Torry Martin - Of Moose and Men: Lost and Found in Alaska

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Cover by Harvest House Publishers, Inc.

Front and back cover photos of author Rory White, rorywhite.com

Cover photos Amorphis, GreenApple78, Avalon_Studio, Rawpixel Ltd / iStock

OF MOOSE AND MEN

Copyright 2016 Torry Martin and Doug Peterson

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Martin, Torry

Of moose and men / Torry Martin and Doug Peterson.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-7369-6526-2 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6527-9 (eBook)

1. Martin, Torry, 1961- 2. Christian biographyAlaskaBiography. I. Title.

BR1725.M264A3 2016

277.3083092dc23

[B]

2015016853

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From Torry

To Robert Browning, the Abbott to my Costello, the Lewis to my Clark, and sometimes the Lex Luthor to my Superman. But most importantly, the David to my Jonathan.

From Doug

To Dave and Leanne Lucas, traveling companions and milepost friends for Nancy and me.

I must begin by thanking my best friend, Robert Browning, because without him I would have probably been mauled by a grizzly bear, stomped on by a moose, or been killed in just about any other way you can imagine in the Alaskan wilds. But what he did for me was so much more than that. Rob also saved me from myself. He supported me in my writing, investing in me and encouraging me every step of the way. As far as I am concerned, friends dont get any better than Rob.

I would also like to thank those who helped me to survive spiritually in the wildernessmy milepost people. In addition to Rob, these include Pastor Jack and Ann Aiken, whose church became a wilderness outpost of love and encouragement; Dean and Larry Lauer, whose lives blazed a spiritual trail; and Kay Arthur, whose Precept Ministries Bible study materials became my spiritual survival kit. (When I was living in our Alaskan cabin, going through Kay Arthurs Bible studies, I never dreamed that one day she and her husband would invite me to their house and cook me a chicken dinner. Life takes some surprising turns!)

Meanwhile, those who have helped me to survive along the writing trail include my regular writing partner, Marshal Younger of Adventures in Odyssey , and Doug Peterson, my coauthor on this book.

Finally, I want to acknowledge my parents, Billy and Verna Martin, whose sense of humor has made life a true adventure, and who bring the joy of Christmas into every season of the year.

I struck gold with friends and family like this.

CONTENTS

R ob slammed on the brakes, bringing our truck to a squealing, skidding stop. I was asleep in the passenger seat, but the screech startled me awake, and I looked up to see a beautiful, 40-plus-pound lynx standing stock-still in the middle of this Alaskan road, staring back at us.

Having never seen a lynx before, I knew it was an opportunity to get a once-in-a-lifetime photograph, so I quickly threw open the door and leaped out, camera in hand. I was just moving beyond the open door when I heard Rob bellow from behind the steering wheel of our Chevy Silverado.

Torry! Get back in here! NOW!

His sudden shout startled the lynx, and the animal dashed into the woods, disappearing just like that. As far as I was concerned, Rob had just ruined the photograph of a lifetime.

Whats the problem? I asked. I could have had his picture in another second.

He could have had you in another second! Rob shot back.

He was smiling.

He was growling !

Fine, a loud purr, I compromised. The point is, Alaskan lynx are probably used to tourists. Ill bet he was trained to stop for photo ops. Until you went and scared him off. Poor kitty.

Rob sighed. He did that a lot around me.

This brief incident as we entered Alaska was prophetic in many ways because I would go on to have many more wildlife encounters on the Last Frontier. Unfortunately I wouldnt always have Rob there to keep me from doing incredibly stupid and dangerous things. Keep reading and you will see exactly what I mean.

We drove from Silverdale, Washington, to Anchorage, Alaska, in May of 1993. I was leaving behind my life as an actor in Los Angeles, and Rob was hoping to stake a mining claim in Alaska. So we made the grueling 2284-mile, 40-hour journey, following twisting roads and carrying all of our lifes possessions behind us in a trailer. For much of the trip, we traveled the famous Alaska-Canadian Highwaythe Alcan Highway, which begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and winds its way up to Delta Junction, Alaska.

Rob handled much of the driving while I did the navigating by using my hefty volume of the legendary Alaska travel planner, The Milepost . Everyone who has any sense brings along The Milepost when they travel the Alcan Highway. This guidebook tells you exactly what you will encounter, mile after mile, on the way to the Last Frontier. It tells you what you will see, where to stay, where to eat, where to find gas, and on and on.

I just wish everything in life could be spelled out for us so clearly.

I am pretty sure that when the Israelites made their way to the Promised Land, the Lord didnt give them a Milepost travel book that told them exactly what they could expect as they wandered through the wilderness. Besides, they wandered in circles for 40 years, so they would have been bored out of their minds reading the same Milepost information over and over and over. What Im trying to say is that its the same with our lives. The Bible is chock-full of guidance, but God doesnt spell everything out for us. Life is a holy adventure, and it is for us to discover, milepost after milepost.

As you will soon see, our life in Alaska was not easy. We lived day by day, barely having enough to live on and nearly freezing to death in a cold camper in the middle of nowhere. From a materialistic viewpoint, I had virtually nothing. But today, looking back on those years, I realize that I had so much spiritually. In fact, after revisiting these storiesthe mileposts in my lifeI see that this was perhaps my happiest time.

My years in Alaska werent easy, but thats the point. Sometimes the hardest years are the happiest because they force us to put our trust in God. I call it Desperate Christianity, and my years in Alaska were desperate but glorious.

When the Israelites reached the Promised Land, one of the first things Joshua had them do was pile up a stack of rocks in honor of God. Each rock was a memory, a remembrance of what God had done for them along the way. People today still build these stacks of rough rockscairns they call them.