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| Dave Dodson as we Backpacked Elmendorf |
Like the beginnings in Southern Oregon, Alaska naturally was not short
on beauty and amazing outdoor experiences. I will likely write about
shift work by itself in a future post, but for sure, one cool aspect of a
firefighter's schedule is having many 'weekday' opportunities to escape
and enjoy whatever, without the weekend crowd. Such was the
case many times in Alaska. Just on Elmendorf alone we were privilege to
over 80,000 acres of area to explore. To the right is a picture of Dave as we backpacked into the backwoods of the Base.
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| Rick in the Chugach Mountains |
Travels would likewise take us to explore Mt. Denali, the Kenai Peninsula, Independence Mine and several Glaciers. One such venture was into the Chugach Mountain territory pictured to the side. What a beautiful sunny day it was, taking the opportunity to make our way back down the mountain sliding on our butts. And another trip is my infamous Bodenburg Butte climb where I proposed to Miss Karen Pace. And...she said...YES:)
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| Rick & Karen on Bodenburg Butte |
Alaska...though now such a very faint memory, still many good memories were made as a career was confirmed, a wife and a family would join in the adventure, and several opportunities were realized as we would reach into the land that is often called America's 'Last Frontier'. Thank you Alaska! Thank you Elmendorf and the men that traveled with me during those years. Men including Dave above, Mike Harte, whom I've mentioned before, JB and Duane Foy are just a few who made these early years some of the greatest.
So another shift comes to an end. Halloween is tomorrow so I leave you with this creation of a pumpkin with the EMS 'Star of Life'. And another song...'God of Wonders', one of my favorites sung by perhaps my all-time favorite voice. Enjoy:)
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