Ken Ilgunas
Aug 15, 2011
Deadhorse, my new home
Whenever I’d tell one of my Coldfoot coworkers that I was heading up to Deadhorse for a couple of weeks, their first response was...
Ken Ilgunas
Aug 13, 2011
Oh god, I’m going to Deadhorse
(Deadhorse Camp is the yellow building on the right) Tomorrow, I’m heading up to Deadhorse, a greasy, steely working camp near the oil...
Ken Ilgunas
Aug 8, 2011
Working in the arctic
It’s starting to get cold up here. Summer is turning to fall, green to red, rain to snow. Because I don’t have any source of heat in my...
Ken Ilgunas
Aug 7, 2011
My first paid article: A story on Duke’s new campus farm
(Photo Credit: Megan Morr / Duke Magazine) A few months ago, I wrote an article about Duke’s new campus farm. It just printed in Duke...
Ken Ilgunas
Aug 6, 2011
National “Scandal” (Part II)
The conservative online magazine, The Daily Caller, has recently printed two more “exposés” on Senator Tom Harkin (Democrat/Iowa) and my...
Ken Ilgunas
Aug 3, 2011
Exploring the Central Brooks Range
Hiking in the Brooks is one of the few places on earth where one can still get a sense of what it was like to explore country as humans...
Ken Ilgunas
Jul 24, 2011
National “scandal”
I’m excited to report that my best friend, Josh Pruyn (who’s been mentioned a dozen or so times on this blog), is at the center of a...
Ken Ilgunas
Jul 19, 2011
Writer in residence
For a little over a month, I’ve been Coldfoot’s writer-in-residence—a title I use reluctantly because I’ve actually done very little...
Ken Ilgunas
Jul 5, 2011
Hike on the continental divide
I recently went on a two-day hike with my friend Sarah on the North Slope of the Brooks Range, about 30 miles north of the northernmost...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 28, 2011
Slate Creek Trail
Recently, I set off on a two-day, 24-mile hike down the Slate Creek Trail–the only trail anywhere near Coldfoot. Nothing dramatic...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 25, 2011
How to hitchhike FAQ
I’ve recently been trading emails with a young man who is thinking about hitchhiking up to Alaska. Inspired by those emails, I’ve decided...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 16, 2011
Film Review: “Default: The Student Loan Documentary”
God… Student debt pisses me off like nothing else. That millions of young students have to go into massive debt so that they may become...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 15, 2011
The bus
Last week, with friend and photographer Josh Spice, I hiked to Bus 142 on the Stampede Trail outside Healy, Alaska. This is the site of...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 13, 2011
Fox and porcupine
On a drive up the Dalton Highway, just above tree line, near Chandalar Shelf, I came across five very curious and unafraid fox pups who...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 9, 2011
My new home
I arrived in Fairbanks earlier this week. My old park ranger friend, Josh–not to be confused with my other good friend named Josh–and I...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 6, 2011
Denali National Park
I went on a mini backcountry adventure this past weekend with my friend Josh Spice–a Fairbanks resident. Since we were close by, we took...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 4, 2011
Arrival in Alaska
I got off the plane, walked outside, and smelled the musty fragrance of an unchecked forest fire off yonder. It was 12:15 a.m. yet still...
Ken Ilgunas
Jun 3, 2011
Leaving Acorn Abbey
This true people took the stranger And warm hearted housed the ranger They received their roving guest And have fed him with the best....
Ken Ilgunas
May 31, 2011
Simplifying
(Coldfoot is where the red thingy is) As I mentioned in my concluding post, I am moving out of North Carolina and heading up to Alaska to...
Ken Ilgunas
May 29, 2011
Why aren’t we revolutionaries?
David—a boomer who lived through the 60’s—recently posted an entry noting the curious absence of revolutionary discourse among today’s...