Clueless in Alaska: Kayak Alaska? Are You Crazy!!
()
About this ebook
Leslie Ann Braun
Leslie Ann Braun was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but raised and educated in California. In her late 30's, she went through a metamorphosis and made a life-altering decision by taking a different path in her life. She had a need to venture out of her comfort zone and learn more to become one with nature. To acquire the skills that would move her forward, she immersed herself in various outdoor classes and activities that taught her the skills she would need to survive. She was introduced to whitewater kayaking and then graduated to sea kayaking, having many kayaking adventures with a group of friends. She met her current husband, life partner, and soul mate in one of these classes. From that moment on she was propelled forward to newer experiences and adventures. She and her husband have done extensive traveling throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. She has written extensively about these travels, but only for friends. This is her first work as a published author.
Related to Clueless in Alaska
Related ebooks
Set Sail and Live Your Dreams: Follow a Young Family Sailing Over the Horizon on the Adventure of a Lifetime Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dreamers and Doers II: Five Years In Oz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe World at 10 MPH: A Masterful Prenup Leads to a 3-Year 33,523-Mile Bicycle Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWind of Peace: The True Story of One Family’S Sailing Adventure and the People, Places, and Challenges Encountered Along the Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlaskan Adventures Internship Handbook: How to become an Alaska Fishing or Hunting Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canoe Trip Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou Carry the Tent, I'll Carry the Baby: One Family's Journey on the Pacific Crest Trail Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRookies in the Wild Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grounded by Granite: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDry Camp! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Year Devoted to Exploring Our Great United States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrew of Three: How Bold Dreams and Detailed Plans Launched Our Family's Sailing Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoldly Going Somewhere Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnimagined Gifts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat The Fly Rod Saw Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpontaneously Driven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUdder Confusion: An Alaska Homesteader's True-Life Adventure Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Southern Alberta for City Folks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDriving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying "Yes" to Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wanderlust - Travel Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDozen: The Best of Breath and Shadow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpontaneous Revolutions: Seeing America One Pedal at a Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife at Fifty Below Zero: An Alaskan Memoir on Teaching and Learning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Biking Across America: My Coast-to-Coast Adventure and the People I Met Along the Way Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Together We Jump: A Journey of Love, Hope and Second Chances Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Few Memorable Days Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTravels with Anne: One Couple's Amazing, Stupendous, Almost Unbelievable Adventures in Remote Parts of the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Island in the Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things Were Going Fine... Till We Hit the Rapids Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Nature For You
Silent Spring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Desert Solitaire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Family and Other Animals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - 10th anniversary edition: A Year of Food Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wild Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Edible Wild Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Solace of Open Spaces: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Clueless in Alaska
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Clueless in Alaska - Leslie Ann Braun
© 2020 Leslie Ann Braun. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
by any means without the written permission of the author.
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 1 (800) 839-8640
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,
and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
ISBN: 978-1-7283-5026-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-5024-0 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-5025-7 (e)
Published by AuthorHouse 04/30/2020
24813.pngAcknowledgements
I give thanks to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the gift of life and for saving it numerous times.
I give thanks to my wonderful husband, John Braun, for his spirit of adventure without whom this trip would never have taken place, and for spurring me on to write this adventure story for you to enjoy (hopefully).
I give thanks to my mother and my father, Onerine and James Khoury, both of whom have passed from this Earth, for believing in me and putting up with a willful daughter.
I give thanks to all my whitewater kayaking buddies who kept me from drowning, and my instructor, Bill Webb, for teaching me the skills to keep me upright and going in the right direction.
I give thanks to my cousin, Mary Mureau, for providing us a place of respite prior to and after our journey, for allowing us to invade her peace and quiet, for being a gracious host, and for her willingness to help us in so many ways.
I give thanks to Brian McGillvray who provided friendship, a safe haven, and life-saving wilderness instruction.
I give thanks to Scott Roberge from Tongass Kayaking Adventures who was instrumental in our trip planning and for allowing us to participate in his activities.
I give thanks to my friend, Pam Hunter, who put up with us for two weeks while we invaded her property with all our kayaking gear, for her most gracious hospitality and for being a wonderful friend.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 Cause and Affect
Chapter 2 North to Alaska and Parts Unknown
Chapter 3 Water Logged and Ready to No Avail
Chapter 4 The Moment of Truth
Chapter 5 Our Saving Grace
Chapter 6 Decision Time – Success or Failure
Chapter 7 Learning Stage Never Ends
Chapter 8 The Cost of Wimping Out
Chapter 9 The Best Laid Plans are Not Always
Chapter 10 A Whale of a Tail
Chapter 11 New Adventures and New Friends
Chapter 12 Something New
Chapter 13 Something Blue
Chapter 14 Nature’s Surprise
Chapter 15 Paddle of Our Lives
Chapter 16 The End and the Beginning
Chapter 17 Kayak Trip Advice
Chapter 18 Final Words of Wisdom
Addendum 1: 1994 Kayak Trip Expense Summary
Addendum 2: 1994 Alaska Kayak Trip – Food List
Addendum 3: 1994 Alaska Kayak Trip – Clothing List
Addendum 4: 1994 Alaska Kayak Trip – Equipment List
About the Author
Introduction
I am out of here! If you don’t want to come, that’s okay, but I can’t do this anymore!
Those were the words of a desperate man in the midst of a California traffic mental breakdown
! Those words disrupted my very being and sent me into a tail spin, until I finally came to my senses and became subservient to his need. He opened a door through which we both walked; and once closed, we never looked back.
On May 12, 1994, my husband, John, and I left California for good to begin an odyssey that neither one of us had ever expected to take, or even thought possible. The desire to be released from the madness of this world was strong enough to spur us forward.
Here we were, two middle-aged people heading for the wilderness, totally clueless. The spirit of adventure was shimmering in the back of our minds accompanied by great trepidation. Could we possibly pull off a four-month kayak journey from Ketchikan to Juneau, Alaska in our Wilderness Systems Sealution kayaks?
This question was yet to be answered, and little did we know what this journey really had in store for us.
The experience of being surrounded by Mother Nature at her best and worst instilled a sense of gratitude for life itself. The songs of Eagles, the honks, growls and grunts of seals, the flutter of water fowl wings, and the roar of the ice calving off of the icebergs would set our souls spinning. We were the audience watching as life moved all around us and at times took us by surprise.
I envision that our story will transport you to another dimension, a place and time that will captivate you or propel you forward on your own journey into this great wilderness before it is lost to us all.
My hope is that you will transport yourself away from the city noise, polluting vehicles, loud radios, distracting televisions, cell phones singing and ringing, people screaming and yelling, bad news, worse politics, and all other characteristics of living in this crazy world so you can enjoy this journey vicariously through us.
Chapter 1
Cause and Affect
On December 25, 1992, my mother presented me and my husband with a gift for a cruise. She gave us the choice between Alaska or the Caribbean. We chose the former — a 7-day Alaskan Inside Passage cruise on the Princess Cruise Line. This gift would affect our lives in unimaginable and unexpected ways.
On May 18, 1993, we flew from LAX to Vancouver, British Columbia to meet our cruise ship, the Regal Princess. This ship was only three years old, having been commissioned in 1990, and was a palace in the eyes of someone who came from a middle-class family, and had never been aboard a cruise ship before. For the next seven days, I would be that regal princess
, being waited on hand and foot, and loving every minute of it.
We cruised the Inside Passage, drinking in the scenic wilderness in 80-degree weather with fair skies and calm seas. We enjoyed many of the amenities the ship had to offer, met wonderful people, and watched the wilderness go by while enjoying one of the many hot tubs available to us. We ate and drank ourselves silly on the exquisitely prepared edibles and beverages presented to us. In our caloric and inebriated stupor, we jokingly said, We need to kayak this place and see more of what Alaska has to offer. With weather like this, it would be a piece of cake!
The seeds of illusion and delusion were planted.
Prior to our embarking on this cruise, we were advised to take cold weather clothing. This advice seemed to be out of proportion to what we were experiencing. We had no clue that Ketchikan alone held the record for rain, averaging 141 inches a year. Yet, here we were in bathing suit weather.
Upon arriving back home from this magnificent cruise, the bubble
was popped, and we were faced with the dubious reality of our lives once again. We pushed the ridiculous idea of kayaking in Alaska aside and jumped back into the daily routine of surviving in this crowded, noisy, and smoggy city known as Long Beach, California. We felt as if we were drowning in a sea of humanity and the inherent pollution of industrial over-kill. John went back to work as a commercial Journeyman Carpenter, scaling high-rise buildings; and I went back to Long Beach Memorial Hospital as a Medical Transcriptionist working a mind-numbing, 8-hour night shift.
The thought of getting out of California plagued us daily. Kayaking in Alaska seemed extremely farfetched and totally impossible, so we set it aside. We turned our attention to the possibility of traveling around the United States for a few months. Could this be possible for the not so rich and famous
? What would we do about our jobs and our home? Why were decisions like this so hard to make? Did any of this really matter?
Three months after our cruise, in August of 1993, on a bright, sunny and smoggy California day, we received our next issue