a kind of a girl to girl chat, about hunting and our different roles that she and I play in the industry of hunting.

Sure! Sounds interesting and fun, I am all in, girlfriend. “Maybe you’d like to see this post, I mentioned you in.” She told me and I told her I would go take a look, for sure!

I went over expecting to read her current article, learn this or that (because we really do come at and have different roles in this industry), and leave a nice comment on whatever struck me the most to share.