Paul O'Connor

Stars fill the sky, the moon gives some light. Ice crystals floating all around. Snow squeaking under foot. Frost clouds in your face. Your hairs white around your hat. Putting on your gear, your jump back in your truck. Heaters on full blast, you look at each other and laugh. Time to start your ride, it takes 10 tries. Your glad to get stuck, it warms you for a short time. Brrr.... let's try again! You first. Signed, Frigid.

It was around 1984 and my son, PJ, was 2 years old. I decided to go to Lake Louise to fish for burbot and lake trout in an ice house that we were going to drag out onto the ice with our snow machines. We loaded into the truck and drove through the beautiful Matanuska Valley and past the glacier and stopped at Sheep Mountain Lodge for a burger with a view. As we approached Eureka, the temperatures dropped to about 0 degrees but it was still very beautiful like most cold days in Alaska are. We...

I was working for Moose Horn Lodge located 5 miles south of the Talachulitna along the foothill so Beluga Mountain. We were on 7-Mile lake which was a short hike from the lake to the river. The river flowed with kings, rainbows, and graylings at the time, in great numbers. We would taxi the float plane up the slew and on the left was a small cabin owned by Ketchum Air Service. On the right side, there was a wall tent on a platform made of wood owned by Russ Air Service. I was camped on the...