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Reading List: Long Distance

May 29, 2015November 21, 2019
by Ashley Gossens

Now that Memorial Day has passed and we got our first barbeque under our belts, it’s officially summer! It’s time for long hot slogs up mountains, weird hiking boot tan lines and eating gorp while reading books! Here are some great adventure stories to add to your summer reading list. Have any favorites to add? I would love to hear about them in the comments!

I Hike by Lawton Grinter

Lawton Grinter takes out the monotony of his over 10,000 hiking miles and gives us his best stories from his thru-hikes. These include an ice cream eating contest on the AT that goes terribly wrong (I do not recommend reading this one while enjoying your trail food), to learning to pee while walking to save time (all those minutes spent leaving the trail for privacy just wastes time), to the heart-felt story of losing the person who influenced his long-distance hiking and a harrowing story of a lost hiker on the PCT. Anyone with a trail name will find a comrade in Grinter and all others will find a great story teller. You can get more of Grinter on the monthly podcast, The Trail Show and his trail documentary, Walkumentary.

Almost Somewhere by Suzanne Roberts

At the age of 22, Suzanne and two girlfriends from college set off to hike the 210 mile long John Muir Trail through the High Sierra in California. The trip is harder than any of them imagined and they were mired by rain, hunger, aching muscles and personality differences. Suzanne, a big fan of John Muir, naively thought that the beauty of the mountains would simply propel her along the trail and speak to her in a profound way. Instead, she learns important lessons about dedication, friendship and about what it means to be a woman on the trails.

I Promise Not to Suffer by Gail Storey

After a career crisis, Gail’s husband Porter decides to crisscross the country with two long distance bikes rides and hiking the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. Gail commits to the bike riding, but she was not much of a hiker. She gives up on the AT, promising that she would do the PCT. Finally the time came and she couldn’t back out. Now in their fifties, the couple, dubbed by their trail mates as Porter-and-Gail struggle to make their way. Gail loses too much weight and has trouble carrying her load as Porter is increasingly impatient. The two make their way all the while contemplating their life issues- Porter was weighing his career options and Gail’s mother was dying of cancer. They are ultimately contemplating their reasons for being on the trail and how to reconcile these reasons with what was happening off trail. The pain, struggle and passion can be felt in Gail’s writing as she does her best to keep to the trail for the deep love of her husband. Porter-and-Gail’s adventures continue on her blog.

Walking the Big Wild by Karsten Heuer

Karsten and his wife Leanne are no strangers to the long distance way of life. They spent their honeymoon chasing migratory caribou on foot for five months in northern Canada and Alaska . They also paddled, walked, and sailed across Canada with their two-year-old toddler to meet Farley Mowat (one of my favorite authors!). This book tells the story of another long distance journey, this time through the Rockies from Yellowstone to the Yukon in search of the grizzly bear. Karsten is a wildlife biologist and he set out to determine how human development and deforestation effects the migratory routes of wildlife in this important corridor. His goal is to study and bring attention to the obstacles to wildlife in this area keeping them from completing traditional migrations. This book does just that while also telling a compelling story of adventure.

A Long Trek Home by Erin McKittrick

Erin, a Seattle native, met her husband Hig in college and they have been adventuring since. After graduation they decided to set off to Alaska. They did not fly or drive there like us normal people would do. They got there completely self-powered by boat, ski and foot over a staggering 4000 miles. They wanted to find adventure, but they also wanted to raise awareness of the deforestation, mining operations and loss of salmon habitat that plagued their route. Erin helped found the non-profit Ground Truth Trekking that works on conservation issues in Alaska. She, Hig and their two kids live off the grid in a yurt on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. She writes about their life on her blog.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Ok, I know this book is on all the hiking book lists and Bryson’s trip on the trail was a short one in comparison to the journeys of the others on this list, but this book is just downright entertaining. I remember reading the whole book on a rainy spring day and I couldn’t wait to get my feet in my boots. It’s become a classic of sorts, and coming this fall it will be a movie starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. It looks kind of reminiscent of that bucket list movie: a feel-good movie about some old guys going on an adventure. I don’t exactly have high hopes for the movie, but I will definitely watch it.

Outdoor Life

Backpacking Chugach: Part 2

February 11, 2015August 7, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

When we discovered our food stash had been raided by ground squirrels we panicked a little. But after taking inventory of our remaining stock we found we had enough meals to continue with no extras and little to snack on. We were thankful that we threw in some emergency ramen noodles when we packed. We spent our second night just below Ship Lake Pass relieved that we could continue.

The next day we wanted to climb a couple peaks before continuing on to the next camp. The Ramp and the Wedge rise above either side of Ship Lake Pass. We started with the Ramp, the higher of the two, and then traversed over to the Wedge like traveling from the horn to the cantle of a saddle. Ship Lake glittered below us like an aqua bike seat shaped jewel. Clouds clung to the tops of the high peaks around us saturating the vibrant green of the valley below.

Our destination for the day was Deep Lake in the next valley parallel to us. We could follow the trail back down the way we came and then climb up to a pass and up the Ball Park to Deep Lake or we could stay up high and traverse the scree around O’Malley Peak to meet up with the trail at the pass. We were hesitant to walk back down and then up another steep climb so we decided to off-road it in the alpine for a shortcut. Anyway, it didn’t look far to the pass.

Looks can be deceiving in Alaska. Things that look close are actually quite far, slopes that look gentle end up steep, rock that looks solid from afar can end up being unstable. I was cursing this land as I took two steps in the scree only to slide down three. Meanwhile the bottoms of my feet felt like they were being sheared off and my ankles ached from traveling perpendicular to a steeply sloped mountain for hours. We gingerly circumnavigated massive boulders in the scree. It was slow going to say the least. We didn’t get to the pass until early evening. I praised the joys of a level trail on my aching feet as we climbed the gradual trail through the Ball Park to Deep Lake. That night we longed for that extra food we lost to the squirrels. We made a list of all the food we could eat: pizza, burgers, snickers and faded to sleep.

On the fourth day we left our base camp at Deep Lake and took a day hike to the Walliwaw Lakes. We made our way to another pass and descended to Black Lake, a good description for this dark water lake. As we were walking down from the pass we saw some black dots moving above us. We took out the binoculars and watched two wolverines chasing each other in the snow.

Then we explored the Williwaw Lakes. The chain of picturesque lakes is nestled at the feet of colorful mountains. The lakes had a top layer of crystal clear water and below they were a pure blue. It was as if glacial silt had settled to the bottom of the lake and stayed undisturbed for millennia.

We returned for another night at Deep Lake (which should really be called lake in a deep, steep hole) and the next day returned to the busy trailhead. As we arrived some clean tourists were looking at something excitedly through the binoculars. A bear! they exclaimed. We laughed and exchanged knowing glances. We knew that the real threat out there was those darn ground squirrels. We got a ride back to town from a nice man and his young son and finally got the pizza we were craving at Moose’s Tooth.

It was quite an adventure for our first backpacking trip. We prepared the best we could- we studied the map, brought bear spray and extra food, but still there were issues unexpected. I don’t regret anything we did on this trip but rather remember it as creating an important foundation for life in the outdoors. I know I must take risks, make mistakes and learn in order to make myself a better person, both in outdoor endeavors and in life.

chugach_route — Our route in yellow (the dashed line is our approximate off-trail route), map from http://dnr.alaska.gov.

Chugach State Park: Alaska’s Backyard Wilderness by Bill Sherwonit with photos by Carl Battreall

If you have ever flown into the Anchorage International Airport then you’ve probably flown over Chugach State Park. Although these mountains dominate the skyline of the most populated city in Alaska, they are often overlooked by tourists. They are predominately visited by locals and few have witnessed the most remote parts of the park. This book shows off the beauties of this area over all four seasons, highlighting just some of the stunning scenery, plants, and wildlife in the park. I picked up this book in a tiny bookstore in Anchorage just after our backpack trip, it is now a treasured part of my book collection. Click on the title link above to see a slideshow of some of the photos in the book. You can also purchase a signed hardback version of the book on the website.

The great Alaskan photographer Carl Battreall is currently working on an ambitious project to document the entire Alaska Range for a large format photo book which has never been done before. You can see his photos and follow his story on his blog, The Alaska Range Project.

Hikes Featured in this Post:

Chugach State Park, AK

Outdoor Life

Backpacking Chugach: Part 1

February 6, 2015August 7, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

As the plane descended over the mountains I wondered what we got ourselves into. My forehead was glued to the window as I gazed out at the smooth emerald green mountains. They were so beautiful, but also rugged and desolate. I got butterflies in my stomach and a huge smile on my face. We were on our way to Anchorage for our first backpacking trip.

We planned for five days in the Chugach State Park just outside of Anchorage. We bought a brand spanking new tent, thankfully free of the suffocating wet dog smell of my husband’s hand me down tent of his youth. I suffered through a few car camps in the thing but I refused to spend a good portion of week in basically a leaky, smelly tarp, not to mention that it weighed approximately ten pounds.

So with our shiny new tent and lightweight gear we headed to REI to pick up fuel, bear spray and some dehydrated meals. We stopped next door at the Middle Way Cafe to get breakfast before hitting the trail. At that nondescript cafe nestled in a strip mall I had the best breakfast in my life: french toast with whipped blueberry butter and fresh blueberry compote. We were ready.

We took a shuttle van to the Glen Alps trailhead with other tourists looking to hike the popular Flattop Mountain. We waded through the people to find the Powerline Trail. We hoisted our packs and started our journey. The trail winds through low vegetation with a few stream crossings, gradually climbing up the valley. Not long into the hike some people told us there was a moose with her calf up ahead and to be careful. About ten minutes later I looked over and saw two brown humps poking out of the bushes. The moose looked up at me nonchalantly chewing leaves. I screamed and ran away, then returned to take a picture. Not exactly what you are supposed to do. Luckily the moose didn’t seem to mind.

We took a side trail to Hidden Lake and set up our first night’s camp. We blew up our sleeping pads for the first time (how luxurious!) and cooked our first dehydrated meals. We explored the rocky arm above the lake and wandered on the lichen rich scrub. We took in the alpine view and waited for a sunset that never came. We finally went to sleep in our cozy new outdoor habitat. It was comforting to know that the wildlife could not approach unseen and there was no darkness to be scared of.

On the second morning we packed up and headed to Ship Lake Pass. We set up camp before heading over the pass and down to Ship Lake so we wouldn’t have to carry our packs back up the pass. We decided not to keep the food in the tent but we were above treeline and there was nothing but rocks in all directions. We decided to bury the food under some rocks so a bear would not get to it and took off for the lake. We crested the top of the pass and were blown away, literally it was quite windy but the lake and the mountains towering behind it were breathtaking.

We wandered in the flowers around the lake for what seemed like hours. There were no trails here, it felt truly wild even though in reality we were not all that far from downtown Anchorage. We climbed back up to the pass and to our campsite. As we approached we saw that our things were disturbed. There was no sign of the much dreaded bear, but rather the tiny chew holes of the ground squirrel.

They chewed through our towel, our large collapsable water jug and chewed tiny holes through my backpack. Luckily the damage was minimal. Then we remembered the food we buried in the rocks nearby. We rushed over to see if they breached our cache and sure enough they did. We were horrified to find the remains of our tastiest meals and our big bag of gorp. We took inventory of what was left. Would there be enough to continue or would we have to turn back, cutting short our first backpack trip ever? Stay tuned for Part 2!