Customer Reviews

Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Adventurer, naturalist and narrator, Hahn takes the reader along through the spectacular scenery of a fabled coastline. Often pristine and wild, sometimes developed or abused, always interesting, sometimes scary. This is not another machismo assault of man-against-the-elements, this is Jennifer-and-the-sea. And she knows the sea well. This book is a good read. Inspirational and informative; enjoyable for knowledge gained (filling the plate at the "intertidal table") and emotions evoked ("At 2 A.M. I woke to hear food bags being shredded outside my tent..."). Spirited Waters is a spirited narrative of a modern grand adventure.

This is the debut passage of a kayak guide whose fecund and original prose is reminiscent of Annie Dillard and John Muir. As if her exceptional natural history writing isn't enough, Jennifer Hahn is also heritably wired--through the accidental deaths of her mother and brother--to the calculated risks of a modern day Odyssey. Her encounters with hairy bears, scarey tiderips, lonely men, huge seas, and a spy-hopping gray whale are gripping and inspirational.

I read this book one winter day tucked safely and warmly under my bed covers. In the summer I signed up for a kayak trip with the author. Did the book inspire me--you bet! And I've been going on adventure trips ever since. I've bought the book for friends who love it as well. It's an exciting read but more importantly, for me, a life changer. Marilyn McLauchlan Bainbridge Island, Wa

For those who have ever dreamed of taking a trip through Alaska's Inside Passage, Jennifer Hahn's Spirited Waters might be the closest thing to making that dream come true. With every page reader's can feel the freedom, the thrill, even the tension and moments of fear that Hahn experiences--whether cause by acts of nature (predictable and unpredictable) or acts of people along the way (well-intentioned or otherwise).

Motivated in part by the untimely deaths of her mother (when Hahn was a young girl) and then her brother when he was just 32 and in part by the persistent "whispers" of her own dreams, Hahn knew "it was time." "Dreams," Hahn says, "I've learned have the patience of Job. Like mushroom mycelium, they can live underground for years, laying a vast framework while awaiting an opportune rainstorm to waggle their fruits. Unbeknownst to me," she continues, "such a storm was approaching as I strode into my early thirties...Whatever dreams lay sleeping inside me; my intuition said I'd better roust them ASAP. For all I knew, like my adventurous mom and my brother, I might not live past my mid-thirties, either."

Armed with the survival skills she had learned over the years and had been teaching for almost 15 years, as well as the tools of survival she could fit into her kayak, Yemaya, she set off--alone!

"Kayaking, "she says, "offers the traveler one of the most holistic and sensual rides," largely because one can move "at a walking pace" in a kayak. At maybe three miles per hour (if there's no wind or current) the traveler can observe--see, hear, feel--the smallest details in the water, the flora, the fauna, even the wind and the water current.

Hahn's adventure--72 days on the water--spanned two summers and two springs with breaks in between during the most unrelenting Alaskan climate. While she spares no details, readers flow through the pages and the chapters as smoothly and adventurously as Hahn flowed through the Inside Passage.

As impressive as the thoroughly engaging and often poetic prose are Hahn's delightful, detailed maps and illustration of birds, plants, flowers, and animal tracks. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, laden with wonderful insights, tales of trials and trails, and exciting accounts of seemingly endless adventures.

Imagine one of your closest friends just took a remarkable adventure. The two of you are out to dinner for the first time afterwards and she is telling you stories about the amazing things she saw and did along the way. That is exactly how Spirited Waters was for me. I just couldn't wait to hear what Jennifer Hahn saw and did next! I am a kayaker myself and have been to several of the places that she wrote about, and I couldn't have described their beauty any better myself. Reading this wonderful book made me want to jump in the car with a kayak strapped to the roof, head north out of the hustle and bustle of Seattle, and set out for an adventure of my own. Even if you aren't a kayaker it would be hard not to take up the sport after reading Jennifer Hahn's book.

Spirited Waters is not just another run of the mill, macho adventure story. Don't get me wrong, you'll find plenty of excitement, danger, and a wonderful guide to roughing it in the remote Pacific Northwest, but this book offers so much more. This is a moving journey of self discovery in one of the last great wildernesses of the Pacific Coast. Hahn is a true wild woman whose love of the natural world makes her stories lush with detail, a succulent feast for your mind's eye. I've finally found my ideal wilderness adventure reading, a beautiful narrative inspired by a passion for all things wild, and written from the heart.

My Dad absolutely loved this book. I sent it as a gift as he is an ardent nature lover. He told me that he just, "couldn't put it down and had memorized the plants in the pictures." I sent it to him after I borrowed a copy from the library and I knew he would love it! I did too!

Wow, what an amazing journey and a fun book to read! I really appreciated the author's candidness in talking about both her triumphs and fears during her journey. In this way it is not the "typical adventure story," but instead more like having a conversation among friends. "Spirited Waters" is inspiring to anyone, and with each new leg of the journey you feel like you are right there in the kayak with Jennifer. The drawings and maps are fantastic too!

Perhaps I've read too many stories of epic journeys or "firsts," but Jennifer's trip, while commendable, seemed like "cheating." Taken in chunks over a period of years, with some sections paddled north to south and others south to north, when the going gets rough, the author hitches a ride on a boat - not once, but twice! Too cold or rainy? She pulls out her VISA and sleeps in a B&B! Granted, she does endure much of the discomfort (read: lack of creature comforts) associated with outdoor adventures, but it loses some of its "gee whiz" appeal when there's always a cozy boat or lighthouse not too far away. The descriptions ad nauseum of seaweed, urchins, and lichens turned edible delicacies had me turning the pages looking for real adventure. Her encounters with bears were nothing more than hyped-up fear of what might happen -- same with those nasty drunk men who never even came near. Granted, as a woman kayaker, I give Jennifer great credit for her trip and knowledge, but the claims are a bit grandiose when compared with actuality. Good descriptions of the natural beauty as well as kayaking with whales and otters, but I'll wait for the next book when she does it all in one trip without hitching or sleep-overs under down comforters.

I just finished reading Jennifer Hahn's Spirited Waters. I admire courage where ever I see it especially in the water since I can't swim! But Hahn's book is about more than courage. It's about the beauty of nature and the loneliness of a solitary adventure.

I felt as though I was with Jennifer in that kayak experiencing the grandeur of the Inside Passage and navigating unknown treacherous waters at every turn. I loved her ability to convey her fear during a storm and her strength in rallying her inner resources to conquer it.

Most of all, it was Jennifer's writing style and observations of things such as the wildharvesting and my amusement in her description of plucking seaweed for a snack.

I will probably never be in a kayak much less traveling 750 miles in one in seventy days but Jennifer Hahn brought the experience to me in Spirited Waters. I marvel at her ability to breath life into her experience through the written word as well as the drawings that enhance the story. Reading about her adventure put me in the story with her.