Adrenaline, a Fatality, and a Mud Hole

     You hope to never see it, nor want to be a part of it, whether it be a complete stranger or a close friend.  A gold miner drowned (less than 15 minutes after we floated by him and waved to him) on Willow Creek this past Saturday.

A LINK TO THE TRAGEDY

      What may seem a simple, obvious no-no to most folks turned out to be an over-looked fatal mistake for Josh Pool of Wasilla, Alaska, an experienced commercial diver.  As we floated by in our kayaks, we noticed they had a floating cataraft with a dredge out in the most turbulent part of the rapid on Willow Creek (a rapid called Five Fingers).  Unfortunately, Josh was apparently wearing a 50 lb. weight belt to hold him under water while looking for gold.  He was wearing a black drysuit (hard to see underwater) and no life jacket, so once he slipped and fell into the river, there was no option of keeping his head above the water.  James Castro, Scott Smeltz, and I teamed up with the Alaska State Troopers and rescue team to find Josh around the area where his friend watched him fall into the river... we found nothing and had to give up after 2 hours of careful searching.

Here I am a little bit nervous, making sure I hit the "line" at Triple Drop rapid, Upper Willow Creek, Alaska

      It was a sad moment, and his friend was obviously really upset.  This river (and rapid) is a fairly easy intermediate kayaking run, and is usually plenty safe to swim (in the event of a capsize)... IF you are wearing the proper safety gear (life jacket, helmet, and drysuit).  In Josh's case, the 50 lb. weight belt was a very bad decision in turbulent whitewater.  I hope that gold dredge miners will hear about this case across the state, and wear the proper safety equipment on the river.  It was unfortunate that Josh had to learn the lesson the hard way, and once again, the river proves that its power is not to be experienced without prior safety precautions.
     On a lighter note, Paul Schauer, Matt Peters, and I got to do an incredible kayaking run (leading up to this tragic event) on Upper Willow Creek, the best class V-V+ whitewater run Alaska has to offer.  I'll have some pictures up soon!

     After the search and rescue mission for Josh ended Saturday evening, I managed to get the Toyota motorhome stuck in a mud hole pretty bad while trying to find a camping spot in Hatchers Pass.

         Scott and I used the come-along winch to pull the RV free of the mud, a few inches at a time.  Scott proceeded to bury his Dodge Caravan in the same hole, and once again, the come-along winch saved the day.   What a weekend, adrenaline on Upper Willow Creek, an unfortunate fatality on the Guard-Rail section of Willow Creek, and a bi-epic in a mud hole!

On road, off grid

I woke up to a friendly gesture on the hood of my rig.

       Well, I've now named the motorhome "Pittsburgh Nelly."  Never mind where I picked that one up, just thought it sounded right.  At this point, I've moved almost everything I own into this 19.5 ft. long area (thanks to craigslist for lightening my load).

     My most recent project was planting a small garden just above the couch.  This should serve as a means of veggies and herbs to counter my meat-eatin' habits, which will (after this summer) primarily come from salmon, caribou, moose, and ptarmigan (considering I have successful catches & hunts this summer & fall).  I suppose that's about as off grid as it gets for food options on the road.  I'm pretty psyched to have romaine & green leaf lettuce, onion chives, rosemary, basil, and dill within a few weeks.  No, I'm not going to eat the flowers, just thought the rig needed a bit more lively color.

    

What you see when you open the door

      With 19.5 ft of length to work with, I don't have a lot of roof space to stash everything I own... BUT I've somehow managed to squeeze it up there.  2 cargo boxes, 3 kayaks, 1 bike, 4 racks, 2 solar panels, a chimney for the wood stove, and an air conditioner that came with.  I'm half-way expecting all of this gear to fall on me when I'm kicking back on the couch one night.  Gulp.  You would think it would be overly top-heavy, but shockingly enough it's actually not too tippy (I have to tell myself that to justify keeping all my crap up there).

     I just accepted a job with the USGS (United States Geological Survey) as a hydrologist for the spring/summer/fall, so I'm pretty excited to be working outside on the rivers again!  Pretty cool have 2 kayaking buddies as a co-worker & boss too!  More soon enough...

    

Going crazy on a 4,000 mile drive by myself

I recently drove 4,000+ miles solo from Los Angeles to Alaska.  Since I was by myself,  I began talking to myself.  Here we go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9KLMLgo_UQ&feature=youtu.be

Doing things the right way... the FIRST time!

      So, I had this zany thought... when you build something, why not build it the CORRECT way, the FIRST time around... so I did!  I want my new home to be as "off-grid" or "self-sufficient" as possible, where I can create my own heat, electricity, hot water, and cook without power from "the man."  Here is my new & improved home:

 

and another one:

and my prized interior possession:

      I'm on my way back towards Alaska at the moment, currently in Vancouver, BC.  The last 2 weeks have been consumed with pouring all of my energy into my new home, and I think it is turning out to be pretty rad!  Once I have a little more time, I'm going to be posting a "How-To" guide for all of the modifications I have made to this little Toyota motorhome.  Here's a list of modifications I've performed:

* Install a Kimberly wood burning stove!  A MOST EXCELLENT decision! If you are interested in this highly efficient and beautiful wood stove, I am a dealer... contact me directly or go to the Kimberly stove website and tell them that TIMMY SENT YOU!!!

* Install solar panels and a power inverter... my electricity comes from the sun!

* Install a custom made roof rack to carry whitewater kayaks and all of my gear for living "small, but big."

* Install a Badlands Basher front bumper and a good set of lights (in a potential, unfortunate scenario where my home might hit a moose, this will be a very good thing)

* Install a roof ladder, so I can actually access everything 10 ft. over my head.

     There you have it, that's all the eye-candy for now.  I'm currently in Whistler, British Columbia, where I plan on paddling a few steep creeks with the pack raft (or kayaking if I can find a hard-shell kayak).  Stay tuned for more adventure and a "How-To" section...

Timmy J.

Big bumps for big smiles

     "This thing puts OUT!" I just finished installing a nice sound system into the RV. After all, what's life without music? Turn it up, and it feels like someone is repeatedly punching you in the back of the head. Cool.

     I'm in Redding, California at the moment (having the steering aligned because she is pulling left too much), then I'll be on my way to Portland, Oregon tonight. A bit of kayaking and visiting friends, then off to Vashon Island where I will be installing a Kimberly wood stove... wait till you see this wood stove, probably the most functional (and coolest) addition you could possibly make to an RV.

Well, back on the road for now...

Leaving the Alaskan snow behind for "sunny" California

Well, I'm still alive, although I thought the food poisoning on the plane flight from Anchorage to Los Angeles was going to KILL me.  At about 2:00a.m. there was a medical emergency (some guy passed out) just 3 seats away from me, and EXACTLY 5 seconds after the medical emergency was announced and attracted everyone's attention, I proceeded to puke my guts out into a Safeway shopping bag I had prepared anticipating my ill-fated moment.  Yuck, but man did I feel better after that hurl.  I was going to post a picture of the incident, but I thought that's a picture none of you people want to see.

So here I am in a motel in Los Angeles, waiting for my new home's final improvements before I hit the road towards Alaska.  I've been watching a few short videos I made during the winter, and decided this was my favorite one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HycAYx1xZrA&feature=youtu.be

Well, enough of these "old" adventures.  I pick my RV up early tomorrow afternoon, so let the "unknown" begin, or continue...

The 1st step to living small, but BIG: move into something smaller!

There is a point in life that many people reach, a phase of change involving the desire to create your OWN space, your OWN sanctuary, your OWN... home.

I've hit this phase and acted on my needs. My new home awaits me, over 4,000 miles away in Los Angeles, California. In a few days, I will be flying to Los Angeles, and DRIVING this new home back to Alaska, where it will become my FULL-TIME living quarters. Wow, I never thought I would purchase an RV, let alone become a full-time RV'er, but here I am... and everywhere I will be.

My new home is actually EXTREMELY rare among RVs.  It is a 1989 Toyota Odyssey 4x4.  Essentially, it is a 4-wheel drive Toyota pickup truck with a STELLAR house attached to its chassis.  In fact, only 6 of these motorhomes were ever built! I feel lucky to have come across this beast, and it only seems fit to celebrate this vehicle's unique existence with a blog!

Theoretically, my story is not unique. Hundreds of THOUSANDS of people have lived out this full-time RVing endeavor well before my time. However, I have one element that justifies this blog... I'm going to be living in an RV full-time, year-round in Alaska. That's right, when all of the other RV's are heading south to chase temperatures above 32 degrees F, I will be documenting my adventures and hardships throughout the Alaskan winter.

At the very least, this blog will act as a source of entertainment, information, tips, and humor for living the "hard life" on the road:^) Ha! How hard could it be...gulp...