Margaret E. Murie, Two in the Far North (Portland: Alaska Northwest Books, 1997).

I have never been to Alaska, but I do hope to visit someday. Margart Murie reminds me why I want to visit and why I want to plan my visit in such a way that I get off the beaten path and travel by human power to some of the only places. Walking, canoeing, and just finding places to sit and look. Her stories of her adventures with Olaus and others are reason enough to have wilderness. Even the places I have not visited are worth having because others have visited those places and some of them, like Mrs. Murie, are such descriptive and delightful authors that they have given us readers a tour of the place.

This is a book to read again and again. And it is a book to tuck into my backpack when I finally am able to visit Alaska someday. The only thing more delicious than reading the book would be reading it while camping in the wild country - a perfect activity for a rainy day. When the sun shines, I want to be outdoors looking carefully at the wildness that remains.