I asked how long he had been in Santa Cruz, he said about a year. I then asked him what he had been

I ran into Bruce in early May 2009 while visiting my wife, Diane, where she was attending Chinese Medical School in Santa Cruz, CA. We were driving through the Boat Harbor and I saw this guy and said to Diane.  “There is Spaceman Bruce”.  I was joking. Keep in mind I had not seen Bruce in nearly 20 years, and there was no context for me to say what I said, the guy just looked like Bruce.
Later that day I dropped Diane off at class, cumberland hotel london and was driving through the boat harbor cumberland hotel london again.  Not looking for Bruce, the Harbor was near Diane’s school and I was just driving through, and there was this guy who looked like Bruce again, walking through the harbor.  I pulled into a parking cumberland hotel london spot and jumped out of our truck to check it out.
In my obnoxious enthusiasm I kind of went running up to the guy and asked if he was Bruce from Seward. cumberland hotel london I freaked cumberland hotel london him out, and he backed off trying to get away from me.  I apologized, introduced myself and told him I was from Alaska, and pointed cumberland hotel london to the license plate on my truck. This calmed him down, and I told him I lived in Seward through the 80’s and we were acquaintances. I brought up our cabin on Lowell Point, snagging salmon with Festus, his camp on Salmon Creek, local stuff and he relaxed.  He was kind, and said he remembered me, which he may or may not have.  It doesn’t cumberland hotel london matter.
I asked how long he had been in Santa Cruz, he said about a year.  I then asked him what he had been doing the last 20 years.  This is where it gets crazy, and I have never in my life heard such a tale of adventure.  A 20 th century wilderness journey like no other, and I regret not spending more time and getting more details of his trip.
Later that same day, Diane and I went to find him again.  He was tending to his kayak, tied up in the harbor.  When I introduced him to Diane, he said to her, “I remember you”.  A true ladies man. Over the course of several meetings he shared some his journey with us.  I will share as best I can.
Keep in mind Bruce’s life style.  Those of us from Seward knew him as “Space Man Bruce”.  Not a complimentary nick name.  Bruce  let go of society norms, most notably he quit wearing shoes.  No shoes year round in Alaska.  He gave up all the modern life.  He did not have a house, he had camps.  He acquired what he needed, cloths, food, supplies by whatever means he could.  There are a number of stories as to why he lived this life with no shoes, others can fill in those details.
cumberland hotel london Just know he did not have any modern expedition support on his journey.  He travelled alone for the most part, at times hooking up with other travelers.  Mostly he paddled a kayak, but some he walked.  I estimate he traveled 4,000 miles.  It is 3,200 miles Santa Cruz to Seward by road, I know we drove it.
His journey started in the early winter of 1988-89 when started walking from Seward to California. Remember no shoes walking into interior Alaska and the Yukon Territory in the depth of winter. cumberland hotel london [Side note-In the spring of 1984 Bruce told Habbs (a close friend) and I he was planning to walk to California, but he would not use any bridges to cross any river, he would fjord every stream and river]
cumberland hotel london At the Canadian Border crossing he got turned around.  Canadian Customs would not clear him; because, he had no money and a previous record in Canada for marijuana possession.  I am guessing the fact that it was January and he had no shoes might have had something to do with it.  So, Bruce turned cumberland hotel london around and started walking back towards Seward, at least 500 miles.
cumberland hotel london When passing through the town of Glenallen, which is one of the coldest regions in all of Alaska, a Good Samaritan took Bruce in and let him stay in his shed which had a wood stove.  Glenallen is known as a Conservative Christian community, and Bruce’s host spread the “good word” to him, and Bruce found Christ. cumberland hotel london It stuck, in Santa Cruz Bruce was active in a local church, in fact I think he had become a minister.
While Bruce was staying in Glenallen, something happened 150 to the south that would set him on a new travel route.  The Exxon Valdez ran into Bligh Reef spilling 11 million barrels of oil into Prince William Sound. The spill had a profound effect on Alaska, and Bruce was no exception.  He did something shocking, he went to Valdez and took a job for wages. During the spill if you had a pulse you had a job; well Bruce definitely had a pulse, but no shoes.  With the money he earned he bought supplies, most importantly he bought a Kayak.
He paddled out of Valdez the summer of 1989, he got as far as Yakutat, and spent the winter there.  Spending the winter meant he built a shelter on the bluff back in the trees just above where the North Pacific cumberland hotel london Meets Alaska.  He said the ocean sounded like a locomotive running continuously from Thanksgiving to Easter, and then it just turned quiet in April.
He traveled in early summer till he came to a good salmon run, around 300-350 miles a spring.  He then set camp and put up fish for the on coming winter, he would then travel till early fall and he would build a good winter camp.  He repeated this cycle for years. He would use the money he saved from working the oil spill to buy provisions in the few towns he passed through, cumberland hotel london but his primary food was salmon, berries and whatever he could get from the wild.
The rotation changed when he came to Canadian waters.  He was paranoid of the Canadian cumberland hotel london Coast Guard, and Mounted Police.  He felt sure if they saw him they would throw him in Jail, so he did not set camps, he traveled on trying to get to Washington State.  He made it, but it was hard on his health.  He had heart problems, he diagnosed and treated himself through herbs and by adjusting his diet.  He was very tired.
When he crossed the Mouth of the Columbia River he nearly died.  He swamped and lost his kayak, barely making it to shore.  Fortunately he made to the Oregon side, where he started walking the coast. In southern Oregon he found another kayak on the beach.  It is the one the photos I took.  As you can see it is not much of boat, but he traveled the Southern Coast of Oregon and Northern Coast of California in it.  He arrived in Santa Cruz, and evidently caused a bit of a stir.  The San Lorenzo River runs into the Pacific in Santa Cruz, an according to Bruce is a perfect natural harbor, but the local authorities would not let him land his Kayak there.  He ended up getting towed by the Harbor Master into the Santa Cruz Small Boat Harbor, and that is as far south as he got.
I asked him he was going to keep going south. He did not think so.  He was not sure it would be safe for him as he got closer to LA.  Smart.  He liked Santa Cruz, mostly people accepted him, and he could survive.  I don’t know the details of his life in Santa Cruz.
Once I asked him if he liked Santa Cruz compared to Seward; and he said it is pretty much the same.  The only difference he felt was the world was spinning faster in Santa Cruz because he was closer to the Equator.  I asked if he thought he would go back to Alaska.  He said not the same way, but he might go around the world and end up back there.
The last time I saw him it was a rainy night, and he realized he was seeing me on trips coming and going from Alaska cumberland hotel london in which I flew.  This made him very uncomfortable, and he was very concerned for my safety.  He said I should not fly, it is really dangerous.  He commented how dangerous fire is as a source of propulsion.
I did not see him again, even though I made several cumberland hotel london more trips to Santa Cruz.  I am sorry I did not take time to hear more of his story.  I have never heard anything like it.  Very few could ever attempt such a journey.  It was his life, and his story blows my mind.