Water and Sky: Reflections of a Northern Year

by Alan S. Kesselheim

Overview

This narrative goes beyond a mere chronicling of miles traveled, of deep-winter hardships, of whitewater challenges and wildlife confrontations. Paralleling the day-by-day account of their wilderness odyssey is the theme of introspective journeying and self-discovery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781555910464
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/01/1989
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Alan S. Kesselheim lives with his family in Bozeman, Montana. He is a contributing editor to Canoe magazine and writes for a number of other publications. He and his wife, Marypat Zitzer, have canoed the far north several times, explored southwestern deserts, pedaled thousands of miles on bike tours, skied and backpacked through the Rockies and hiked the Appalachian Trail.

Editorial Reviews

With his companion Marypat, Kesselheim paddled 2000 miles through the Canadian wilderness, a 14-month odyssey that began on the Athabaska River near Jasper (Alberta) and ended at Baker Lake, an Inuit settlement in the Northwest Territories west of Hudson Bay. After nine weeks the pair arrived at the eastern end of Lake Athabaska where they planned to spend the winter as caretakers at a fishing camp; the nearest human habitation was a Chipewyan village an hour away by snowmobile. The second summer, Kesselheim's brother and his wife joined the couple for the trip north across the Barrenlands. Very few people have made this journey in modern times, and no wonder--fierce winds, rain (24 out of 35 days for this party), insect hordes, frequent and difficult portages, extremes of temperature offer a severe challenge to the hardiest traveler. Kesselheim gives a marvelous picture of the Canadian north; he conveys the risks and rewards of wilderness travel in fine style. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This story is of an expedition deep into the Canadian wilderness. Two people, the author and his companion (now wife), Marypat Zitzer, paddle their canoe from near Jasper, Alberta along the Athabasca River to Baker Lake in Canada's northwest territories. The trip covers 2000 miles and 14 months. It is not only a story of the journey through the wilderness, but also of an introspective journey of each traveler's discovery of insights, achievements, and perceptions. This journal provides more of a sense of time than either Sam Wright's Koviashuvick: A Time and Place of Joy ( LJ 3/15/89) or John Haines's The Stars, the Snow, the Fire ( LJ 6/1/89). The reader sees the wilderness not simply as a utopia, but as a real place, at once dangerous, beautiful, and a place in which to grow.-- Mary J. Nickum, Fish and Wildlife Reference Svce., Bethesda, Md.

Library Journal

The story of an expedition in the deep Canadian wilderness. Regrettably, there are no photos. No bibliography or index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews