2 comments about Chilkoot: An Adventure in Ecotourism (Parks and Heritage Series,).

1. Chilkoot is a trail guide that will appeal to outdoor adventurers with a love of Alaska and Canada. It covers the famed Chilkoot Trail which straddles the American-Canadian border. From a history of the trail to details on its management and ecotourism, Chilkoot provides an excellent account of special interest to Alaskan and Canadian outdoors travelers.



2. This proves to be a rather interesting book on the Chilkoot Pass trail. It seem to be a study of tourism and ecology mixed in. However, it seem to covered the trail pretty good. The first half of the book covered the history and trail used background of the Chilkoot Pass trail. There were a lot of interesting tidbits information regarding the park usage surveys where hikers of the trail had their inputs. The second half of the book dealt with the actual hiking of the trail. The authors apparently did their hike in August of 1998, the 100th anniversary of the Chilkoot Pass initiation to world wide fame. I found the hiking portion to be bit more tame although the clear, crisp colored photographs within the book proves to be totally superb. The authors don't write too much about the nature of the trail itself but just the highlights. In this, it doesn't reflect much information to anyone who may want to know what he or she is getting into. Photos helps but overall, more details would be helpful. Some part of the description also proves to be bit outdated. A good example would be where the authors describe the messy beaver pond which flooded the trail. The park service since then, have built a nice boardwalk over it. But overall, its a well written and entertaining book. Its provides some useful information on the trail and gives a reader a very general idea what to expect. Having hiked the trail several times myself, I can recommended this book to anyone who may be interested in doing the hike someday.

No comments about Victorian Earl in the Arctic: The Travels and Collections of the Fifth Earl of Lonsdale 1888-89.

No comments about Fairbanks Blanket Toss: Your Guide to Bed and Breakfasts in Interior Alaska.

No comments about American Map Alaska: State (State Map).

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5 comments about Heart Of The Sound.

1. Marybeth Holleman is a leading voice in North America for
   defending nature within Prince William Sound from the negligence and commercial interests of the oil industry, and the devastating Exxon Valdez oil spill fifteen years ago. The Heart of the Sound is an important, engaging, heart-expanding book that you won't be able to stop reading.



2. The Heart of the Sound will find a permanent home on my book shelf--for reference, for enjoyment, for inspiration. I was born and raised in Alaska and have lived here over fifty years. Still I learned about the difference between two genetically distinct groups of Orca whales, about the "soundscape" created in Denali National Park for managing uses, and much more. I worked on the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup for six weeks on the water and beaches far outside of Prince William Sound and through Holleman's clear, passionate voice and keen powers of observation I was able to sharpen my own image of what it was like at "ground zero" of the spill. The chapter titled "restoration", with its hard questions and profound insights into the human relationship to place, I will visit often. Holleman cares, and I trust her. This is a beautiful book.



3. One of the things I most admire about Marybeth Holleman is something she told me in person: "I moved to Alaska because of Prince William Sound." This statement is verified in her writing, which is replete with examples of her love and devotion to the place, even when the environment presents obstacles. Camped on Decision Point, she finds the terrain so water-logged it takes five railroad flares to start a fire and she and her husband are forced to don head nets to escape the swarms of no-see-ums. This is not the kind of experience most of us come away from feeling enraptured, but Holleman's reverence and awe never falter.

   Crucial questions are presented in the last third of the book. In the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill Holleman casts a critical eye on restoration money designated for scientific study. "All this counting, tagging, radio-implanting, all these projects, research, buildings--I could not fathom how they would help restore the wild," she writes.

   Finally, the book takes on a larger scope, asking that we take a hard look at our adaptability to environmental degradation. Things that bother her should trouble us all: noise pollution, species' extinction, global warming, acid rain. How is it that we have come to accept these phenomena as "natural" by-products of economic growth? Thanks to Holleman and other nature writers these issues will continue to surface in discussions across the nation. And, if we are lucky, those in power will begin to listen.




4. This book is many things. It is a personal journey about following one's heart. It's a love story between a woman and a place. It's about beauty. It's about loss and change.

   Marybeth Holleman witnessed the unspoiled beauty of Prince William Sound, the immediate aftermath of the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez, and subsequent years of healing. She details the devastation wrought by both the ruptured oil tanker and the swarm of experts and volunteers who came to help. Fifteen years later, the coasts and wildlife of Prince William Sound still show evidence of this oil.

   This is an intimate look at a specific wild place in the vastness of Alaska. A gentle voice tells her stories, reflects on her life and beloved environment, and reveals an inner landscape. The pages display photographs taken by the author. The words are her love songs for the wild creatures, the water, and many natural wonders of the sound. Such intimacy brings us into her world and broadens our capacity to see and to care what she is passionate about, perhaps humanizing us in unexpected but important ways.

   I hope to visit Alaska some day to see the glaciers and the wildlife, to experience the wonders, serenity, and potency of nature. When I go, I will have more respect for the fragility of such beauty. The Heart of the Sound gave me a more complete and complex story about a well-known disaster-not just how this event affected the author and the Alaskan community back then, but how it affects all of us, all of life still.




5. This is a great book about nature! Reading it, one can easily imagine Thoreau looking over Holleman's shoulder as she explore's the wilds of the sound.

No comments about Katmai Country (Alaska Geographic).

No comments about Alaska on the threshold: Adventures in a year of change.

No comments about Alaska.

No comments about Hammond Maps Alaska/Western Canada.