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I graduated from Box Elder High School, in Brigham City, Utah with the Class of 1969.

I was drafted into the Army in 1970, and served in Vietnam 1970-71.

After the Service (1972) I took a summer job in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, (on Shemya) working at the Air Force Base there. I met Gary Ryan, a civilian working in the National Weather Service, and we made plans to meet on Kodiak Island, Alaska the next summer.

Through the winters I would attend Weber State College (now University) in Ogden Utah.
1973 found me living on Kodiak, working on a temporary basis as a longshoreman on the Kodiak City Dock. The pay was good, and the work fit my schedule.

Gary and I spent two weeks hunting Elk on near by Afognak Island, but had better success at fishing.
I was given the opportunity to go Moose Hunting, which I have since written about.
1974 Gary and I spent some time fishing around Kodiak, but our main goal that year was to float a canoe down the Yukon River.

We met Martin Bruce (from Carcross Canada) on Burian’s Island along the Yukon River. Martin had been doing some freelance filming for Johnson outboard motors, with his companion St. Bernard dogs.
Martin told us of the beauty and adventure of the Stikine River in British Columbia, where he had overturned and lost his camera equipment in a previous trip. In spite of any dangers, Gary and I were impressed enough with his stories that we made our plans to float the Stikine River the following year.