The Alaska Marine Highway...

Whatever you do, don't miss today's music slideshow featuring pictures from this day. Click here to see it.

Quick Note About Videos...

Most of the videos that are in this web site are in AVI format, which is what my video camera creates them in. Those videos should play just fine in your media software. For those of you who don't know, you can right click on any video link (and those links appear in the "Today's Video Files" section in the column to the right) and select the "Save Target As" option from the pop-up box that appears after you right click on a video link. You can then save the videos to your computer's hard drive for playing. It will also show you how many megabytes each video is. I recommend saving the files to your hard drive before watching them. Happy viewing!

Today's Journey (but not on my feet!)...

5:30 a.m. ─ I'm here in Juneau, Alaska and in about 1 hour I'll be boarding a ferry boat for a 4 1/2 hour ride to Haines, Alaska. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the type of ferry I'll be riding today. From there I'll begin transport by vehicle into Canada. It's a cold 26-degree morning and I'm looking forward to heading farther north to get up toward the interior of Alaska. My friend, Rob, will be posting information for the next couple of days as I'm able to get details to him. I'm so proud of all of the students that have been logging miles during this P.A.C.E. Trek. You're all doing a great job! Keep on stepping! I'll provide a report as soon as possible. Until then... gotta run!

10:30 a.m. ─ Hello from the LeConte Ferry! I am sailing between Juneau and Haines right now and am enjoying breathtaking views of snow-covered mountains, blue skies, and glistening water. The air is rather cold and although I have not seen any whales today, I have enjoyed the scenic ride. It brings back a lot of memories for me. During my high school days in Juneau I would ride the ferry a lot to travel to and from various Southeast Alaska towns for track and field competitions. It is a great way to see Southeast Alaska and is relatively inexpensive. In fact, my 4 1/2 hour ferry ride to Haines only cost me $37.00 as a "walk on" passenger. My parents are with me today and will be my transportation from Haines to Destruction Bay, Canada where I will overnight. I'm looking forward to posting the pictures from today's ferry ride and will do so as soon as I can get a strong Internet connection (which may not be right away). You'll see the beauty of Southeast Alaska... on a cloudless day! I'll try to post more thoughts later, but wanted to write a message from the ferry.

4:00 p.m. ─ Hello from the Yukon in Canada! As I type this message I am rolling along as a passenger in the truck camper of my wonderful parents... who have donated the next three weeks of their lives to being my "transport" to various parts of Alaska. Our destination today is a place in Canada called Destruction Bay - which is 220 miles from where we got off the ferry late this morning in Haines, Alaska. We will spend our evening in Destruction Bay and tomorrow we will travel the remaining distance through Canada up to Highway 2 at the Alaska border. We will then overnight there tomorrow evening and I will start running on Friday. Today I have been absolutely struck by the beauty of this land. I haven't seen a cloud in the blue sky all day and the majestic snow covered mountain peaks against the blue sky has been truly breathtaking to see. This is wilderness like none other that can be experienced. As many of you know, I grew up in Alaska. However, returning here always reminds me just how spectacular this place is. I have taken many pictures today, while on the ferry and while on the road through Canada. The problem is that the pictures do not truly do justice to the actual size of the mountains around me, or the depth of the sky's blue, or the the vastness of this land. So, you'll have to simply take my word for it. If you've never been to Alaska, make sure you add it to your "to do" list for your life!

7:50 p.m. ─ I am now in Destruction Bay, Canada. Tonight is an evening in a motel and all is well. I have some television to watch, a very limited Internet connection, and no cell phone service or room phone available. However, I've managed to be able to login to the web site to post this. I don't know if I'll be able to get pictures posted today, or a few videos I made, but I'll try. It just depends on the upload speed available. Tomorrow will be another transport day, further north to the Alaska/Canada border at Highway 2 - southwest of Tok, Alaska. The weather was amazing today and the pictures will show that (when I can get those posted). Hope all is well with everyone. Thank you to those who posted kind words in my guestbook and sent messages through my contact page. "Bob" is doing well also and we're both ready to get going again on Friday... logging miles. Take care and I'll be in touch as soon as possible, although it is likely that I won't be able to do a post tomorrow since we'll be parked in the truck camper along the edge of the road in the middle of nowhere by the Alaska border! Have a great day of running and walking and keep smiling. I am.

That's all from this Alaska milepost! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to run back here tomorrow.