Here are 40 hikes and walks, all within a 520-mile stretch of rugged coastline known as the "Inside Passage." The author provides historical, cultural and natural points of interest as well.
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Editorial Reviews
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This volume is aimed at travelers to Alaska who like to do more than remain on the cruise ship or visit trinket shops at the ports. However, this book is not for the hard-core hiker or Generation X thrill seeker; it is aimed at the fairly fit but casual walker or hiker, the tourist who seeks out what is off the beaten path without having to risk life or limb to find it. (The author brought her two-year-old on most of the hikes suggested.) While all the walks appear moderately challenging, each is rated, helpfully, from easy to difficult. Some of the walks take you to fairly remote places, others cut right through the center of thriving Alaska towns. Each chapter, based on city or area, details interesting sites and a bit of the local history. The introduction wisely suggests the best walks for different types of travelers. The writing is informed and easy going, the author is helpful with hints and personal observations, and progression of the book up coast easy to understand. No doubt Pomano-Lax will inspire similar adventures in the reader and, one hopes, a similar attitude of casual but respectful observation. There are, however, two significant additions I would have like to have seen: 1) A brief essay on the general history and culture of the region (in addition to the interesting discussions that go on within the chapters). 2) Maps of each walks, instead of several walks on one map. A third minor production note would have been to italicize the "By air" or "By ferry" entries in the Access section. This would have made finding that essential information easier. With 400,000 visitors to the Inside Passage yearly, no doubt this book will appeal to more than a few adventurous cruise ship tourists - to the nature lover as well as the people watcher. It will be a good bet for either reader, introducing both to sides of Alaska they would likely not have seen otherwise. -- From Independent Publisher
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More About the Author
Born in 1970 in Chicago, Andromeda Romano-Lax worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow, was translated into eleven languages and was chosen as a New York Times Editors' Choice, BookSense pick, and one of Library Journal's Best Books of the Year. Among her nonfiction works are a dozen travel and natural history guidebooks to the public lands of Alaska, as well as a travel narrative, Searching for Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez: A Makeshift Expedition Along Baja's Desert Coast, which was an Aububon Editor's Choice. Andromeda lives with her husband and children in Anchorage, Alaska, where she co-founded and now teaches for a nonprofit organization, the 49 Alaska Writing Center.
On a more personal note, Andromeda also belongs to a book club of intelligent women who cook fantastic Alaska dinners and occasionally tease her for steering discussions away from the scallops and salmon and back to issues of character, theme, and language, of which she never tires. She keeps a log of everything she reads, including her personal reactions to those works, something she started years ago to address the gaps in her early education, which had previously focused on political science and marine science. She loves travel, especially with her husband and children, and running, cycling, and triathlons (well, maybe "loves" is too strong a word for those activities, but she does enjoy them in the company of friends). She has played cello off and on, but never a tenth as well as Feliu, the protagonist of her debut novel, The Spanish Bow. Her vices include red wine, tortilla chips and salsa (which she will eat to the point of stomachache), and towering piles of yet-to-be-read books on most surfaces. On a first weekend-long date with her future husband over twenty years ago, they argued late into the night about the Holocaust (his interest, not hers), neither expecting that she would later become a novelist interested in writing about Nazis and the Third Reich. Her favorite novelists include Ian McEwan, Philip Roth, Kazuo Ishiguro, Paul Theroux, Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, Meg Wolitzer, Zoe Heller, Lionel Shriver, and Jon Clinch.
Andromeda blogs at www.romanolax.com and enjoys hearing from readers.
On a more personal note, Andromeda also belongs to a book club of intelligent women who cook fantastic Alaska dinners and occasionally tease her for steering discussions away from the scallops and salmon and back to issues of character, theme, and language, of which she never tires. She keeps a log of everything she reads, including her personal reactions to those works, something she started years ago to address the gaps in her early education, which had previously focused on political science and marine science. She loves travel, especially with her husband and children, and running, cycling, and triathlons (well, maybe "loves" is too strong a word for those activities, but she does enjoy them in the company of friends). She has played cello off and on, but never a tenth as well as Feliu, the protagonist of her debut novel, The Spanish Bow. Her vices include red wine, tortilla chips and salsa (which she will eat to the point of stomachache), and towering piles of yet-to-be-read books on most surfaces. On a first weekend-long date with her future husband over twenty years ago, they argued late into the night about the Holocaust (his interest, not hers), neither expecting that she would later become a novelist interested in writing about Nazis and the Third Reich. Her favorite novelists include Ian McEwan, Philip Roth, Kazuo Ishiguro, Paul Theroux, Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, Meg Wolitzer, Zoe Heller, Lionel Shriver, and Jon Clinch.
Andromeda blogs at www.romanolax.com and enjoys hearing from readers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very useful for SE Alaska in-town visitors,
By A Customer
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This review is from: Walking Southeast Alaska: Scenic Walks and Easy Hikes for Inside Passage Travelers (Paperback)
As a "just for the fun of it" day hiker I found this book really useful. I traveled thru Southeast Alaska via State Ferry and found the hints and suggestions here right on target. The hikes/walks the author suggests are basic and easy but give you a great flavor of each town. I really like the "walking notes" section for each hike, this section gives special hints on what to look for in each walk. All of the local tourist info centers in SE towns have local walking maps but this book offers shorter and longer hikes based on how long you want to spend on the trail - which compliments local maps. The only drawback would be that the hand drawn maps don't really give you a sense of scale, nor do they have any landmarks listed as guideposts for the walks. This is a great book for both cruise ship and independent travelers. It is a great place to start exporing the port towns of SE Alaska.
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