Our Story..

Michael, Kris & Niishjaa

Alaska truly is the Last Frontier.  We count our blessings that we have been fortunate enough to be a part of this wild land, before the modern world has taken over.  Chitina is a rare place of pure natural beauty, rich history with truly unique inhabitants.  The first time I visited this awesome place I knew it was somewhere I wanted to call home.    Michael had dreamt of having another trading post to sell his artwork from, while I have always hoped to own my own hotel or cabins since I worked at a guest ranch as a young girl.    So, here we are both of our dreams very much alive at the Gateway to the Nations’ largest park, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

 We were so fortunate to find our neighbors and friends Roy & Carol Alley who sold us our raw land with only a hand shake the summer of 1994.  The trust in each other that Alaskans have is a rarity in our modern world and a part of our way of life in rural Alaska.  For the next four years we settled into our little 22 foot Airstream with a  20’ x 16’ garage structure built around it and a barrel woodstove for heat during our first winter with –60 below zero weather.  Michael and I began clearing our land by hand.   The final leveling was done by Roy with his 1950 era cat , which was another peek into our rich history.   We drew our building plans on graph paper during the winter.  In the spring of 1995 a local saw mill delivered our tongue and groove milled logs. Michael, with help from myself and our friends put all the logs together  by hand.  It took us four years to build and we finally moved in the summer of 1999. 

We have come along way baby... Our first years were spent living a subsistence lifestyle.  We hauled our water from the creek and boiled it.  You know the appliances most people consider antiques, well we actually put them to good use.   We ate primarily wild game meats and vegetables from our garden.    Though those days are some of the best memories we are now in the modern age, we have running water, a compost toilet  and all the amenities.  No more pour cup showers by the wood stove or running to the creek for water.    Though they will be missed! 

Our cabin is gorgeous, a unique rustic work of art.  Michael  has built most of the furniture himself.  We transformed the first story into a gift store which features our custom jewelry, t-shirts, some antiques and native American music.  The second story is our cozy haven.   We also wanted to share our piece of the Last Frontier with others..  We   have two guest cabins that we rent to our Alaskan visitors in the summer.  This summer we plan to have a bunk house open for backpackers, friends and fishermen. 

Our first guest cabin “Hard 8” is nestled high on the hill above our stream.  Michael and I built H8 in the winter of 1995, we hauled each log up the hill with help from friends and Mikie put it together all by hand with NO electricity.    It is our Alaskan  honeymoon suite built for two.  The hike to the cabin is  beautiful and often visited   by otters, eagles,  porcupine, sheep, moose,  wolves and bear.
 
Our second cabin "Tikaani's Den", named after our wolf/husky girl is on the hill as well.   It was Tikaani's (wolf in Athabascan) favorite hiding spot! She took many years to complete and opened the summer of 2003. This cabin features a full size bed and a daybed. 

We have plans for at least two more down lower on our property in the next five years.

Our  artwork and hospitality are now known worldwide!  We have made friends with guests this summer alone from Guatemala, Germany, Austria, Taiwan, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic, Israel and  all over the USA.  Our unique destination and the taste of "real Alaska" that our cabins offer attracts an unusual number of German, Swiss and Austrian visitors.    We also have the pure pleasure of traveling to these gorgeous places and are doing our best to learn German.  Michael’s artwork centers around Native American designs using fur, bone, beads, and his own carvings.  Niishjaa and Mom are into beads and jewelry.  Both Mikie and Niishjaa love to paint, who knows we may find them famous one day! 


Our families are always asking what life is like way up here at the top of the world….. 
Contrary to popular belief it is not dark all winter in our part of Alaska.  During Winter Solstice it gets light about 9:00 am and dark around 4:00 pm.  The bright reflection from the snow seems to make the whole land into a fairytale wonder and we don’t seem to notice.  The Northern Lights have been spectacular the past few  years with bright red splashed in with the green.  Thirty BELOW zero in Alaska is still much warmer than 30 above with a wind chill factor in Minnesota any day! 

The summers are wonderful 60-70 degrees, above zero, and light until 11:00 pm and twilight for only a couple of hours.  We love it, even the mosquitoes don’t discourage we Alaskans.  We live in the heart of Copper River Red Salmon country, come fish!  We can and freeze around 200–250 fish every year for the winter.  Our smoked salmon is the BEST, people come from miles around to sneak some!  We eat allot of moose, caribou and veggies from the garden, then why is it I am not skinny???  It is true, things are bigger here in Alaska and that includes the hearts of the people in the Great Land!
 

Michael was originally from California and New Mexico and Kris from Minnesota.  Michael has made Alaska his home since the late 1970's and Kris moved North once she finished college  in 1992.

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Niishjaa (pronounced Neesh JAAH' means Owl in Apache), is one of the few Alaskans who was born and will grow up here an Alaskan boy!

Our daughter Shea,  a winter girl at heart, lives in New Mexico. We treasure the time we can spend with her in the Southwest and here in Alaska.    

All  of us have unique and interesting stories to tell about our time spent here and abroad...stop in for a cup of coffee some time!

     Should you ever find yourselves headed North, please stop in and say hello!
 

Please Stop in and Sign our Guestbook

© by Kris Winter 2002