writing inspiration – Scribbling For Fun

November 16, 2020November 18, 2020

Camping in the Alaska Wilderness in the Name of Writing Research-Part 2

So we decided to camp out under the Skookum Volcano in the name of researching my writing.

Skookum Volcano getting more ominous as darkness falls.

Did I mention there’s local legends about creepy things watching from the hills that like to cut off heads?

Yeah…

So, where did I leave off last week?

It got dark. Really dark.

Only available light was from our fire and our one gas lantern.

No ambient light whatsoever. Not even from the moon or stars since the night was overcast. Beyond the firelight, the woods were black as pitch. We enjoyed our evening by the fire, drinking wine, and watching the shadows shift in the woods.

Enjoying the fire and a glass of wine. Trying not to think about the legends of the Cet’ aenn, “The Tailed Ones” of Ahtna Legends who live in the mountain.

Not being able to see far is an uncomfortable feeling in the backcountry. Not just because of stories of mythical creatures, but because of the real threat of bears. As I mentioned in another post, when you camp in the Alaska wilderness, it’s important to keep the food away from the bears. We pack everything in bear resistant containers and make sure to properly dispose of all food waste.

Bear resistant container. All food products that have a scent need to be packed in a container like this.

As you can see from the size of our cooler, it’s not very big, so meal planning is essential. We do a lot of single pot meals to maximize space and minimize waste.

To maximize space, we pre-plan single pot meals like pozole (pictured above)

Even with careful planning, there is risk of a bear attack. We typically sleep in the tent with a pistol between us. We leave the bear spray and outside so as not to risk discharge in the tent. We also leave an extra weapon outside (usually the rifle) if someone has to leave the tent in the middle of the night. We do everything we can to ensure our safety in the Alaska Backcountry.

Campsite out at Jack Creek, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

We had a great night camping out at Jack Creek in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We hope to go back next year and hike to the mines. The Devil’s Valley (coming 2021), sequel to the Dark Land, is set on this side of the park, in winter rather than summer.

If you haven’t read The Dark Land, it is currently available on Amazon. The setting for this story is on the McCarthy side of Wrangell-St. Elias, near McCarthy and Kennecott. I have done a few posts about my research:

Alaskan Writing Inspiration

November 2, 2020January 3, 2021

Getting There is Half the Adventure…My Trip into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the Name of Writing Research

Hey, let’s go camp under an ancient volcano in the middle of the Alaska wilderness.

Oh yeah, this area has a longstanding oral tradition of creepy creatures watching from the hills that want to kill humans.

Sounds like the plot of a horror story, right?

Part One of our night in under the Skookum Volcano

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the inspiration for my currently Published horror novella, The Dark Land, and the sequel The Devil’s Valley (coming 2021). As you can imagine, I was thrilled to get to travel this summer to a part of the park I had never been to before.

But with many trips, getting there is just half the adventure

The Nabesna Road is one of only two roads leading into the park. Only the first 10 miles or so of the 42 mile stretch is paved. My husband used to live and travel in this area, so we were fairly prepared for the rough ride, still there were a few surprises. As you view my pictures, keep in mind that this is considered to be a “maintained road.”

Creek Crossings

One of our biggest trepidations were the creek crossings. Multiple creeks cross the road deeper into the park. Depending on rain and run-off, the creeks could be impassible. The creeks are notorious for stranding unsuspecting tourists. We made sure to keep and eye on the weather, before venturing out. We managed to cross the deepest one with ease.

We put the definition of 4WD to the test here.

Ruts in the Road

This was a surprise. And it was even deeper than it looked. We bottomed out both front and back. Decided to grab some rocks on our way back to fill in the holes.

Nabesna Road DM Shepard — Deep rut in road

Devil’s Mountain Lodge

The Road dead ends at the Devil’s Mountain Lodge. The lodge sits at the base of Devil’s Mountain. A B&B that has been in business since the 1950’s, they provide flight tours, and guided hunting tours into some of the more remote areas of the park.

devils mountain, DM SHEPARD — View from the Devil’s Mountain Lodge

Camping

This side of the park is pretty remote, and not generally a huge tourist hot-spot. Thanks to Covid, there were even fewer people. We didn’t have to fight anyone for a campsite.

Watershed Divide

Our campsite at Jack Creek was just stunning. An interesting fact is that this creek is on a water shed divide. While Wrangell St. Elias National Park is known for being home of the Copper Glacier, headwater of the Copper River, this creek does not flow into that watershed. Though less than 30 miles from that river, it flows into the Tanana instead. This river cuts north across the state before dumping into the Yukon. Many of the local native legends revolve around these two diverging water sheds.

Jack Creek Campsite, DM SHEPARD — Jack Creek Campsite in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Skookum Volcano and Devil’s Mountain

Inspiration for my novels came from local Ahtna (Head Water’s People) legends of the area. It’s no coincidence, looking at the terrain, that there are oral tales of things watching from the mountains above. The Skookum Volcano and Devil’s Mountain are both rich in heavy metal mineral deposits and are riddled with caves.

Native Copper, DM Shepard — Native copper flakes floating in puddles

We spent the evening setting up camp and marveling at the beauty around out campsite.

campsite, DMShepard — Pond behind our campsite at Jack Creek in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Then darkness fell…

Dark Woods — Hmmn…why did I think it was a good idea to go camp in an area known for creepy creatures????

To be continued next week…

Thanks for reading. My Alaska wilderness horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon:

The Dark Land, DMShepard.com — The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. It’s hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be tested to the limits on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.

September 29, 2020

DM’s Mystery Equipment of the Week

Acetylene Generator out at the cabin in Chicken, Alaska

Acetylene is a highly flammable, unstable gas used in welding and cutting of metals (particularly steel). Before acetylene could be generated and bottled safely and reliably through dissolving acetylene in acetone, it was generated with a device like this. Feeding calcium carbide into the tank to mix with water, the reaction would create acetylene. The downside of this method was that the gas was typically heavily laden with moisture, so the cutting temperature is lower (typical temperatures for modern oxyacetylene torches range from 5700-6300 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the mixture of oxygen to acetylene).

In my Romantic Suspense novel, Torched, my main character Brigit is a welder. She gets one of these as a gift from a friend.

If you would like to see what it looks like to cut a cake with a modern oxyacetylene torch, you can see that here.

Thanks for reading, We’re going to be off the grid until at least Mid-October. They stop maintaining the road 10/15. If you are interested in some of my other writing, my horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon.

The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits in on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.