Arctic Traverse: A Thousand-Mile Summer of Trekking the Brooks Range

by Michael Engelhard Narrated by Patrick Lawlor

Overview

A lyrical memoir that interweaves wilderness, homeland, cultural connections, historical figures, humor, and gritty experiences across northern Alaska



From 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 through tussock-studded tundra for a remarkable tale of bear encounters and white-knuckled river moments, as well as poetic reflections on a vast, untamed landscape. A trained anthropologist, Engelhard evokes classic writers like Edward Abbey, Barry Lopez, and Ellen Meloy with profound dives into human and natural history and vivid meditations on Alaskan wildlife, flora, and geology. When he embarked on this thru-hike, fewer people had completed it solo in a single push than had dived to the floor of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of Earth's oceans.



Much more than a captivating account of a human-powered solo thru-hike and float, Arctic Traverse illuminates the spirit of Alaska, drawing on encounters with Indigenous elders, guided clients, scientists, and others as well as on Engelhard's long-held dream and his experiences of the land itself.

Editorial Reviews

Roman Dial

Engelhard weaves rich human and natural history into lyrical

Adventures Northwest - Cathy Grinstead

Each day’s events trigger explorations of subjects that arise from [Engelhard ’s] reflections along the way, and in the process of detailing his trek, he often goes off on a delightful tangent.... The stories and knowledge the author has shared remain with us long after finishing the book.

Eastern Mountain Sports goEast - Jaime Herndon

A tale of a traveler who has Seen Some Things, has a healthy respect for wildlife and the elements, and knows that humans are just a small part of this large world. Engelhard’s observations about nature in his daily entries are down-to-earth and a delight to read.... Engelhard has created a love letter of sorts to the Brooks Range.

Hank Lentfer

Arctic Traverse shimmers with caring, connection, and poetic prose.

The Nature Conservancy's Cool Green Science - Matthew L. Miller

Engelhard captures the highs and lows of such an expedition, and he’s by turns cranky and euphoric. He doesn’t shy away from confronting his own contradictions.

The Cordova Times - Margaret Bauman

Each day is an adventure of its own, in which Engelhard describes the terrain, the rain and sunshine, and the mosquitoes so clearly that the reader may feel relief to not actually be there.

Appalachia - Steve Fagin

[Engelhard] writes with precision and poetry, taking readers on a literary journey into a wild environment few humans dare to explore. It’s a worthy trip.

Anchorage Daily News - Nancy Lord

An exceedingly well-crafted work.... With his significant knowledge of the region from both guiding and anthropological work and with impressive observational skills, research and insight, Engelhard has fashioned a text that should appeal to multitudes of readers.

Midwest Book Review

An inherently fascinating and informative read from start to finish.

Robert Moor

Engelhard locates life—biological, cultural, and geophysical—in every mile of this vast, wild landscape.

Jon Waterman

Amid the few soloists who have taken on the 1,000-mile traverse of the Brooks Range—to deal with bears, even hungrier bugs, and summer snowstorms—there aren’t any who can write like Michael Engelhard: with humility, footnoted precision, and nuanced observations of the strange but beautiful landscape that marked his soul. Reading Arctic Traverse is the next best thing to being there.

EcoLit Books - Bill Streever

It is a wilderness journal, prose poetry, a treatise in philosophy, a primer on northern ecology, and pure magic, all rolled into one seamless volume.... And that is what pushes the book from the realm of the merely good to that of the great.

Susan Sommer

Michael Engelhard shows us what maps don’t: the Arctic’s sights, sounds, and smells; its cultural backdrop; how its indifference humbles a person; the nature of memory and mortality.

Kristen Rabe (starred review)

Captivating…. A poetic memoir about a solitary trek across a remote and majestic wilderness.

ArcticToday - Bill Sherwonit

As amazing as his solo journey was, what makes his account of that traverse singularly appealing are the stories that Engelhard shares along the way. As readers, we are blessed that this former outdoor instructor and wilderness guide schooled in cultural anthropology appears to be, above all else, a wonderful storyteller.

Pete Fromm

Engelhard is a writer who knows wilderness as well as he knows himself, who knows it will take days to quiet his mind and tune out the world.

Shannon Polson

Lovers of far-north lands shouldn’t miss this elegy to one of the world’s last great wildernesses.

Booklist (starred review) - Colleen Mondor

Buoyed by Engelhard’s wry sense of humor and encounters with those he meets along the way, Arctic Traverse is a rare entry in the outdoor genre. The author’s expertise is clear, but more important, his wit invites readers to laugh and occasionally shudder with him as he makes his way to a final landing in Kotzebue. A true Alaskan treasure.

Nick Jans

Grizzly encounters and brutal tundra slogs are punctuated by side treks into natural and human history and philosophical musings spiced with humor and literary wit—a meandering trail that demands the reader’s attention and offers much in return. Arctic Traverse is a true adventure of the human spirit.

Bill McKibben

I’ve traveled just enough in this remarkable country to sense the truth and power of Michael Engelhard’s epic account.

Kenneth Brower

Michael Engelhard’s fine book captures the vastness and beauty of the Brooks Range.

Library Journal

02/23/2024

Cultural anthropologist/outdoor instructor Engelhard (Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon) takes readers along his exploration of the Brooks Range in Alaska. He backpacked for 48 days, starting at Joe Creek near the Canadian border and 170 miles north of the Arctic Circle, then canoed 10 days down the Noatak River to Kotzebue. Clouds are beautifully and lyrically described as "gray as a prison blanket," or "jellyfish low on the hills," and "a day that has grayed into gruel." He defines "solastalgia" as the grieving for places irrevocably lost and plays with language again when he describes the wildlife and landscape with such gems as "bearanoia," "hellish tussocks," and "decapitated summits.". He also quotes a wide array of thinkers, critics, writers, photographers, Zen masters, and more. The book includes notes and a bibliography that's unusual for a travel memoir. VERDICT This book gorgeously documents the author's journey through a wild landscape. For readers of travel memoirs and outdoor adventures.—Margaret Atwater-Singer

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191492179
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/01/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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