When I graduated college Alaska beckoned to me. There was something about the grandeur of place. Its large untouched wilderness, the wildness that remained beyond every turn and an opportunity for me to push myself.
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I had grown up in the mountains and went to college in Montana but the ocean has always had my heart. So I packed up my bags and went to spend a summer as a guide in the Kenai Fjords. Little did I know just how much this place and time of life would leave an impact on me. Seeing a glacier calve for the first time, watching humpback whales bubble net feed and learning how paddle/read water/and travel through the Alaska wilderness would be the back bone for the next 10 years of my life.
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I soaked it all in, quite literally, living in a temperate rainforest and working on the ocean meant that I was in a constant state of "damp." But I loved it. Taking clients into such a wild place to spend one, two or three nights often meant they came back transformed. I told stories of climate change and how the Fjords were formed. We talked about the Pacific Ocean upheaval that allows the cold water to circulate and makes this region one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet. We watched the midnight sun dance across the horizon and so many waterfalls you couldn't count.
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The Kenai Fjords hold a piece of my soul.