On 5 July 2020, in the middle of COVID, we bought one-way tickets to Alaska. International travel had become nearly impossible, so instead of waiting for the world to reopen, we stayed in the United States and went as far north and wild as we could.
Restaurants were mostly closed and planning took more care, but that made the journey more intimate. We spent long days outside, drove, explored and met people along the way.
Farther north, Fairbanks, Boneyard Alaska, gold panning and the hot springs revealed another side of the interior. In 2021, my wife Daphne and I stood at the edge of the Arctic Ocean in Utqiaġvik, formerly Barrow. That shoreline made the distances we had crossed feel suddenly tangible. I returned in 2022 for an Explorers Club Board trip.