Travelers' Tales Alaska (41 page)

“Taking on the Kenai” by Tom Dunkel reprinted from the May/June 1998 issue of
National Geographic Traveler
. Copyright © 1998 by the National Geographic Society. Reprinted by permission of the National Geographic Society.

“Hell Can't Be Worse Than This Trail” By Steve Howe reprinted from the February 1995 issue of
Backpacker
. Copyright © 1995 by Backpacker/Rodale Press. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

“Downtown Duel” by Nancy Deschu published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Nancy Deschu.

“Point Retreat” by Ernestine Hayes published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Ernestine Hayes.

“The Blood of Fine and Wild Animals” by Pam Houston excerpted from
A Little More About Me
by Pam Houston. Copyright © 1999 by Pam Houston. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company.

“On the Pack Ice” by Heather Villars published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Heather Villars.

“In God's Backyard” excerpted from
God at the Edge: Searching for the Divine in Uncomfortable and Unexpected Places
by Niles Elliot Goldstein. Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 by Niles Elliot Goldstein. Used by permission of Bell Tower, a division of Random House, Inc.

“Seeking Paradise” by Andromeda Romano-Lax published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Andromeda Romano-Lax.

“The Last Road North” by Philip Caputo reprinted from the November 1995 issue of
Men's Journal
. Copyright © 1995 by Men's Journal Company, LLC. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

“Everything's Oishi” by Mike Steere reprinted from
Outside
. Copyright © 1993 by Mike Steeve. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Shot Tower” by David Roberts excerpted from
Moments of Doubt and Other Mountaineering Writings
by David Roberts. Copyright © 1986 by David Roberts. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Hairy Man Lives” by Bill Sherwonit published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Bill Sherwonit.

“Would You Be, Could You Be (And Why in the Hell Would You Want to Be) My Neighbor?” by Mike Grudowski reprinted from the April 1999 issue of
Outside
. Copyright © 1999 by Mike Grudowski. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Leaving Land Behind” by Toby Sullivan published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Toby Sullivan.

“I Want to Ride on the Bus Chris Died In” by Sherry Simpson published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Sherry Simpson.

“In the Giant's Hand” by Nancy Lord published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Nancy Lord.

Additional Acknowledgments (arranged alphabetically)

Selection from
Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range
by Robert Marshall copyright © 1956, 1970 by the Regents of the University of California. Published by permission.

Selection from
Alutiiq Word of the Week: Lessons in Alutiiq Languange and Culture
by Amy Steffian and Florence Pestrikof copyright © 1999 by the Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository. Published with permission.

Selection from “Confessions of a Tour Guide” by Chris Klein published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Chris Klein.

Selection from “Deep Inside the Wilderness” by Karen Jettmar published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Karen Jettmar.

Selection from “Doublestar (Why I Write)” by Dustin W. Leavitt published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Dustin W. Leavitt.

Selection from “The Great, Big, Broad Land Way Up Yonder” by Pat O'Hara published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Pat O'Hara.

Selection from Rex Allen Rock, Sr. excerpted from
Growing Up Native in
Alaska
by Alexandra J. McClanahan. Copyright © 2000 by The CIRI Foundation. Reprinted by permission of the CIRI Foundation.

Selection from “The Hard Way Home” by Steve Kahn published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Steve Kahn.

Selection from
Iditarod Classics: Tales of the Trail Told by the Men & Women Who Race Across Alaska
by Lew Freedman reprinted by permission of Epicenter Press. Copyright © 1992 by Lew Freedman.

Selection from “Paddling Solo in the Fjords of the Far West Shore” by Jon Nickles published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Jon Nickles.

Selection from “Paris! Rome! Deadhorse!” by Robin Cerwonka published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Robin Cerwonka.

Selection from “Plowing the Driveway” by Dana Greci published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Dana Greci. Selection from “Reality Bites Back” by John Woodbury published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by John Woodbury.

Selection from “Steambath” by Tim Troll published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Tim. Troll.

Selection from “A Time Machine Called the Chilkoot Trail” by Dana Stabenow published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by Dana Stabenow.

Selection from “The Whale's Gift” by James Dorsey published with permission from the author. Copyright © 2003 by James Dorsey.

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Anchorage nature and travel writer Bill Sherwonit first visited Alaska in 1974 while employed as a geologist. After switching from geology to journalism during the late 1970s, he returned to Alaska in 1982 as a sports writer for
The Anchorage Times
. Sherwonit worked at the newspaper ten years, the last seven as its outdoors writer/editor.

Now a full-time freelancer, he's contributed stories and photos to a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, journals, anthologies, and guidebooks. He's the author of several books on Alaska:
To the Top of Denali: Climbing Adventures on North America's Highest Peak, Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome, Alaska's Accessible Wilderness: A Traveler's Guide to Alaska's State Parks
,
Alaska Ascents
,
Alaska's Bears
,
Denali: A Literary Anthology, Denali: The Complete Guide
, and most recently,
Wood-Tikchik: Alaska's Largest State Park.
Bill also teaches classes in wilderness writing and travel/adventure writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Sherwonit lives in the foothills of the Chugach Mountains with wife Dulcy Boehle and eighty-one year old mom, Torie Sherwonit, a recent transplant from Virginia. There he writes about the wildness to be found in Alaska's urban center, as well as in the state's backcountry wilderness.

Andromeda Romano-Lax drove to Alaska from her native Chicagoland in December 1994 with her husband Brian, baby
son Aryeh, and dog. During the month-long trip, their car broke down seven times, they maxed out every credit card they owned, and they spent Christmas Eve with nothing to eat but frozen jalapeño peppers. They've been too afraid and too broke to risk driving the Alcan Highway again, and so Anchorage has remained their home. By air, they also travel to Mexico, where Romano-Lax and family (including a second child, daughter Tziporah) have paddled and sailed the Sea of Cortez, and Puerto Rico, where she studied the cello as research for a forthcoming novel. Romano-Lax is the author of five books, including four guidebooks to Alaska and Mexico, and a travel narrative,
Searching for Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez: A Makeshift Expedition Along Baja's Desert Coast
. She teaches creative writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage and in children's workshop settings.

Ellen Bielawski was born in Alaska and still prefers northern life to any other, although she has worked as an archaeologist in West Africa and trekked in Tibet. Her two sons have accompanied her from Ghana to Grise Fiord. They refuse to drive the Alaska Highway with her one more time. Her editing credits include scientific papers as well as essays. She is the author of
Rogue Diamonds
, an account of diamond miners and aboriginal people on Canada's Barren Lands, and
Life in Ancient Alaska
, as well as numerous magazine articles.