Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog Team [Hardcover]

Pam Flowers (Author), Ann Dixon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

In February 1993, eight sled dogs and one woman set out from Barrow, Alaska, to mush 2,500 miles. "Along Across the Arctic" chronicles this astounding expedition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Coauthored with Dixon, a children's book author (Blueberry Shoe), this exciting memoir recounts Flowers's 2,500-mile journey across the North American Arctic, undertaken at the age of 46. Retracing in reverse a 1924 expedition led by Norwegian explorer Knud Rasmussen, Flowers and her eight sled dogs mushed from Barrow, Alaska, to Repulse Bay in Northwest Canada, becoming the first woman and the first American to do so. Fulfilling a lifelong dream and driven by an adventurous spirit forged in childhood, she left her job as a respiratory therapist and began seriously training for the expedition in 1992; the trip began in February 1993. The sled dogs, for whom the author has "tremendous respect," ranged in age from one to nine years and spring to life through descriptions of their strengths and distinct personalities. Dependent on one another for survival, Flowers details the care she took to make sure the dogs received enough food, water, rest and love for each day's travel. She recounts how her lead dog, Douggie, was able to sense the right direction even when she could not. She and her dogs battled cold, wind, storms and exhaustion on the tundra. Their isolation was broken by brief visits with settlers in the small Alaskan and Canadian communities where they rested and Flowers picked up supplies. At one point, due to unsafe summertime sea ice, she briefly considered giving up. Instead, the team rested for several months in an Inuit village and successfully completed the expedition in January 1994. Color photos.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-10-With a young dogsled team, no sponsors, and no spare lead dog, Flowers set out to fulfill a lifelong dream to retrace, in reverse, a 1923-24 expedition by Norwegian explorer Knud Rasmussen and two Inuit companions, who traveled the length of the North American coast by dog team. If Flowers succeeded, she would be the first female and first American to mush that route solo. Using a balanced content of narrative, journal entries, boxed information bits, and numerous photographs, Flowers, with Dixon, details the exhilarating and often harrowing journey. Journal excerpts capture much of the emotion: "My eyelashes freeze together and I can't open my eyes. I have to crawl back to the tent on my knees-and frantically claw the snow away from my eyes." Readers will be fascinated by the descriptions of her dog team, introduced individually with photographs and comments. About Roald, for example, she writes: "Though intelligent, Roald lacked confidence, which sometimes caused him to clown around rather than try his hardest." A list of equipment and supplies is included. The message of this exciting book is important. At journey's end, as she stood alone with her dogs, she summarized her emotions. "The dogs, I believe, felt it too. We'd done well, and in doing so, had won what I consider the greatest reward of all: self-respect. We carry it with us wherever we go." This is an engaging survival story with broad appeal.

Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Alaska Northwest Books (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882405470
• ISBN-13: 978-0882405476
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #878,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unforgettable story and a lesson about life, December 30, 2001

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog Team (Hardcover)

I came to know about this book because a member of our church choir is a friend of the incredible woman who undertook to live out her dream of retracing the journey of Knud Rasmussen from Repulse Bay to Barrow, Alaska....some 2,500 miles along the entire length of the North American Arctic coast and loaned it to my wife.

I was happily reading Ken Follet's most recent novel when this book arrived in our home. Because the story is about dogs, the human spirit and an amazing adventure, I started reading what it had to say. It was soon after that I decided that Mr. Follet's book could wait.

Several houurs after that, I am writng this review and suggesting, urging, imploring, anyone who has an appreciation of what is involved with staking it all in answering your life's dream to give yourselves a wonderful present and read this book.

You will learn a lot about what it takes to own and run a team of sled dogs, about what is involved in planning such an expedition and all of the pitfalls to be avoided...but more importantly, you will have your eyes opened to a corner of the human spirit that too many of us shy away from as being..too dangerous..too odd..too off the wall..which will make you assess what it is that is important in your life. We already know what is important with the author's life from reading the book. However, she did not write this book to encourage more sled dogging. The book is a beautiful metaphor about life and one's dreams and one's soul. This author found the key. So should we all. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this most wonderful adventure.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Since writing the review that appears above, I have learned that the book was the recipient of a First Place award at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in the catagory TRAVEL ESSAY. It is well deserved and the book has goine into a second printing.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! What a story..., December 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog Team (Hardcover)

Like adventure? This book has it on every page! Prefer suspense? Try figuratively walking behind Pam Flowers as she crosses rotting arctic ice, not knowing whether she'll be able to make it to land. Want a good animal story? Here's one that stars eight dogs, with other species making cameo appearances. And, by the way, it also shows a lot about the incredible bonds of trust, companionship and loyalty which can develop in a team which includes dogs and humans. Hope to inspire someone to dream big dreams and work hard to make them come true? This is one of the most inspirational books I've ever read. And there's more...cross-cultural experiences, lots of information about life and survival in today's Arctic regions, history and humor.

Written for fifth and sixth graders, this is a definite cross-over book. I can't imagine an adult who would find it childish; third and fourth graders will enjoy listening to it.

The well-chosen photos illustrate the perhaps-unexpected beauty of the coastal Arctic, as well as the harshness of parts of the trip. And the side bars provide lots of information which illuminates the story without interrupting its flow.

What a woman! What a dog team! What a story!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring., March 19, 2002

By 

branstrom (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog Team (Paperback)

The more I read this book, the more convinced I became that this sort of adventure was not for me (not that I've really been tempted). But crossing the artic by dog sled was Ms. Flowers' dream, and the further I read the more I respected her for her courage and persistance. Her dream was downright risky and life threatening. Her book puts these risks and the possibility of death in perspective, as simply things to deal with in facing her dream. There's a lesson to be learned here, about taking risks in our own lives. I won't recommend this book to everyone, but my friends who appreciate courage and finding your own way will certainly hear from me.