Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog Team

by Pam Flowers, Ann Dixon (With)

Overview

“Pam spurned conventional rewards, entrusted her dream to eight powerful huskies, and set out alone to cross the Arctic. . . .a most extraordinary journey.” —Sir Ranulph Fiennes, renowned adventurer

Eight sled dogs and one woman set out from Barrow, Alaska, to mush 2,500 miles. Alone Across the Arctic chronicles this astounding expedition. For an entire year, Pam Flowers and her dogs made this epic journey across North America arctic coast. The first woman to make this trip solo, Pam endures and deals with intense blizzards, melting pack ice, and a polar bear. Yet in the midst of such danger, Pam also relishes the time alone with her beloved team. Their survival—her survival—hinges on that mutual trust and love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780882408361
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	03/15/2011
Edition description:	First Edition,Revised,First Edition, Revised
Pages:	120
Sales rank:	454,485
Product dimensions:	7.02(w) x 9.99(h) x 0.28(d)
Lexile:	840L (what's this?)

About the Author

Pam Flowers is the fourteenth recipient of the Gold Medal from the Society of Woman Geographers, following in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart, Margaret Mead, and Jane Goodall. Named an Outsider of the Year by OUTSIDE MAGAZINE, she has participated in nine Arctic expeditions and completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Pam is the author of ORDINARY DOGS, EXTRAORDINARY FRIENDSHIPS; ELLIE’S LONG WALK; HUG A HUSKY; DOUGGIE and, along with Ann Dixon, is the coauthor of ALONE ACROSS THE ARCTIC: ONE WOMAN’S EPIC JOURNEY BY DOG TEAM and BIG-ENOUGH ANNA. Pam has spoken to more than 700,000 students at over 1,200 schools and has spoken at the Smithsonian, the St. Louis Science Center, and hundreds of public libraries. Ann Dixon is the author of eight picture books for children and one nonfiction title for young adults, as well as poems, essays, and nonfiction for adults. She lives in Homer, Alaska, where she works as the director of the Homer Public Library. Her children’s books have garnered numerous awards, including the National Outdoor Book Award, Ben Franklin Award, and Patricia Gallagher Award. She and her husband have two grown daughters. anndixon.net

Read an Excerpt

Alone Across the Arctic

One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog Team

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By Pam Flowers

Alaska Northwest Books

Copyright © 2011 Pam Flowers
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780882408361

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After leaving Shingle Point, we entered the Mackenzie River Delta, a maze of frozen river channels lined with steep banks and willow thickets. The stubby, two-foot shrubs were the closest thiing to trees we'd seen in more than three months---a welcome sight until we tried moving through them. My idea that it would be quickest to head straight across the delta was quickly proven wrong.

March 18th   -4F   15 M.P.H S/SE  32 miles

Douggie remembered the hard struggle yesterday and didn't want to enter the thicket. I couldn't blame him. We took an early lunch break and I climbed a nearby pingo to look around. I could see no way around this jungle that lay ahead of us.

I gave Douggie the command to go forward and he reluctantly pushed his head into the first bunch of branches. The snow was punchy and about a foot deep. The willow branches kept grabbing att he gangline and, in the course of an hour, managed to snag Lucy, Sojo, Roald, Robert, Matt, Anna, Alice, and Douggie. Every time a dog got snagged, our little train came to a stop and I had to wade up and free their line.

 

Continues...

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Excerpted from Alone Across the Arctic by Pam Flowers Copyright © 2011 by Pam Flowers. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements  Page 3

Map                              Page 6-7

Ch 1 Beginnings       Page 9

Ch 2 Training             Page 21

Ch 3 The Expedition: Across Alaska  Page 40

Ch 4 The Expedition: Across Canada  Page 58

Expedition Supply List    Page 116

Glossary                           Page 117

Index                                 Page 119

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An inspring story, well told. —Booklist

A fine armchair read....packed with ongoing action.  —The Bookwatch

Forget mystery novels!  I couldn't put this book down.

    —-Patrica McConnell, Ph.D, Host of Calling All Pets, PBS radio, and a certified Applied Animal Behaviorist.

Editorial Reviews

Pam Flowers on The Moth radio show: themoth.org/posts/stories/alone-across-the-arctic

A freelance writer for several outdoor magazines and a participant in Alaska's famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Flowers here chronicles her 2500-mile, solo dogsled journey from Point Barrow, AK, to Repulse Bay in the Northwest Territory of Canada. Her journey began in the dark of winter 1993 as she sledded east following a route first taken by the fifth Thule Expedition in 1922. Even though Alaskan sled dogs are wild, bred to pull, and usually kept chained up when not hitched to a sled, Flowers developed a close relationship with each of her eight dogs (each of whose personalities she describes here). But despite all her affection, she almost had to abandon the trip when her lead dog, Douggie, ran away for 12 days. Along the way, she steadfastly endured the persistent Arctic storms and the ever-present fear of animal predators and encountered many of the people and places described in Jonathan Waterman's ARCTIC CROSSING. Beautiful color photographs greatly enhance this delightful and well-written story of perseverance. Recommended for public libraries. —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Pam spurned conventional rewards, entrusted her dream to eight powerful huskies, and set out alone to cross the Arctic. . . . a most extraordinary journey.” —Sir Ranulph Fiennes, renowned adventurer 

 “A fine armchair read . . . packed with ongoing action.”—The Bookwatch 

 “Forget mystery novels! I couldn’t put this book down.” —Patricia McConnell, PhD, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist

Gr 5-10-With a young dogsled team, no sponsors, and no spare lead dog, Flowers set out to fulfill a lifelong dream to retrace, in reverse, a 1923-24 expedition by Norwegian explorer Knud Rasmussen and two Inuit companions, who traveled the length of the North American coast by dog team. If Flowers succeeded, she would be the first female and first American to mush that route solo. Using a balanced content of narrative, journal entries, boxed information bits, and numerous photographs, Flowers, with Dixon, details the exhilarating and often harrowing journey. Journal excerpts capture much of the emotion: "My eyelashes freeze together and I can't open my eyes. I have to crawl back to the tent on my knees-and frantically claw the snow away from my eyes." Readers will be fascinated by the descriptions of her dog team, introduced individually with photographs and comments. About Roald, for example, she writes: "Though intelligent, Roald lacked confidence, which sometimes caused him to clown around rather than try his hardest." A list of equipment and supplies is included. The message of this exciting book is important. At journey's end, as she stood alone with her dogs, she summarized her emotions. "The dogs, I believe, felt it too. We'd done well, and in doing so, had won what I consider the greatest reward of all: self-respect. We carry it with us wherever we go." This is an engaging survival story with broad appeal. —School Library Journal

Coauthored with Dixon, a children's book author (Blueberry Shoe), this exciting memoir recounts Flowers's 2,500-mile journey across the North American Arctic, undertaken at the age of 46. Retracing in reverse a 1924 expedition led by Norwegian explorer Knud Rasmussen, Flowers and her eight sled dogs mushed from Barrow, Alaska, to Repulse Bay in Northwest Canada, becoming the first woman and the first American to do so. Fulfilling a lifelong dream and driven by an adventurous spirit forged in childhood, she left her job as a respiratory therapist and began seriously training for the expedition in 1992; the trip began in February 1993. The sled dogs, for whom the author has "tremendous respect," ranged in age from one to nine years and spring to life through descriptions of their strengths and distinct personalities. Dependent on one another for survival, Flowers details the care she took to make sure the dogs received enough food, water, rest and love for each day's travel. She recounts how her lead dog, Douggie, was able to sense the right direction even when she could not. She and her dogs battled cold, wind, storms and exhaustion on the tundra. Their isolation was broken by brief visits with settlers in the small Alaskan and Canadian communities where they rested and Flowers picked up supplies. At one point, due to unsafe summertime sea ice, she briefly considered giving up. Instead, the team rested for several months in an Inuit village and successfully completed the expedition in January 1994. —Publishers Weekly

"An inspiring story, well told." —Booklist

From the Publisher

Coauthored with Dixon, a children's book author (Blueberry Shoe), this exciting memoir recounts Flowers's 2,500-mile journey across the North American Arctic, undertaken at the age of 46. Retracing in reverse a 1924 expedition led by Norwegian explorer Knud Rasmussen, Flowers and her eight sled dogs mushed from Barrow, Alaska, to Repulse Bay in Northwest Canada, becoming the first woman and the first American to do so. Fulfilling a lifelong dream and driven by an adventurous spirit forged in childhood, she left her job as a respiratory therapist and began seriously training for the expedition in 1992; the trip began in February 1993. The sled dogs, for whom the author has "tremendous respect," ranged in age from one to nine years and spring to life through descriptions of their strengths and distinct personalities. Dependent on one another for survival, Flowers details the care she took to make sure the dogs received enough food, water, rest and love for each day's travel. She recounts how her lead dog, Douggie, was able to sense the right direction even when she could not. She and her dogs battled cold, wind, storms and exhaustion on the tundra. Their isolation was broken by brief visits with settlers in the small Alaskan and Canadian communities where they rested and Flowers picked up supplies. At one point, due to unsafe summertime sea ice, she briefly considered giving up. Instead, the team rested for several months in an Inuit village and successfully completed the expedition in January 1994. Color photos. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A freelance writer for several outdoor magazines and a participant in Alaska's famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Flowers here chronicles her 2500-mile, solo dogsled journey from Point Barrow, AK, to Repulse Bay in the Northwest Territory of Canada. Her journey began in the dark of winter 1993 as she sledded east following a route first taken by the fifth Thule Expedition in 1922. Even though Alaskan sled dogs are wild, bred to pull, and usually kept chained up when not hitched to a sled, Flowers developed a close relationship with each of her eight dogs (each of whose personalities she describes here). But despite all her affection, she almost had to abandon the trip when her lead dog, Douggie, ran away for 12 days. Along the way, she steadfastly endured the persistent Arctic storms and the ever-present fear of animal predators and encountered many of the people and places described in Jonathan Waterman's Arctic Crossing. Beautiful color photographs greatly enhance this delightful and well-written story of perseverance. Recommended for public libraries. John Kenny, San Francisco P.L. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Gr 5-10-With a young dogsled team, no sponsors, and no spare lead dog, Flowers set out to fulfill a lifelong dream to retrace, in reverse, a 1923-24 expedition by Norwegian explorer Knud Rasmussen and two Inuit companions, who traveled the length of the North American coast by dog team. If Flowers succeeded, she would be the first female and first American to mush that route solo. Using a balanced content of narrative, journal entries, boxed information bits, and numerous photographs, Flowers, with Dixon, details the exhilarating and often harrowing journey. Journal excerpts capture much of the emotion: "My eyelashes freeze together and I can't open my eyes. I have to crawl back to the tent on my knees-and frantically claw the snow away from my eyes." Readers will be fascinated by the descriptions of her dog team, introduced individually with photographs and comments. About Roald, for example, she writes: "Though intelligent, Roald lacked confidence, which sometimes caused him to clown around rather than try his hardest." A list of equipment and supplies is included. The message of this exciting book is important. At journey's end, as she stood alone with her dogs, she summarized her emotions. "The dogs, I believe, felt it too. We'd done well, and in doing so, had won what I consider the greatest reward of all: self-respect. We carry it with us wherever we go." This is an engaging survival story with broad appeal.-Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal