Alaska Books

Shawn Lyons' three volume "A Walk-About Guide to Alaska" may be the most popular and heavily-used hiking guide to South Central Alaska. This volume covers selected trails in the Talkeetna Mountains located roughly one hour's driving time North of Anchorage.

Lyons format is the same as his earlier volumes. Entries for each trail include basic data such as the location of the trailhead, the length, elevation gain, and grade of the trail, and a sketch map of the route.

Especially in the Talkeetnas, where snow pack is common into the month of June and many of the access roads are dirt or gravel, attention to directions is important. The spectacular Hatcher Pass is worth a journery by itself, and gives to a variety of trails deep into valleys and over ridges in the mountains. Some of the trails provide access to current or former gold-mining sites in the Talkeetnas. Independence Mine State Park, near the head of Hatcher Pass, provides an excellent base of of operations to reach many of the trails.

The trail selection ranges from easy strolls to multi-day backpacking trips. Lyons interpretive essays and a selection of photographs provide a sense of what to expect. This volume is highly recommended to the visitor or long-time resident looking for some excellent hiking opportunities.

Robert J. Kennedy's walk to Alaska is one of the most exciting adventures of all time. His humor, honesty, humility and courage will touch the reader deeply. The book's style is uniquely cryptic, but enjoyable once you get used to it.

No matter what goes wrong, Kennedy maintains an upbeat attitude at all times. His conversations with his buddy Ty, who came to visit Kennedy three times during the walk, are truly delightful and insightful. Several times in the book I was moved to tears. And many more times I found myself laughing out loud.

Kennedy strikingly lacks the crudeness often found in other adventurers. His ineptness is also unique among adventurers, but that only endears him further.

I strongly recommend this book for readers of all ages. Kennedy's story proclaims loudly that chivalry still lives; and it also has a sense of humor.

That so many things could go wrong during a 5-month walk is almost incredible. But the book documents the events with great detail. The reader often feels he or she is right there walking alongside. Or crawling alongside, in some cases.

The bear encounter is truly gripping, due mainly to its remote and dark setting.

Buy this book, but don't expect it to be anything like any other adventure book you have ever read. This is a spiritual journey as well as a physical and romantic one.

I cannot recommend any book more highly.

This book is a "must read" if you have any sense of adventure, love of Alaska or if you enjoy an amazing true love story that you can't put down. It's a book that I read well over a year ago and think of often.

One of the key events of the "Forgotten War" in the Aleutians was the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor; the first combat on U.S. soil since the Civil War. So threatening was it considered that it was kept secret from the American public lest it cause panic on the West Coast.
Rourke examines the attack and its significance with maps, charts, photos, documents, and memoirs by participants on both sides, giving a clear picture of all aspects of the battle, its planning and aftermath. The reader who wants more information about the ground forces, however, may wish to consult "The Williwaw War", by Goldstein and Dillon, (University of Arkansas Press), which details the experiences of Arkansas National Guard and other soldiers present.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books).

In 1983 in the village of Anvik, a young Eskimo boy, Kano, must overcome his fear of hunting alone. Story explains how Kano overcomes his fear against the small pox and learns much from his elder. A story of facing one's fears while growing up in Alaska.

Published in 1945, this book is the story of a year in the life of Constance and Harmon Helmericks. Packing what they needed into a canoe powered by a small outboard, they headed up the Denali River as far as they could get, built a log cabin, lived off the land, primarily hunting and eating caribou. They wintered over in the log cabin they built before heading back out in late Spring. It's a well-written account, full of interesting little snippets as well as telling of their life in the bush.

Constance Helmericks went on to write a number of other books. Harmon Helmericks went on to qualify as a pilot and work as a Bush Pilot in Alaska (at the time of this book, he wasn't) and eventually settled with his family in the far north on the Alaskan coast.

The child of a white whaler and trader who lived in the Arctic and an Eskimo mother, Harry Brower, born in 1924, straddled two worlds. Because of this, he was able to work out a satisfactory arrangement between the local Inupiaq Eskimo tribe and scientists interested in whales for scientific and environmental reasons. Most importantly to the Inupiaqs, the tribe was able to continue hunting whales as they had since time immemorial. For the Inupiaqs, such whale-hunting was a fundamental part of their culture, as the Plains Indians hunted buffalo. The cycle of the year centered on whale hunting, and many community events were based on the hunts and the cutting up, cooking, and preservation of the whales killed in a hunt. One would hardly realize Brower was not a native Eskimo steeped in the culture. His conversations range over all parts of Eskimo life--family life, surviving the winters, holidays, the inroads of European culture, hunting, and religion. Brower is a rich font of Eskimo life and lore. But beyond this, the material is informative and fetching especially for its unique, first-hand, picture of whale hunting from the viewpoint of Eskimos.

Jean-Francois de La Perouse was an important successor to Cook in the exploration of the Pacific. Regretably, La Perouse's 1785-88 expedition ended in disaster, with both ship destroyed in a tropical cyclone in the Solomon Islands. La Perouse was a French Naval officer who saw action in the Seven Years War against Britain, who emerged from that period with a reputation as a skilled navigator and surveyor and with the respect of many in both France and England for his humanity toward opponents. Born 13 years after Cook, he was still a young officer when the great explorer began his exploration of the Pacific. By the time La Perouse was appointed to lead a French voyage of exploration in 1785, most of the big geographical questions - excepting, of course, the possibilty of a Northwest Passage - had been answered. Nonetheless, there were many details still to be resolved and a great deal of science to be done. In preparation for the voyage, La Perouse not only received help from those is France best able to give it but, also, from influential people in England and elsewhere who understood what needed to be done. Among these was Joseph Banks, who sailed as botantist with Cook on the first voyage and became President of the Royal Society in 1778. "Where Fate Beckons" is well written and a good read. Highly recommended to those interested in the exploration of the Pacific and in the French and British Navies of the late 18th century.

Where Mountains Meet the Sea : Alaskas Gulf Coast, No. 1 is a very impressive presentation of Alaska's rugged and wild west coast and some of Alaska's more placid bay communities. There are some pictures here, many taken by low-flying aircraft, which allow one a rare, but very clear and close-up glimpse of some of these ends-of-the-earth regions. There is abundant text regarding specific areas, such as the Prince William Sound, Sitka, Kodiak, and an incredible section on Yakutat. And no corners are cut when focusing in on the people of the region; There are some great early and more recent pictures and literature concerning the Aleut, Russian and American traders, trappers, fishermen, and natives of the past and present (but keep in mind this book was released in the mid-eighties, I believe, so is only current as of fifteen or so years ago).

The photographs of the islands really will take you there- to those beautiful, fresh air natural places far off in another realm. And if you happen to be a surfer, there is enough in this book to stir the imagination. There are some intriguing photos of the beach areas at Yakutat- one which shows the left point break firing off in the distance. I'd liek to explore Icy Bay and along the Mt. St. Elias perimeter. But keep in mind this is surfing only for the most hardcore: Massive tides which flow in an out of flood-basins while great plains of quicksand sprawl out across tidal zones; Huge Aleutian swells and tsunamis are in the equation, as is ice-cold water, aggressive bears, aggressive prehistoric-looking sharks and salmon sharks that can swim 60 MPH. There are isolated coasts in the path of brutal storms and impossibly strong currents. Still, if one knows the right season and where to look, one may find epic, uncrowded surf (point, beach, reef, and bay-openings) in a breathtaking environment and the possibilty of finding more 100 foot waves. There are multiple Maverick's set-ups up there, and in the direct line of our biggest winter swells! Its truly a new frontier.

Where the Echo Began covers oral traditions from Southwest Alaska, recorded by Hans Himmelheber and observing the life patterns of the southwestern Alaskan peoples as observed by a young university graduate who recorded their lives. Where the Echo Began features the translated contents of Himmelheber's notes, with the editor's notes and discussion of his role as an observer supplementing excellent observations of native peoples. Black and white photos round out the presentation.