Editors' Picks
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EDITORS’ PICKS MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS SAMPLER MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS is dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas. www.mountaineersbooks.org 1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134 800-553-4453, www.mountaineersbooks.org Mountaineers Books 2020 Sampler Copyright © 2020 by Mountaineers Books All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. All excerpts included in this book are the exclusive property-license of Mountaineers Books. Arctic Solitaire © 2018 by Paul Souders Dragons in the Snow © 2020 by Edward Power Edge of the Map © 2020 by Johanna Garton Journeys North © 2020 by Barney Scout Mann Miles from Nowhere © 1983 by Barbara Savage Nature Obscura © 2020 by Kelly Brenner Raven’s Witness © 2020 by Hank Lentfer Rising © 2019 by Sharon Wood The Road to San Donato © 2019 by Robert Cocuzzo The Starship and the Canoe © 1978 by Kenneth Brower Walking to the End of the World © 2018 by Beth Jusino Mountaineers Books and its colophon are registered trademarks of The Mountaineers organization. Design and layout: Mountaineers Books 2020 Sampler, Dragons in the Snow, Edge of the Map, Miles from Nowhere, Raven’s Witness, The Road to San Donato, The Starship and the Canoe: Jen Grable Arctic Solitaire: Kate Basart/Union Pageworks Journeys North, Nature Obscura: Melissa McFeeters Rising: Lorraine Rath Walking to the End of the World: Heidi Smets Graphic Design Mountaineers Books titles may be purchased for corporate, educational, or other promotional sales, and our authors are available for a wide range of events. For information on special discounts or booking an author, contact our customer service at 800-553-4453 or [email protected]. CONTENTS Arctic Solitaire 7 Dragons in the Snow 29 Edge of the Map 44 Journeys North 61 Miles from Nowhere 92 Nature Obscura 116 Raven’s Witness 140 Rising 163 The Road to San Donato 188 The Starship and the Canoe 214 Walking to the End of the World 225 A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, This month of April marks the 60th anniversary of Mountaineers Books, an independent and nonprofit publisher based in Seattle. For sixty years we’ve been publishing books that educate readers about the outdoors, connect us all to wilderness places, and inspire everyone to find their own outdoor adventures. While we are widely known for our comprehensive and expertly researched guidebooks and instructional texts, we also have an extensive list of award-winning narratives—outdoor adventures, natural histories, biographies, memoirs, and more. As we all now face a different kind of “adventure”—that of staying home, keeping our distance inside and out, finding new ways to explore and connect—the staff here is doing what we often do: turning to books. This reading sampler reflects some of our favorite books that we’ve recently published, or that will be published later this year. From the heights of Everest to the backroads of Tuscany, the distant reaches of Hudson Bay to intimate coves along the Inside Passage, the boot-beaten route of the Pacific Crest Trail to the centuries-worn path of the Camino de Santiago, we’ve got a good story to share with you. As author Kelly Brenner writes in her new book Nature Obscura, “Writing is really just a type of camera obscura, a projection of the real world.” With this sampler, and from the shelter of your home, you’ll discover the real world tracks of sled dogs across the tundra as well as the existence of patterns and tufts in garden moss. If you enjoy any of the samples collected here, get in touch with your local bookstore to order a copy. Or, head to our website and at checkout, use the discount code TIMETOREAD for 25% off your order. Not only will you get yourself a great book, you’ll also be supporting an independent, nonprofit publisher. Stay sane, stay healthy, and read well! Best, Arctic Solitaire Kate Rogers Editor in Chief Find us online at www.mountaineersbooks.org or follow us: arctic_solitaire_Pages_Final.indd 1 5/14/18 12:56 PM Arctic Solitaire arctic_solitaire_Pages_Final.indd 1 5/14/18 12:56 PM ChApter 12 Ice I’ll admit now that the message I left on my wife’s voicemail did me no favors. “Hi sweetie. I’m um . okay. This is my position: latitude 65° 38.92' north . longitude 83° 49.54' west . Hey . I’ve got a bit of a situation here. Could you take a peek in my office and look up the numbers for the boat insurance policy?” I was standing on an empty stretch of gravel beach, satellite phone in hand, not another living soul within fifty miles.C-Sick sat trapped precar- iously on the rocks, surrounded by massive icebergs. From shore to distant horizon, I saw nothing but an uninterrupted sea of white. I was so very, very fucked. None of this was part of my plan for the day, of course. But almost getting yourself killed so rarely is. I had blithely motored out of Petersen Bay, giddy in the morning sunshine. A thin band of pack ice had blown against the shore, but a mile offshore the water remained open. C-Sick glided outside this ice edge on calm seas, and I scanned for polar bears and walrus through C-Sick and arctic sea ice, Melville Peninsula east of Repulse Bay 137 arctic_solitaire_Pages_Final.indd 136 5/14/18 12:56 PM arctic_solitaire_Pages_Final.indd 137 5/14/18 12:56 PM ChApter 12 Ice I’ll admit now that the message I left on my wife’s voicemail did me no favors. “Hi sweetie. I’m um . okay. This is my position: latitude 65° 38.92' north . longitude 83° 49.54' west . Hey . I’ve got a bit of a situation here. Could you take a peek in my office and look up the numbers for the boat insurance policy?” I was standing on an empty stretch of gravel beach, satellite phone in hand, not another living soul within fifty miles.C-Sick sat trapped precar- iously on the rocks, surrounded by massive icebergs. From shore to distant horizon, I saw nothing but an uninterrupted sea of white. I was so very, very fucked. None of this was part of my plan for the day, of course. But almost getting yourself killed so rarely is. I had blithely motored out of Petersen Bay, giddy in the morning sunshine. A thin band of pack ice had blown against the shore, but a mile offshore the water remained open. C-Sick glided outside this ice edge on calm seas, and I scanned for polar bears and walrus through C-Sick and arctic sea ice, Melville Peninsula east of Repulse Bay 137 arctic_solitaire_Pages_Final.indd 137 5/14/18 12:56 PM my binoculars. I didn’t get far. Just a few miles south, at the next little spit of If I stayed out in the ice, I would lose all control. The pack would take land, ice blocked all but a narrow path. Beyond that, it stretched all the way us where it wanted. I might spend hours, or even days, trying to push my to the horizon. way clear. A four-thousand-pound boat against millions of tons of ice? I I heard the chuffing exhalations of a small herd of walrus swimming had a better chance of pissing over the side and trying to melt my way out. toward the ice and I gave chase, hoping to get some sort of picture. At the Worse, C-Sick faced the very real threat of being pinned, then slowly crushed same time, I repeated to myself, “I do not want to get stuck in this.” The between moving floes. walrus quickly vanished, so I let out the anchor chain and rowed my dinghy As the ice carried me closer to the rocks, I spotted one small patch of ashore, to take a look around from what meager elevation I could find. gravel beach. I had run aground more times than I cared to admit in my The view was as stunning as it was disheartening: nothing but the unre- checkered boating career, but never on purpose. I turned hard to port, nudged lieved white of thick pack ice as far as I could see through the binoculars, the throttle, and pulled the outboards’ blades halfway out of the water, where all the way to Southampton Island twenty miles south. No open water, no they egg-beatered behind me. Then I drove C-Sick right up on the shore. channels or leads; a solid wall. The only way I could go any farther would be I thought the ice had sounded awful, but the noise of rocks grinding the to start walking. length of her hull was far worse. My poor boat howled in protest, a sound I scanned back and forth with my binoculars with what must have been a like something dying. When C-Sick would go no further, I killed the motors, stupid look on my face. I kept thinking, “Where did that come from?” All the leapt overboard in rubber boots, and shouldered her in until she was firmly while ignoring one of the first rules of the Arctic: Watch your back. grounded in the shallows. Then I dragged the anchor and chain out thirty When I finally turned around, the bay behind me was filling with ice. yards to make sure she didn’t get any bright ideas about leaving me for good.