Shelski

Vancurlers Fly-in Fly-fishing

I did several trips out to Vancurlers to fly fish in summer 2007. On the weekend these pictures were taken, my friend Heather flew her Champ up from Anchorage and we took off for the day. There was a lot of casting ...but no catching. Still, it was fun to get the planes out and test our rods on this beautiful stretch of river.

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Shelly ~

Shelly ~

The 2012 Alaska Huntress Calendar is ready for purchase!

The 2012 Alaska Huntress Calendar is ready for purchase!
In Memory of Shelly
To order the 2012 Alaska Huntress Calendar, please contact Lynn at lynn.bill@yahoo.com and I'll send you the ordering info per Heather's instructions.

This calendar was started in 2007 by Shelly, as a tribute to her female hunting friends in Alaska. It was her hope that the calendar, designed to help promote women in hunting, would live on.
A portion of the proceeds from each calendar will go to a scholarship in Shelly’s honor designed to assist a new female pilot in pursuing her private or sport pilot’s license.

If you are interested in submitting a photo for future calendars or have suggestions, please email me at lynn.bill@yahoo.com with the subject 'AK Huntress Calendar' and I'll forward your info to Heather.

Photos must be HIGH RESOLUTION.
Also, please keep the following in mind (per Shelly's past instructions):
1) Horizontal (rather than vertical) shots work best
2) No: to fishing photos
3) Yes: to photos of you on the hunt, but perhaps without an animal (e.g., hiking-in, flying out, glassing, etc.)
4) Super YES: to first hunts, Alaska hunts, and photos showing you with your animal or parts (meat, antlers, etc.). These will be given first preference.

The ocean - my sense of self

The ocean - my sense of self
June 1993: on a boat in Sea Otter Sound, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Sleeping in the Forest - by Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

My favorite links

  • Juneau Webcams
  • Alaska Aviation Weather
  • Supercub.org
  • Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Cancer Blogsite

Idaho summer

My snowmachine out in McGrath

Early me

Early me

A wildlife biologist in the making?

Just about as big as those VanCurlers grayling

Can't get enough of that ocean...

Skiing with dad

My family

Dad & I fishing - Lake Florence on Admiralty Island, Alaska

I Looked Up ~ by Mary Oliver

I looked up and there it was
among the green branches of the pitchpines—

thick bird,
a ruffle of fire trailing over the shoulders and down the back—

color of copper, iron, bronze—
lighting up the dark branches of the pine.

What misery to be afraid of death.
What wretchedness, to believe only in what can be proven.

When I made a little sound
it looked at me, then it looked past me.

Then it rose, the wings enormous and opulent,
and, as I said, wreathed in fire.


Kalin, me & Naknek River salmon

Kalin, me & Naknek River salmon

Moose captures & collaring

Moose captures & collaring

...doing it our way

...doing it our way
Laverne & Shirley...uh hem...I mean, Shelly & Kalin after a successful capture

Weighing a moose calf

More captures on the Alaska Peninsula

Moose kiss

Moose smile

Wolf captures

Wolf captures


More wildlife captures, McGrath AK

Bison collaring, McGrath

Blog Archive

  • ►  2010 (3)
    • ►  December (1)
      • February 4, 1967 - December 4, 2008
    • ►  May (1)
      • Shelly Szepanski Memorial Flight Scholarship Fund
    • ►  February (1)
      • Alaska Huntress Calendar info
  • ►  2009 (4)
    • ►  December (1)
      • December 4th ~ Remembering Shelly
    • ►  May (1)
      • Missing memorial quilt
    • ►  February (2)
      • Shelly's Fairbanks Memorial - 21 February 2009
      • O! for a horse with wings! ~Shakespeare
  • ▼  2008 (15)
    • ►  December (1)
      • 4 December 2008 - Shelly passes on
    • ►  May (1)
      • Escaping to the homeland!
    • ►  March (1)
      • I couldn't be more amazed...
    • ▼  February (12)
      • Hello Everybody...
      • A quilt from my friends... Thank you!
      • Grand Marais, Minnesota - Road Trip
      • Winter flying!
      • Galena flight
      • Solo caribou hunt ...success!
      • Su Flats Duck Hunt
      • Vancurlers Fly-in Fly-fishing
      • Cross country wedding flight
      • Shelly & Heather's big adventure
      • In the market for a PA-11...
      • Shiny new tail-dragger endorsement!

Janurary 2008: Grand Marais, Minnesota