Canoe trek to Davidson Glacier near Skagway, Alaska
I think I had Alaska all wrong. But I refuse to take full responsibility for my ignorance, instead choosing to blame Jack London and George Lucas. London’s short story “To Build a Fire,” was one of the first pieces of literature I read describing that unknown and mysterious area, and it made me feel frozen and terrified. The surprising thing was that I could not wait to read more. Until that time, I read only to fulfill the requirements of school reports or when my older sister was feeling generous enough to share her extensive collection of Richie Rich comic books with me. But London’s work managed to connect with my love of the outdoors and the natural world in a way no author had before. So I read more of his work – all of it in fact, even though the overall impressions I gained about Alaska from these readings were that it was an extremely cold, dangerous, and uncaring land in which many “flatlanders” came to die and those who did not die often wished they had because it would have been less painful.
My views of Alaska steadily declined as George Lucas’s fame increased. It was my assumption that he filmed the frozen planet of Hoth somewhere on the Alaskan landscape. Looking back now, I cannot explain why I felt this was so, but after seeing the movie “The Empire Strikes Back,” I became even more leery of this treacherous place where even a Jedi Knight could be attacked by wild Wampas, kept alive only by spending the night in the stinking belly of a recently slain Tauntaun. This did not seem at all appealing to me, and it only helped to strengthen my misconceptions about our 50th state. So it was that London and Lucas warped my early conceptions about Alaska. But Mickey Mouse recently helped to change all that.
It was, in fact, not just Mickey but my wife, children, and Grandma Rose that helped to make Alaska the 49th state that I have set foot in and also the only one that I now realize I misjudged so completely. I also believe that the last frontier to our north may just hold the answers to extending the life of this planet and, at the very least, of reminding us all about what really matters.
It was my wife’s dream to see Alaska, and at the outset of our discussion I tried to dismiss her fancies by providing my bride with a rather old and dog-eared copy of Jack London writings that I had kept on the bookshelf all these years. I had thought the reading of it would bring her to her senses, and put enough ice in her veins to change the woman’s mind to a more peaceful and hospitable vacation destination – like a nice quiet beach somewhere. I really don’t think she read the book, and before I knew it she had infected our children with this dangerous wanderlust for heading out due north toward the frozen tundra. I promptly sat them all down for a viewing of “The Empire Strikes Back,” and even made a point to mention that I believed most of it was filmed in what were considered the more hospitable portions of Alaskan territory, but I soon realized it was well past all that now and my efforts were as useless as trying to persuade Chewbacca to work on his enunciation and diction.
You see, my kids had told Grandma Rose about our Alaskan dreams during a recent sleepover. Grandma Rose had already brought them the magic of a Caribbean Disney Cruise in the past. And Grandma Rose had spoken with my wife. Either woman separately would have been a force to reckon with, but I was no match for the combined pair – the decision had been made, we were all going to Alaska and Mickey Mouse was sailing us there on one of his cruise ships. I plan to write more about traveling via Disney in the future – for now suffice it to say that if you can, you should, and preferably with as many family members and children that you can tolerate for an extended period of time. You will regret nothing about the money you spend or the experiences you have together. But more about that in a future ramble…
Our ship left harbor from Vancouver, Canada, and visited three southeastern cities that are only accessible by plane or by boat; Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Looking at a map of the region now, it appears that we barely visited the entirety of America’s property in the north, but I have never seen an expanse of wilderness as large or as marvelous as what we observed. Most of the sailing was done close to land, navigating deep ocean channels or fjords filled with melting glacier water and icebergs of various sizes and degrees. What struck me from the start was the familiarity of the landscape – a fantastic panorama of dark green wild forest growing on old, mossy rolling hills that reminded me of my beloved Adirondacks. The striking difference was the view beyond the lower, rolling hills. Always in the background were the piercing leaden granite peaks cutting through the blue sky to spectacular heights and each one crowned by a different pattern of snow and clouds. The contrast in these two landscapes reminded me of glancing around a large family reunion and seeing the older, wiser members of the family settled in their favorite lawn chairs comfortably, looking very contented to be a part of the overall scenery while the younger, stronger, more fretful members of the kinfolk towered above them in their naïve and unwavering belief that they would always hold their status as giants of the earth.
And it is at this point in my anecdote that I realized, after previously rambling on for almost 3,000 words and then backtracking and finding a suitable spot to edit, that I will never be able to completely and fully explain my experience or my new understanding about Alaska outside of my own busy head. To try to do so would be futile – as are so many things that go under the “you had to be there” category. So in place of trying to sit you down and force you through what I fear would be a rather long and boring slideshow of my convoluted thoughts, I will give you some “bullets” that might help to explain my feelings and perhaps even entice you on your own excursion to the last great frontier.
Things I learned about Alaska:
– There remain some beautiful, pristine, primitive places in the world. And I hope they always stay that way.
– Watching countless Bald Eagles soar over blue waters, witnessing large, raucous crowds of Sea Lions sunning themselves on ancient boulders, and being present when a Humpback Whale blows cold misty water high into the air before slowly and gracefully surfacing, arching up towards the sky and returning back down to the clear, cold depths – observing all of these things in the moment with no screens or play buttons or chance to rewind beats anything that human technology can offer – hands down, no contest….
– Greed is a man-made concept.
– People can actually live on only what they need, and many seem happier and have more freedom by doing so.
– The glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates. The Earth is warming up. We need to take more care and recognize that what we do, or don’t do, really matters.
– Nothing lasts forever. But some things can last much longer if we consider their needs as well as our own ambitions.
– And lastly, from a bumper sticker on a rusty old Chevy pick up truck in Juneau: “I’d rather be fishing and thinking about God, than sitting in a church and thinking about fishing”.
I understand now why people have been drawn north throughout history to this rugged terrain. I understand the “Call of the Wild” that Jack London described over a century ago. At first I thought it was simply a call for those seeking adventure, or a challenge, or something to conquer. But this was all wrong. Alaska does not need to be conquered, or beaten, or tamed. It is not the threatening, menacing, hostile place I mistook it for. Alaska is simply one of the few places left on this planet I have seen that has large portions of endless wild – natural wild – that follows the laws of nature and can, if we allow it, educate us all about what those laws are and how they work harmoniously and beautifully and perfectly without any disruption or corruption from mankind.
Thanks Alaska – and the forces that created you – for everything that is priceless and true and wild…
It seems like your wife’s dream really fulfilled a dream you didn’t even know you had. Funny how those things happen when you follow your dream and sprinkle a little pixie dust. Those memories will stay with me forever. What a blessing to have such a loving family.
Looks like an AWESOME vacation Brian! Thank you for sharing. But the question is “Would you want to LIVE there?” Why? or Why not?