< Haines, AK | Whitehorse, Yukon >
Travels in Alaska
July 26, 2007
I have been incredibly lucky in every aspect of my travels in Alaska, including misfortune, including thirst, including famine. So to everyone I have met along the way: thank you so much for showing a kindness that rivals even the landscape in its pure and natural beauty.
At the time of writing this, I have ridden 920 miles through the North, South and South East of Alaska. Every mile I have ridden has been one of the most scenic miles I have ever ridden. Everyone I have met has been one of the most kind people I have ever met.
I have given up trying to describe Alaska in writing. It is beyond my ability completely. I think it is beyond the common experience to imagine that land and sea and ice can combine in so many different ways, and that each combination is an expression of natural perfection. The color of the light causes rock to glow with silver and golden fire, and the ice has a depth and blueness to it that entrances me.
My body still bears the marks of a host of biting insects, whose bite would at times would drive me to madness, but whose sting would fade with the first sight of some new and stunning vista. And if that suffering was the price I must pay to experience everything I have, I do not begrudge the land my blood.
I have entitled this section Travels in Alaska in deference to John Muir, who wrote a book of the same name. In the first few pages, I found myself thinking: “Yes, this is what I felt exactly. This is exactly what the land has been like.” He was a far better writer than I can ever hope to be, and I entreat everyone to read his book.