Carpe Gnar

The Talkeetna River trip was one of the more enjoyable stretches of whitewater and multi-day trips I’ve yet to experience. A full report of the trip will be the next post on my kayaking blog. Until then, if one would like to view the trip photos in a new browser, click on this link.  

The final remaining days in Alaska were spent helping out with cleaning up the Tiekel River Lodge. Joel Decker, Cliff Langley, and myself all pulled together and spent three solid days drinking copious amounts of beer, cleaning up environmentally sensitive waste, and climbing a few local mountains within the Tiekel valley. Twas good to be back with old Minnesota kayaking friends and to make some final peace with the Tiekel.

I arrived in Minneapolis on September 19th, in which I was instantly inflicted with culture shock. Lack of mountainous terrain, the sheer amount of people, and a different social environment entirely hit me pretty hard. I feel as if this was the last time I’ll return to the heartland aside from family visits. I need the mountains and the wild. 

In an attempt to visit as many old friends as possible I ventured to homecoming at St. John’s, Madison, Wisconsin, and the North Shore of Minnesota. Partying, camping, hiking, and kayaking were all included while on visitation. These pictures are also available on my public photo website.

 For the past week plus, I’ve been in Colorado for some much needed mountain time, a family wedding, and to spend some further time with a certain Alaskan crush Libby Connor. This weekend, the two of us have rented out a backcountry yurt  in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area and plan to do some extensive hiking and further enjoy the Rockies. 

On Tuesday, the 21st of October, I’m once again leaving behind the continental United States for a six to seven month whitewater kayaking based trip to Nepal, India, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand. I’ll be traveling with a few friends off and on throughout the journey.  It’ll be a wild ride, seeing that I’ve never really traveled to a place where I haven’t spoke the language, but I’m eagerly looking forward to further cultural education, lots of crazy stories, and some fabulous kayaking. 

I’ll do my best to upload current photos on facebook, carpe gnar, kayakboatriding, and my google web albums. 

Also, I’ve posted a link to my 2008 Midwest Kayaking Video that can be located on the Multimedia page of this website.

 Take care, cheers, and have fun. 

andy

p.s. - I am completely aware at how big of actual NERD I’ve become.