Trail Tales, storytelling events from Alaska Trails
Alaska Trails is excited to present the Trail Tales storytelling series. With a new format and partnered with a different community trail group each time. In the spirit of Arctic Entries, storytellers will share seven minute stories about their trail experiences, adventures and life in general. Enjoy listening to your fellow active and outdoorsy Alaskans.
Urban outdoor exploration
According to The Trust for Public Land, 54% of the nation’s residents live within a 10 minute walk of a park. In Anchorage, that number is 74%. For many residents of an urban area, access to a park near their neighborhood as a child is the first outdoor exploration of life. For adults, a neighborhood park offers a quick trip into nature to recreate and relieve stress. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll be talking with the visionaries, the planners, and the builders of our urban park space.
Thanks for listening!
Bird migration in Alaska
Every spring millions of birds stream into Alaska from all over the globe to feed, mate, and raise their young. On this Outdoor Explorer features Dan Ruthrauff with the USGS Alaska Science Center and Melanie Dufour with the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.
Outdoor Recreation Access in Anchorage Vol 1
On this next Outdoor Explorer, our guests are Jeff Landfield and Paxson Woelber from The Alaska Landmine. The two journalists have reported extensively on disputed access to public lands in Anchorage. Our conversation focused on the history and battle for access to Chugach State Park from the Stewart Trail.
Fish Camp
On the next Outdoor Explorer, our topic is fish camp. Native Alaskans all over the state go to riverside fish camps for the summer to harvest salmon, and as part of an ancient way of life. And a lot of commercial fishermen have fish camps at setnet sites, where they catch the fish going by, they make a little bit of money and to live and sustain themselves in wild places.
KSKA: Thursday 8/8 at 2:00 pm and 9:00 pm.
Listen Now
Changing Seasons: Using fall to prepare for winter
On this show, our guests are Sarah Histand and Heather Caldwell. We talk about easing the transition of both your brain and your body from summer into winter. We cover some important areas of strength and fitness to focus on as you think about winter sports as well as how a less frantic summer can lead to a less abrupt change in energy with the season change. We take a deeper dive into using a connection to nature to ease our seasonal transitions as well as preparing our minds and bodies for the arrival of winter.
Revisiting Community Skating
KSKA: Thursday Dec. 29 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm. Here’s an Alaska moment. It’s a weekend afternoon, you’ve been stuck indoors all day, you see that beautiful winter light in the sky, and you say, ‘let’s go skating.’ Half an hour later, you’re gliding over a frozen pond with your neighbors. We're talking about ice skating, the casual community kind, where everyone can participate and enjoy a winter day with friends.
Sonja Wieck: Tales of Toughness
What happens when an 18-time Ironman athlete comes in second in her age group at the world championships and wakes up realizing she’s still the same person she was the day before?
The Wanderer: An Alaska Wolf’s Final Journey
On this Outdoor Explorer, host Lisa Keller is joined by Tom Walker, author of the book "The Wanderer." In less than 6 months, Wolf 258 traversed almost 3000 miles in Alaska and Canada. His amazing journey, documented through his GPS tracking collar, is the subject of a story that mixes what we know about his movement with speculation on what he was doing during his travels.
Taking a trip to Sitka
KSKA: Thursday, Aug. 11, at 2:00 p.m.
Charles took a road trip-- or rather a ferry trip-- to Southeast Alaska last month, and while there recorded an edition of Outdoor Explorer on the town of Sitka. This historic community is the best place for an Alaskan to take a vacation without leaving Alaska because the boating and wildlife viewing are incredible. We’ll also get to hear about the area’s surfing scene and science education.
LISTEN NOW
Adventures in Halibut Cove
KSKA: Thursday, July 07, at 2:00 and Thursday, July 14, at 8:00 p.m.
Charles Wohlforth
Wilderness Medicine
The nightmare of anyone leading a backcountry trip is that someone becomes seriously hurt, falls in the water, or gets too cold. You can’t get the person to a doctor for many hours or even days. You don’t know what to do. On the next Outdoor Explore, we’re going to talk about that terrifying situation and how to solve it. We’re talking about wilderness medicine. KSKA: Thursday, Jan 28, at 2:00 and Thursday, Feb 4, at 8:00 p.m. LISTEN NOW
Iditarod Trail Invitational
On the next Outdoor Explorer, we're talking about the Iditarod Trail Invitational race, which claims to be the longest winter ultra marathon in the world, sending racers by foot, bike or ski either 1000 miles from Knik to Nome, or 350 from Knik to McGrath.
KSKA: Thursday, Feb. 19, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
Listen Now:
Public use cabins and huts in Alaska | Outdoor Explorer
There is a rich history of public cabins in Alaska. Hear how two organizations are working to make more huts and cabins available to the public.
Historic Alaska Expeditions
Alaska’s outdoors people may think they’re tough, but how about paddling 40 days in a dugout canoe in the rains of Southeast Alaska in October and November, dressed in wool, without modern gear? That’s what John Muir did, and his writings about the experience changed science and started the Alaska tourism industry. On the next Outdoor Explorer, join host Charles Wohlforth and guests to talk about Muir's historic expedition and others. What these guys did will amaze you.
KSKA: Thursday, July 3, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
Listen now:
Funding your outdoor lifestyle
Enjoying the outdoors can be done on a tight budget or with all the latest gear and gadgets. All you really need is a pair of shoes and a sense of adventure. But what about when you want to go on a big trip or you need to upgrade your jacket? On this Outdoor Explorer our guest is financial planner and outdoor enthusiast Mike Branham. We talk about finding balance between your outdoor pursuits and saving for your future, ways to maximize your gear budget, and more.
Skijoring and winter dog care
KSKA: Thursday Feb. 23 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm. A dog can pull you on your skis faster than you believed possible. The feeling is much like dog mushing, but much easier to get into because you don’t need an entire team. In the first half of this show we’ll talk about skijoring, how it is done, and what it takes to start. In the second half, we’ll focus on the subject of dogs and winter, with tips for taking your dog on winter outdoor activities. Dog lovers should definitely stay tuned for the next show.
LISTEN NOW
The 12-Peak Challenge and Chugach trails
The Chugach Mountains behind Anchorage might be as familiar as your bedroom wall, but they’re still big, rugged peaks with plenty of hard miles in them. Our guests on the next Outdoor Explorer have done those miles. We'll talk with mountain runners who have completed the 12-peak challenge, an incredible ultra-marathon that links a dozen summits in the front range on a single very long day. We'll also hear some personal stories about the local trails we cherish so much.
Thanks for listening!
Adventure and science
Over the course of humanity's time on earth we have learned much from nature. In modern history science and adventure have had a symbiotic relationship. On this show we’ll be talking to Dr. Caroline Van Hemert, who travelled from Bellingham to Kotzebue by row boat, skis, packraft, canoe, and on foot. In the 2nd half of the show we’ll be talking with Dr. Kathy Kuletz, who has studied seabirds in Prince William Sound and the North Gulf of Alaska since 1978.
Thanks for listening!
Reflecting on Alaska
On the next Outdoor Explorer, our guests will be two authors whose books reflect on Alaska through their relationships with our unique and challenging environment. Monica Devine, author of “Water Mask,” and Bjorn Dihle, author of “AShape in the Dark: Living and Dying with Brown Bears.”