A Long Trek Home

We just finished another great book as part of our regular reading together routine: A Long Trek Home - 4000 Miles by Boot, Raft, and Ski by Erin McKittrick.

"From Puget Sound to the Bering Sea ---
Four thousand miles along the edge of the Pacific ---
A world reduced to just two small packs and the next one hundred yards..."

In 2007 Erin and Hig embarked on an incredible journey which started from their home in Seattle, Washington and ended in the Alaskan Alutian Islands - 4000 miles of rugged coast adventure using ultra-light backpacking techniques, packrafts, and skis. This book is the story of their year-long journey to "better understand the interplay between human communities, ecosystems, and natural resources" along the northern Pacific coast.

This book is not a how-to book, biography, or a travel guide. It is a collection of observations, stories, and reflections of their journey as it progressed through each of the seasons. Part adventure story, part environmental assessment, part nature guide, and part love story, there is something there for everyone. We were treated to beautiful descriptions of interactions with nature and wildlife. We saw how human activity impacts that wildlife. We visited remote peoples and villages. We learned how this young couple's relationship progressed from being young urban city dwellers to a family living in a yurt (inaccessible by roads) in a small Alaskan town.

One other thing we really like about this book was the "immersive" experience that we were able to have by viewing other media from the journey. In 2007, when Hig and Erin were originally on this journey, I followed their progress in a series of articles, photos, and videos on BackpackingLight. To read this book together and then go back and show the family those photos and videos really helped round-out the experience. One example is the story of a bear encounter they experienced in the spring. To read the account and experience what was going through Erin's head at the time, then to actually see the event recorded on video was really cool:

To immerse yourself a little more in their Alaskan world, there are lots of resources available on Hig and Erin's website Ground Truth Trekking.

Book Giveaway

Now that we have finished reading this book, we want to pass it on to one lucky commenter. All you have to do to qualify to win is leave a comment. The only thing we ask is that when you are finished reading it, please give it away to someone else.

The cut-off date for being eligible to win is Sunday April 11, 2010. Good luck!

Update 2010-04-15: Congratulations to Chris O'Connor (a.k.a. @GrumpyWookie) for winning the giveaway! Please come back here and comment once you have finished reading it to let us know what you think!