Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Adventures with Horses and Huskies [Paperback]

Miki Collins (Author), Julie Collins-Rousseau (Author), Christine Ummel (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

Twin sisters live off the land in the wilderness of Interior Alaska

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

If you've ever dreamed about homesteading in Alaska, you'll think twice after reading essayist Brice's description of backbreaking labor, isolation, and fear in her detailed portrait of two very different families living off the land. The Hannans, 150 miles from the nearest city in "a wilderness so profound that a case of appendicitis or a cut by an ax could be fatal," live simply in a dugout cabin, supplementing their store-bought provisions with food they grow, find, or hunt. Their two sons are home-schooled, and what little money they need is earned by trapping and seasonal jobs with an oil exploration firm. The Spears are also homesteaders, but they live on the road system. Though they have some modern conveniences, their primitive existence in a loosely organized community brings its own challenges of survival as they struggle to rebuild a church torched by an arsonist and deal with the "gut level hatreds, slander, property disputes, transciency and crime" of a diverse group of neighbors. Brice is at her best when letting the families speak for themselvesAher endless commentary about "personality and place" gets tiresome. The twin Collins sisters, on the other hand, make homesteading sound like one big adventure. Sure, they work hard; sure, they've been threatened by grizzly bears, volcanoes, muddy bogs, and frigid weatherAbut it seems there's nothing these gals can't handle with their trusty sled dogs and Icelandic horses by their side. Raised in the Alaskan wilderness since childhood, they went to college but returned home to hunt, trap, fish, and garden, writing about their experiences in various publications. While their writing lacks the telling details of the Brice book, their tales of adventure are exhilarating. Purchase the Collins book for the sheer fun of it and save Brice for sociology students.ACharlotte L. Glover, Ketchikan P.L., AK
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Epicenter Press; Revised edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 094539764X
• ISBN-13: 978-0945397649
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Iditarod & Dog-Sledding

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alaska wild and pure!, December 26, 2000

By 

"iskwew" (Whitehorse, YT Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Adventures with Horses and Huskies (Paperback)

I read Miki Collins' Riding the Wild Side of Denali in one sitting on a cold November Yukon morning and dreamt about it for many days to follow. If you'd like to taste real adventure and feel the cold crispness of life on the Alaskan trail, grab this one! Here, Miki relates the empassioned tales, sometimes hair-raising, sometimes hilarious, that she shares with her twin sister Julie as they embark on their wildest dream (or folly!!), yet : that of utilizing Icelandic Fjord Horses on their remote trapline at the base of Mt. Denali, AK. If you'd like to find out what it takes to convince a bush pilot to fly a horse that would like to join him in the cockpit of his small plane, or want to read true tales of a modern day trapline, ran by two women, huskies and Icelandic Fjord horses, this is the book for you. Humour, respect for the animals, images of human determination and the natural beauty of the alaskan wilderness are the gifts Miki Collins will leave you with. Whether you are a wilderness, adventure or horse lover or dream of the North as the last frontier, you'll love it. It would also make a great gift for teenage girls: the Collins are true models of women becoming all they can be.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, May 12, 2005

By 

Farmuel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Adventures with Horses and Huskies (Paperback)

What can you say?? AS always the Collins sisters give a humble yet riveting approach to bush life in Alaska. Unlike so many of the yuppies that take a two week trip somewhere and hurry back to suburbia to write about how they challenged the extremes of nature the Collins sisters simply live it. There is no bravado - just a matter of fact - this is what has to be done so we did it approach - that's what makes their writing so interesting to the common folk like me - it's not about them its about whatever they are doing - and therein lies the big difference between the yuppie on vacation and someone who lives what they are writing about.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book about Alaska and Icelandic Horses, October 17, 2009

By 

Ferne D. Fedeli (Point Arena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Adventures with Horses and Huskies (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book about the Collins sisters and their Icelandic horses in the wilds of Alaska. Since we have a cabin near Homer, Alaska, and I have an Icelandic horse--this book had lots of material of interest to me. Fascinating, interesting book--even if you don't have an Icelandic or a cabin in Alaska!