Alaska's people enchant tourists and armchair travelers asutterly as that state's wildlife and scenery do. Its cultures,subcultures, and individuals have long fascinated MichaelEngelhard, a former resident, outdoor educator, and wildernessguide, a scholar of philosophical bent. His smart, witty voice hereprofiles a river ranger, a bear-dog trainer, a pathfinder, a grifter,smoke jumpers, Orthodox nuns, and Denali's shuttle-bus drivers,...

National Outdoor Book Award Winner in JourneysForeword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist in NatureNautilus Book Award Winner"Engelhard locates life—biological, cultural, and geophysical—in every mile of this vast, wild landscape." —Robert Moor, author of On Trails: An ExplorationA lyrical memoir that interweaves wilderness, homeland, cultural connections, historical figures, humor, and gritty experiences across ...

Beyond Sled Dogs and GoldSomewhere between myths and hard facts you find Nome, poised also between yesterday and tomorrow. Drawing on his background in anthropology and an equal passion for history, Michael Engelhard surveys the seam that links two neighboring continents through the lens of one pivotal city. The region's legacy of millennia shines on pages enriched by this writer's recollections-from mammoths to Cold War monuments, from a spa turned orphanage to cy...

In the footsteps of Desert Solitaire, these essays by an award-winning writer and student of culture sift decades of experience backpacking and boating for a stance that questions the mainstream. More than mere tales of bravado, they offer glimpses into the heart of the places explored, with the Grand Canyon as their center of gravity. Vivid, finely crafted, shot through with humor, self-effacing while deeply opinionated, No Walk in the Park shows what it means to meet na...

“A high-water mark in river running humor from the guides and the misguided.” —Tim Cahill, author of Pass the Butterworms and Pecked to Death by Ducks“Full of great tales, funny stories, and river lore, it will make some river runners eager to get back into the boats—and some wishing they had stayed home.” —Peter Stark, author of Last Breath and Driving to Greenland“Just when you thought whitewater mayhem was no laughing matter, Michael Engelhard serves up Hell’s Half Mile,...

Prime Arctic predator and nomad of the sea ice and tundra, the polar bear endures as a source of wonder, terror, and fascination. Humans have seen it as spirit guide and fanged enemy, as trade good and moral metaphor, as food source and symbol of ecological crisis. Eight thousand years of artifacts attest to its charisma, and to the fraught relationships between our two species. In the White Bear, we acknowledge the magic of wildness: it is both genuinely itself and a screen for our imagin...

Edward Abbey, who never much liked Alaska, called it "our biggest, buggiest, boggiest state." To others, it has been a cure for despair. When Michael Engelhard moved to Fairbanks more than three decades ago, he was a cheechako, a subarctic tenderfoot. Gathering skills and experiences the hard way, he attained "Sourdough" status while realizing there would always be more to learn, see, and do in the land of midnight sun and auroras.En route, Engelhard suffered frostbite, stubborn ya...

Beyond Sled Dogs and GoldSomewhere between myths and hard facts you find Nome, poised also between yesterday and tomorrow. Drawing on his background in anthropology and an equal passion for history, Michael Engelhard surveys the seam that links two neighboring continents through the lens of one pivotal city. The region's legacy of millennia shines on pages enriched by this writer's recollections—from mammoths to Cold War monuments, from a spa turned orphanage, to c...

In the footsteps of Desert Solitaire, these essays by an award-winning writer and student of culture sift decades of experience backpacking and boating for a stance that questions the mainstream. More than mere tales of bravado, they offer glimpses into the heart of the places explored, with the Grand Canyon as their center of gravity. Vivid, finely crafted, shot through with humor, self-effacing while deeply opinionated, No Walk in the Park shows what it means to meet na...

A lyrical memoir that interweaves wilderness, homeland, cultural connections, historical figures, humor, and gritty experiences across northern AlaskaFrom the award-winning author of Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon comes an intimate exploration of Alaska's northernmost mountain range with observations on Indigenous cultures, conservation, and intense cross-country travel, all shaped by respect for the land. Follow author Michael Engelhard ...

Girl in the Woods is Aspen Matis's exhilarating true-life adventure of hiking from Mexico to Canada—a coming of age story, a survival story, and a triumphant story of overcoming emotional devastation. On her second night of college, Aspen was raped by a fellow student. Overprotected by her parents who discouraged her from telling of the attack, Aspen was confused and ashamed. Dealing with a problem that has sadly become all too common on college campuses around the country, she stumbled th...

The mysterious disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in New Guinea in 1961 has kept the world and his powerful, influential family guessing for years. Now, Carl Hoffman uncovers startling new evidence that finally tells the full, astonishing story.Despite exhaustive searches, no trace of Rockefeller was ever found. Soon after his disappearance, rumors surfaced that he'd been killed and ceremonially eaten by the local Asmat—a native tribe of warriors whose complex cu...