For fans of Cheryl Strayed, the gripping story of a biologist's human-powered journey from the Pacific Northwest to the Arctic to rediscover her love of birds, nature, and adventure. During graduate school, as she conducted experiments on the peculiarly misshapen beaks of chickadees, ornithologist Caroline Van Hemert began to feel stifled in the isolated, sterile environment of the lab. Worried that she was losing her passion for the scientific research she once loved, she was compelled to experience wildness again, to be guided by the sounds of birds and to follow the trails of animals. In March of 2012, she and her husband set off on a 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Alaskan Arctic, traveling by rowboat, ski, foot, raft, and canoe. Together, they survived harrowing dangers while also experiencing incredible moments of joy and grace -- migrating birds silhouetted against the moon, the steamy breath of caribou, and the bond that comes from sharing such experiences. A unique blend of science, adventure, and personal narrative, The Sun is a Compass explores the bounds of the physical body and the tenuousness of life in the company of the creatures who make their homes in the wildest places left in North America. Inspiring and beautifully written, this love letter to nature is a lyrical testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Winner of the 2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition: Adventure Travel

The rich tapestry of Alaska is threaded together by 365,000 miles of waterways, from cascading mountain streams to meandering valley rivers, from the meltwaters of glaciers to broad rivers that empty into the sea. This guide profiles a wide variety of rivers from all over Alaska, concentrating on trips for intermediate boaters, and including a few major expeditions for the experienced river-runner. A section on gear outlines what to take into the backcountry.

Eastern Arctic Kayaks is the product of years of kayak study by two of the world's experts. Combining analyses of form and function with historical background and illustrations of kayaking techniques, this volume will appeal to recreational kayakers and scholarly readers alike. An excerpt from John Brand's Little Kayak Book series makes this British publication available to American readers for the first time.

Describes one couple's five-month journey by kayak from Alaska's Glacier Bay to the Puget Sound, chronicling the remarkable beauty and wonders of a fragile wilderness and their encounters with the wildlife and human inhabitants of an endangered world. Original.

The author has also included detailed measurements of the kayak, a glossary of Yupik terms, and descriptions and drawings of kayak accessories."--BOOK JACKET.

In the spring of 2010, with her world scaled down to an 18-foot sea kayak and the 1,200-mile ribbon of water called the Inside Passage, Susan Conrad launched a journey that took her north to Alaska. On the way, she forged friendships, lived her dream, and discovered the depths of her own strength and courage.

There are five layers of the ocean, though most of us alive will only ever see one. The deepest layer of the ocean is called by some the midnight zone. The only light comes from bioluminescence, created by animals themselves. In order to see, the creatures there must create their own light. They must move like solitary suns, encased in their own bubbles of freezing water. This layer is the most completely unexplored zone on the planet. Though it is hostile to humans, it also is fascinating beyond belief. If you had a chance to see it, wouldn't you want to go there? The year Mary is 38, the suicide of a stranger in a nearby reservoir compels her to make a change. She decides to strike out for Alaska and take a chance on love and home. She begins to learn how to travel in a small yellow kayak along the coast, contending with gales, high seas, and bears. She explores the different meanings of home: the perspectives of people who were born in this place and others who chose it, the first peoples who have been here for generations, and the ones who eventually leave. When she marries a man from another island, she is convinced that this time love will stick. She soon learns that navigating marriage is just as difficult as learning the ocean. Divided into sections detailing the main kayaking strokes, this memoir shows how each can be a metaphor for the lives we all pass through and the tools we need to stay afloat.

In a tale remarkable for its quiet confidence and acute natural observation, the author of Paddling Hawaii begins with her decision, at age 60, to undertake a solo, summer-long voyage along the southeast coast of Alaska in an inflatable kayak. Paddling North is a compilation of Sutherland’s first two (of over 20) such annual trips and her day-by-day travels through the Inside Passage from Ketchikan to Skagway. With illustrations and the author’s recipes.