Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. A Mystery Unfolds At Alapah Creek the first days of 1984 began with the entire region locked down in extreme cold. The kind of harsh cold you can taste in the air and easily  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. Kuuk River Holidays The celebrations during the shortest days of the year are cherished by most high latitude residents. Proud rural northerners tend to embrace frosty challenges. Well ahead of the calendar day that  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. The Alapah Creek Partnership Nate Cutler felt reinvigorated after the echo-chamber of introspection during so many weeks alone. Sonny’s positive nature and easy adaptation to the challenges of each new day lifted his  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. Trouble at the Ramparts The full moon loomed high in the sky; the fading crepuscular light of mid-afternoon gave in easily to the rushing tide of night. The radiant moonglow created spectacular soft  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. Death at Cutoff Slough on the Kuuk River The column of mercury in a rusty Northern Commercial thermometer nailed to a porch post was in freefall as the barometer rose. The occluded front  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. The Hendersen Homestead Sonny had been unexpectedly energized by meeting Natalie Henderson on the river. It dawned on him that he could be rejuvenated by staying over with this dynamic family. Besides, there were  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. Sonny’s Journey Unfolds (Authors note: Previously in this novella — beginning with No Matter What and The Confines of Heaven parts I-III — young Sonny Johns rode a sled pulled behind a snowmachine from  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. A Yukon River Maverick (This story is creative non-fiction; respectfully embellished where fact and anecdote blur, an informed yet speculative tale. No one knows just what happened during the last days and hours  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. Déjà vu All Over Again My old friend, Archie Ferguson, last sojourned from his Yukon River village a few years back to attend a Sasquatch Discovery Camp near Darrington, WA. You might remember  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series for the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi. Read the previous story in this series. A Walkabout Begins Sonny Johns was spent. Leg-weary, ready to call it a day. A damned important day, the first of many unpredictable experiences.  A story as old as human time; an energetic  Continue Reading

Freezer Burned is an ongoing series on the San Juan Update, written by Steve Ulvi… (Authors note: this fictional tale of Alaska bush life adventure, grief and redemption, circa the 1980s, will be continued founded upon two previous stories.  See Freezer Burned: “No Matter What” and “The Confines of Heaven” for character background.) The Confines  Continue Reading

The Heart of Darkness on the River “Freezer-Burned: Tales of Interior Alaska” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi. Sammy Jenks gently shut the backdoor of his rustic home. He turned to pick up a stone then slung it at an alley cat in the garbage can. Striking the  Continue Reading

The Allure of Gold, Part 2 “Freezer-Burned: Tales of Interior Alaska” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi. When Pappy Scoggins parked his modified school bus at the old boat landing in Eagle, Alaska he never imagined the grousing by locals accustomed to using that area to load boats,  Continue Reading

“Freezer-Burned: Tales of Interior Alaska” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi. The Allure of Gold, Part 1 A road-weary group of nine swayed in their bench seats down a narrow trail, leafy tree branches scraping the bulging, tarped roof rack and long rows of dirty windows.  The 165-mile  Continue Reading

“Freezer-Burned: Tales of Interior Alaska” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi. A Matter of Weather and Physics   The arrival of spring in the north is a penultimate pleasure. For a nature lover, anyway. Like dropping a heavy burden after a long slog up a mountain ridge leading  Continue Reading

“Freezer-Burned: Tales of Interior Alaska” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi. The Pitfalls of Fuzzy Thinking   A decade ago, our fourth summer here, my Alaska pal Archie left a phone message that he would be visiting in Washington state.  Waiting through his practiced, jolly jibes about us  Continue Reading