Like nearly everything else in Alaska, the hiking trails are bigger, tougher, and more extreme. I consider myself an avid hiker, but there's no doubt that the Alaskan trails have tested my mettle. In California, even in the high elevations of the Sierra Nevadas, I can hike a "strenuous" trail with little problem. I can expect that I will be able to follow the trail, locate the next cairn, and anticipate the problems along the way (too many mosquitoes, the occasional black bear, an August creek crossing). Here in Alaska, even the "moderate" trails end of being strenuous to me, and we're not even at any elevation! Taken from the Harding Icefield shelter. If you look closely you can see the writing on the wall that says, "I have very sensitive knees." Granite Tors Trail, Chena River Recreation Area outside of Fairbanks view from the beginning of the descent This is one of the best hikes I've ever been on because of the diversity of plant life, th
Milan Kundera wrote that "being in a foreign country means walking a tightrope high above the ground without the net afforded a person by the country where he has family, colleagues, and friends, and where he can easily say what he has to say in a language he has known from childhood." These are the stories of my tightrope walking and the joy of falling.