These are the Chronicle's of Famous Surf Writer Ben Marcus and his trip into the Wilds of the Alaskan Frontier.
Latest Update: September 19, 2000

10:25 AM THE LEARNING CENTER IN DEASE LAKE

I think the human body has a built in mechanism that tells it not to go to sleep in really cold water, lest you maybe don't wake up. It's cold here at night, getting close to freezing, and it's been hard to sleep in the van, because those blankets don't cut it. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do about it. I run the heater for awhile after I stop, but the van leaks heat like I don't know what.

Anyway, woke up dozens of times through the night, then gave up and left the RV park around 7:00. I was eager to hit the road. This is getting to be fun.

Stopped at a Cholesterol CafÈ along the way, I think it was Tatooga or something like that. There were some hunters having breakfast and a group that looked like kayakers. The hunters were full-fledged Canooks, bitching about Indian rights and hunting and sounding like Greg Noll.

I had oatmeal for breakfast instead of eggs and sausage, and I wish every Cholesterol CafÈ had oatmeal as good as this place. The owner was Swiss. I added some Norwegian kroner and Brazilian cruzerios to the money collection on his wall. I signed the kroner:

Ben Marcus No fixed address. En route to Anchorage.

I also bought a small gold nugget for $30. There were some big ones going as high as $300, pulled out of the earth locally. I'm getting close to Yukon Territory, and I'm getting some gold fever. Panning for gold is a lot of fun. I haven't done it for decades but I might get into it again. Last night I fell asleep fantasizing about living up here and living large: A giant, comfortable stone house along a river near the ocean. A Humvee for tooling around int. A 23 foot Fish Rite for fishing the rivers and the sea. Some big husky dogs. Big comfortable beds with a sound system blasting Led Zeppelin into the tundra. And a gold operation upriver, just for fun. If I win the lottery or sell a screenplay, you're all invited.

I looked through a couple of books while waiting for the oatmeal in the Cholesterol CafÈ. Most of the books were about gold-mining, and the guys in the photos from the 1800's looked exactly like the big hunters eating breakfast in their camos and suspenders, and talking shit about the government and Indians. There's still a bit of wild west up here, and it isn't for the tourists.

Hit the road after breakfast, listening to Moody Blues and enjoying the fall color, again. I just like the colors and feel at this latitude at this time of year.

Endless Summer? Forgetaboutit.

Endless Autumn for me. It just feels good, and autumn is thick up here.

Along the way I stopped at the Sikitna? Skatina? Kitsina? Some famous river that runs for hundreds of miles,from deep in the east to deep into the west. The hunters from the Cholesterol CafÈ were launching a giant Jet Boat into a fast-running river. It looked dangerous, and there were warning signs everywhere about killer rapids down current. These guys had a serious boat, though, and they were powering upriver to go hunting.

Continued on. Bought another $75 of gas and used almost every last Canadian cent I have No matter. I'll be crossing into Alaska in another 200 miles or so, and it will be back to greenbacks. Cheaper gas, but more expensive everything else.

Now I'm in the learning center at Dease Lake. I am typing this on my laptop and reading my 25 e-mails from the computer. I'm going to read them, send this and hit the road.

On to Alaska.

Ben