alaska | The Filson Journal

Reborn Refuse: The Art of Allie Spurlock

Will Kutscher — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 23:34:45 +0000

Walking along Baranof Island's rugged and rocky beaches can be an adventure. On the leading edge of the Alexander Archipelago, it often bears the brunt of the Gulf of Alaska's ever-changing weather and moods. But that unpredictability excites artist Allie Spurlock each time she leaves her studio in Sitka to explore. See, for her, a day spent roaming the tree-lined beaches is like a treasure hunt, and she loves finding her version of treasure in the form of washed-up trash.

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Filson Life: Mush

Will Kutscher — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 19:59:29 +0000

In Alaska’s North Slope, professional dog musher Lauro Eklund and team set out to hunt the migrating porcupine caribou for winter sustenance.

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Pure Passion: Tori Hickel

Will Kutscher — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 00:43:09 +0000

“On the pond, it didn't matter if we had icicles on our eyelashes or frostbitten toes, we were out there for the pure passion and joy of it.” –Retired professional hockey player and coach Tori Hickel. Learn more about Tori on The Filson Journal

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Martin Buser: The Racer Comes Home

Will Kutscher — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 20:46:37 +0000

Running a string of sled dogs in the cold arctic night on the Iditarod Trail is not for the faint of heart. Ripping over frozen undulating terrain, dimly lit by an ever-bobbing headlamp, a musher must alternately trust that his team is not heading towards disaster while cheering them on as they plunge further into the darkness. They tread on a razor's edge at times. Mushers often tie themselves to their sleds to ensure that if things go south, they are not stranded on the trail as their dogs continue to race forward. There is little time to soak in the icy beauty that surrounds the sled. Instead, one must focus on the next checkpoint and the ultimate goal, Nome. The race is infamous for breaking the will of even the heartiest, and many a musher has called it quits mid-race. But not Martin Buser.

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Dispatches from the North: Kotzebue Sound Salmon

Will Kutscher — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 21:29:09 +0000

"Fish are hitting already, splashing. Seals surface nearby. Andrew whoops, “Rich!” and roars down-current to find a spot. I wring my sopping gray gloves, curl stiff cold fingers around the lines, and start pulling in salmon.”

Seth Kantner has fished commercially in Alaska for 49 seasons. He’s also a best-selling author, wildlife photographer, and wilderness guide. During changing seasons in the arctic, we’re excited to have Seth writing for us about his life in Alaskan Arctic and on Kotzebue Sound. Read the first of the series exclusively on The Filson Journal.

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Mary Goddard: Imprints of Copper and Community

Will Kutscher — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 20:02:38 +0000

Carved into silver, the fiddlehead catches my eye as light reflects off a displayed cuff’s surface. We are standing in Mary Goddard’s studio in Sheet’Ká (Sitka), Alaska. On the wall, seemingly fresh splotches of paint sample shades of green that seem to bring the most northern rainforest into the small space. Copper sheets, large unfinished tina’as, and a formline eagle and raven sit waiting to take flight on her worktable.

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Oceans Initiative: on a mission to protect marine life

Angela Becia — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 19:06:27 +0000

Conservation scientist Erin Ashe, PhD, says we all have a “cetacean story”: the moment in our lives when we realize that whales and dolphins—the spellbinding mammals she studies—exist. Ashe was four years old when hers happened. A family of orcas swam below her aunt’s cliffside home on San Juan Island in the state of Washington, announcing their presence with the unmistakable whoosh of air being exhaled through blowholes. Ashe was awestruck, and insatiably curious about the 12,000-pound creatures—a feeling that would direct the course of her studies and, eventually, her life’s work.

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Piloting Kodiak, AK with Willy Fulton

Angela Becia — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 17:41:54 +0000

Willy Fulton is a floatplane pilot based in Kodiak, AK. We caught up with him to ask a few questions about how he ended up there, with arguably one of the coolest jobs in the world.

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Off the Grid with Brett Watts

Angela Becia — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:21:00 +0000

Brett Watts is a flight mechanic with the U.S. Coast guard, currently stationed in Kodiak, AK.

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Chloe Ivanoff: finding her sea legs

Angela Becia — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 17:31:32 +0000

Shortly after Ivanoff began working seasonal jobs in geology, she started to feel she’d missed an important rite of passage by not having spent a summer living and working aboard the New Dawn. She decided to train for it by joining her father’s crew for the annual sea cucumber harvest, typically done in October. The excursions were short, just 3-5 days at a time, and took place in calm bays, which helped Ivanoff build her confidence aboard the New Dawn.

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