Tracks Across Alaska

by Alastair Scott

Book Overview

Alastair Scott, the Scottish adventurer, is possessed only of chronic wanderlust and the perfectly beguiling pipe dream to dogsled his way across Alaska, following, for the most part, the Iditarod Trail. He arrives in Manley Hot Springs without dogs, sled, or experience. In amazingly short order, he outfits himself, begins to learn the rudiments of mushing, and one day lights out across the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Tracks Across Alaska is the entertaining, humorous, and humble account of Scott's journey through the Alaskan bush. Scott evokes the awesome magic of the landscape and encounters an extraordinary range of Alaskans, from the Iditarod champion Susan Butcher and other dog sled racers to trappers, Eskimos, a bush priest, the faceless fire and brimstone of KJNP (King Jesus North Pole) radio, and icefisherman on Little Diomede Island three miles from the Soviet Union, and F-15 pilots ever-watchful for encroaching MiGs. Scott's narrative recreates these characters in all their many lively and distinctive qualities, recording events and dialogue with crisp journalistic skill and an eye for the timeless, the transcendental, and the telling image.

His affection for the dogs adds an extra dimension to his tale. Each dog has its own remarkably unique personality, and the eight together make an unforgettable team. As Scott writes, "When dog sledding is perfect it is one of life's supreme sensations. It is the spirit and pleasure of travel in highest refinement. Man, animal, earth: a primitive trinity, beautiful in harmony." Tracks Across Alaska is a travel book like no other-this is as close as vicarious experience comes to the real thing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871134705
• ISBN13: 9780871134707
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Laughed out loud quite a few times...

Being owned by a couple of sled dogs myself and utterly familiar with their character(s), I was able to fully empathize with the author. This book is very well written, and I admired the author's candor when describing the rookie mistakes he made in the beginning of his adventure. Training sled dogs is a tough job in itself, now try doing it in a very harsh, demanding environment without all the comforts of (most people's) home. But the book not only focuses on the dogs, it also paints a very colorful picture of the people who live in Alaska's towns and in the wilderness. Hats off to those individuals who make it in an environment that can turn from stunningly picturesque to life-threatening within an instant! If you love adventure travel books, and happen to like dogs, too, this is the book for you.

The dogsledding dream at its finest.

If you've dreamt of leaving your job, car payments and cell phone for a pack of Alaskan Huskies and wide open tundra, you'll love this story. Keep in mind, it is not a book about running the Iditarod, but rather following the Iditarod trail. Excellent read and a must have for any dogsledding fanatic.

very fun read

A great read for anyone who romanticizes the great white north, or at least wants to know what its like. I was captivate by the crisp clear prose and was swept up in the adventure.

This is definitely worth looking at

A useful and crisp description of Alaska by an inveterate traveler. Scott has a good grasp of the art of writing clear and readable prose. A good view of the Idiatrod race and a cursory history of Alaska as well.