News and Updates from Double Shovel Outfitters

I remember as a small child the excitement my sister Joanna and I shared while we waited for our father to return from checking traps. Romping back and forth on the river bank, we keep a close eye for dad’s head lamp. Though gone for four days, the tired dogs will strain mightily against their harnesses, excited to get home. When the team finally pulls into the yard, my sister and I pelt our dad...

As the temperatures drop in early October, the first slush comes floating downriver. If temperatures remain low, it won’t be long before the floe thickens into large panels of ice. Freeze-up on the river is a dynamic time of year. Temperatures and snow load during October dictate how the river freezes, which greatly effects my day-to-day life. This October has brought ideal conditions. The cold...

Aviation has always been a large part of my life. I wanted to be a pilot before I really knew what a pilot was. Those airplane drivers that took to the sky in Cessnas, Super cubs and Heilo couriers were rock stars in my eyes. Bush flying was my biggest dream, I didn't have the faintest curiosity for the larger aircrafts or the airlines and corporate computers. My poor parents heard nothing but...

I have had the pleasure of guiding "Doc", my friend and client, Brian for many seasons. We have spent days up on a mountain glassing sheep, and hiked many miles across the muskegs to reach the trails of the migrating caribou. We have spent hours in the brush playing cat and mouse with the moose  and many more on a ridge watching mother nature in her glory. And yes we have spent many a night...

 On a warm cloudy morning we set out behind camp. There is a drawl we will post up beside, from there we can glass the hill above us and the valley below. It's one of those electric mornings, you can almost feel the game moving. Within minutes of settling down Scott whispers, "Here some come!".  I turn towards him and scan the ridge to our east. I see a small group of caribou moving into the...

It's there, maybe out of sight, nonetheless it's there. It's December 16th here on the trapline, well above the Arctic Circle. The sun has been hanging below the horizon for several weeks now but it's clear today and I can see the orange smear on the tops of the mountains. I know by 2:30 I will be putting my headlamp back on. I only took it off a few hours back. The temperature is dropping -20,...

As fall approaches I am reminded, as I always am at this time of the year, that a new season is arriving, and bringing with it, big changes. For myself this is a time of reflection, a time to enjoy the memories and experiences that I have been so blessed to have. One of these experiences is my participating in the filming of the Last Alaskans. As the show's end has become public and...