Tag: industry
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A Defiantly-Wild, Bear-Guarded Mine (Kennecott)
Usually in the U.S. visiting a national park is an experience of managed wilderness – accessible to all – but while slowly being restored, the Kennecott Mine in Wrangell St Elias is more like wandering around a historical National Trust building in Britain, that hasn’t yet been brought back to life. In comparison to most…
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Into the Wild?
“The best beer I’ve tasted this side of the Rockies” that’s me, quoting myself. The 49th State Brewery, just off Parks Highway in Healy (north of Denali National Park and Preserve) was good enough to check twice, and just to confirm my thoughts, a third time in as many days. If you enjoy beer, you…
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Graham eats Molly. Stan takes one for the team!
Three wolves, countless bear, numerous moose, a curious arctic fox, eagle hoards, awkward stalks, migrating swans and geese, territorial osprey and various regal raptors, botherless bison, wolverine, tasty fish, elk, owls, beaver, all the colours of squirrel, porcupine, ptarmigan, mink, chipmunks, pika, ground hogs, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, stone sheep, deer, muskrat, turtles, beastly leeches…
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My dithering pensioner and I disagree a lot
My dithering pensioner and I disagree a lot. We’re extremely good at it. Naturally, our opposing political views are cause for regular debate, but we agree and disagree on probably an equal split. Appreciating and having patience over our differences rather than condemning them, and being able to argue freely, explains both our spats and…
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Leeches! Driving! Glaciers! (videos in Denali)
Speechless Views I caught a Leech. Brilliant! My favourite driving
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Like a drunk spider, trying to climb out of a bathtub…
Clearly a blogging mix up in the last post, written by either a randy drunk or a lethargic halucenogenist. A cup of tea and a hearty breakfast sorts any Englishman out. Travelling 136 miles east from Cantwell, the Denali Highway is 90% unpaved and climbs into and along the mountains of the Central Alaska Range.…
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If you’re only going to read one update….why not make it the weird, sexually frustrated one? It has My Little Pony in it…
We had our sights set on Denali for the mountainous scenery, the remote wildlife, the promise of expansive, lush landscape, and well, now that we’re here: Beer. The drive from Fairbanks to find a campsite in Denali is only a few hundred miles, but when you stop at the rather rustic and tasty 49th State…
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Civilised trimmings & techno Grumpiness
Roughly two months into the trip, and before leaving Fairbanks, we stayed a night in a hotel for the first time. You may think it was a luxury, an indulgence after completing the Dempster, or a miniature celebration on entering the U.S. again. It could be viewed as a civilised respite from the cramped living…
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Some attractive mature nudists
The drive south on the Dalton Highway was infinitely more interesting and enjoyable than heading north. Not only was the mosquito population higher toward the north end of the road – not past the sublime and lush north slope as it descends towards the chilling ocean – but the smoke had cleared from the Brooks…
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You may need some lubrication…
The strangest, unpleasant, oddly informative and most numbing feelings I have ever had as a tourist. The shuttle bus escorted a handful of curious people through the oil drilling facilities, and along 26 miles of badly maintained and bumpy gravel road to the Arctic Ocean. We received a brief description of what was going on,…
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Hoth does exist on Earth
A few dozen miles into the Arctic Circle lies the place where Luke Skywalker ventured out on his tauntaun… Beyond the first 300 miles of the Dalton Highway, seeing virtually no wildlife, as well as endless miles of wilderness-covering smoke, we began to see stretches of scenery north of the Brooks Mountain Range. A few…
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Almost at the Arctic Ocean (videos)
In the photo: I started at the small red dot and travelled on the blue line. I’m now at the large one on the north coast. Few updates on Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay and the road south on their way.. Morning Update on the Dalton Still on the Dalton Almost at the Arctic…
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The Trans Alaska Pipeline
The kinky snake is as long as Great Britain (just over 800 miles) and transports oil from the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic, to Valdeze on the southern coast. The Trans Alaska Pipeline split the state from top to bottom in 1977 and was the most expensive, privately funded construction on earth. Although I can…
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Camouflaged, but not for my furry friends.
The start of the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek constantly reminded me of how the north works – practically, hard, hands on, in extreme weather, overcoming the wild, and with no apologies. The industries up here are oil, gas, logging, infrastructure maintenance, and survival, and everyone seems to enjoy it a little rough around the…
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Nostalgia, some dreams, and the colour of my crotch.
It’s the city that never sleeps. Although New York might have been better named, the city that can’t keep its mouth shut. It can’t be quiet….at all. I’m normally one for coming prepared, but after a day in the rain and still suffering from a little jet lag, I threw on the wrong trousers. A…
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Times Square : New York
Sometimes there is no blog. Sometimes I’m taking too much in visually, in the rain, to sit down and write anything. So, here I am enjoying a little walk around New York before hurrying out of town to begin my trip to Alaska. It seems so easy when you say it like that. As if…
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Panda Porn and Umbrella Rage
Walking twelve blocks in the rain to drop my backpack down, to then spend much of next hour trying to find a food stand which didn’t have a cue of at least twenty people wasn’t the best start to the morning. New York City is a place of food cues, and I’ve also never been…
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Bam! New York, Baby!
Six months away from ‘Merica, and I’m back for more. After being delayed seven hours and enduring an always slightly turbulent re-entry into the states (and I don’t only mean the weather), I finally arrive on the doorstep of a friend in New York, looking only slightly similar to a damp rat. Some spicy, Thai,…
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Starting out again…
I’m supposed to be in the sky, but even though leaving England maybe imminent, I’m having to wait just a little longer for my next big adventure. “It’s not the destination, it’s getting there”….said someone once, about the wonders of travel. I think they may have been quoted prior to airport delays; when getting there,…
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2014 in review
So I wrote 62 posts across the USA and the blog received just short of 10,000 reads. Raising $3227 for @worldlandtrust. I’d say it was a pretty successful year. If you’re stuck for some toilet time reading, these were the most popular updates: Naked and Alone https://winstonwolfrider.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/1579/ Haunting Experiences https://winstonwolfrider.wordpress.com/…/nobody-heard-me-s…/ New Orleans https://winstonwolfrider.wordpress.com/…/a-miss-havisham-p…/ Race and…
Not a Travel Blog 