Journeys North

2020 Banff Mountain Book Competition Finalist in Adventure Travel In Journeys North, legendary trail angel, thru hiker, and former PCTA board member Barney Scout Mann spins a compelling tale of six hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2007 as they walk from Mexico to Canada. This ensemble story unfolds as these half-dozen hikers--including Barney and his wife, Sandy--trod north, slowly forming relationships and revealing their deepest secrets and aspirations. They face a once-in-a-generation drought and early severe winter storms that test their will in this bare-knuckled adventure. In fact, only a third of all the hikers who set out on the trail that year would finish. As the group approaches Canada, a storm rages. How will these very different hikers, ranging in age, gender, and background, respond to the hardship and suffering ahead of them? Can they all make the final 60-mile push through freezing temperatures, sleet, and snow, or will some reach their breaking point? Journeys North is a story of grit, compassion, and the relationships people forge when they strive toward a common goal.

A blend of oral history and memoir with a good dose of quirky humor, Tar Heel Traveler: New Journeys Across North Carolina is a celebratory look at the people and places of North Carolina. WRAL-TV reporter Scott Mason—the Tar Heel Traveler—profiles colorful characters and out-of-the-way places. The sequel consists of all new material and showcases twenty-five of Mason’s most memorable television stories along with the amusing stories behind each.

After author Shannon Huffman Polson's parents are killed by a wild grizzly bear in Alaska's Arctic, her quest for healing is recounted with heartbreaking candor in North of Hope. Undergirded by her faith, Polson's expedition takes her through her through the wilds of her own grief as well as God's beautiful, yet wild and untamed creation--ultimately arriving at a place of unshaken hope. She travels from the suburbs of Seattle to the concert hall, performing Mozart's Requiem with the Seattle Symphony, to the wilderness of Alaska--where she retraces their final days along an Arctic river. This beautifully written book is for anyone who has experienced grief and is looking for new ways to understand overwhelming loss. Readers will find empathy and understanding through Polson's journey. North of Hope is also for those who love the outdoors and find solace and healing in nature, as they experience Alaska's wild Arctic through the author's travels.

“A richly observant memoir of a coast-to-coast journey along the US-Canada border . . . An armchair traveler’s delight” (Kirkus Reviews). “Part travelogue, part memoir, part meditation, part exploration,” North Country is an account of a trip along the northern border of the United States in search of the country’s last unspoiled frontiers (The Boston Sunday Globe). In this vast, sparsely settled territory, Howard Frank Mosher found both a harsh and beautiful landscape and some of the continent’s most independent men and women. Here, he brings this remote area to vivid life in a book “bright with anecdote and history and lore and most importantly with affection for his human subjects” (Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Independence Day). “A classic road book. You could, with confidence, place this book on the shelf next to such American classics as John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and Jonathan Raban’s Old Glory.” —Detroit Free Press “What Mosher’s northern journey is really about is our society’s loss of Eden, the garden we were promised when we came here. The garden we’ve turned into pulp fiction and rocket ranges. The very fact that this brave book can stir up so many thoughts about the predicaments of civilization is surely an indication that it is well worth reading.” —Ottawa Citizen

Whether considering an ocean-to-ocean cross-country journey, a vacation ride through the Canadian Rockies, a full-length tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway, or an ambitious Four-Corners ride, Motorcycle Journeys Through North America provides the "big-idea" guidance every rider needs to plan fun-filled motorcycle tours throughout the continental United States and Canada. Emphasis is placed on the very best roads, with expert advice on: When to go Which routes to select Areas to avoid Must-see attractions along the way Places to stay and eat You'll also find plenty of first-hand stories and hard-earned lessons from expert touring riders. The only question that will remain is, What are you waiting for?

Written by the founders of HoneyTrek.com, this inspiring book reveals hidden-gem destinations and insider tips for unforgettable couples travel. In these informative pages, Mike and Anne Howard--officially the World's Longest Honeymooners and founders of the acclaimed travel blog HoneyTrek--whisk you away to journeys of a lifetime. Drawing on their experience traveling together across seven continents, they curate the globe and offer tested-and-approved recommendations for intrepid couples, bringing culture, adventure, and romance to any couple--no matter their age or budget. Chapters are organized by type of destination (for example, beaches, mountains, and deserts) to help travelers discover new places and experiences based on their interests. Each entry focuses on a specific region, getting to the essence of each locale and its one-of-a-kind offerings. The authors reveal the best time to visit, the best places to stay, and recommended activities--each with their own adventure rating to illustrate level of intensity. Special features include funny and insightful stories from the Howards' own adventures, expert advice from other renowned traveling couples, and tips to increase the romance and excitement at each destination. A large map shows every location covered in the book, and each entry has a locator map depicting the city and country. Both entertaining and informative, this book is an invaluable resource and inspiration for a lifetime of travel.

The Norte Grande of Chile, the world's driest desert, had ''engendered contemporary Chile, everything that was good about it, everything that was dreadful,'' writes Ariel Dorfman in his brilliant exploration of one of the least known and most exotic corners of the globe. For 10,000 years the desert had been mined for silver, iron, and copper, but it was the 19th-century discovery of nitrate that transformed the country into a modern state and forced the desert's colonization. The mines' riches generated mansions and oligarchs in Chile's more temperate region—and terrible inequalities throughout the country. The Norte Grande also gave birth to the first Chilean democratic and socialist movements, nurturing every major political figure of modern Chile from Salvador Allende to Augusto Pinochet. In this richly layered personal memoir, illustrated with the author's own photographs, Dorfman sets out to explore the origins of contemporary Chile—and, along the way, seek out his wife's European ancestors who came years ago to Chile as part of the nitrate rush. And, most poignantly, he looks for traces of his friend and fellow 1960s activist, Freddy Taberna, executed by a firing squad in a remote Pinochet death camp.

This book reveals -- through a compelling mix of scholarly research, global mythology and lucid story-telling -- the spiritual roots of Western culture: shamanism. An in-depth study of the witchcraft trial records and the testimony of the witches themselves proves that the European peasants accused of witchcraft died, in fact, for the sake of the world's oldest spiritual path. Learn why Shamanism has survived in one form or another to this day.

Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society (ACS) in the 1820s as an African refuge for free blacks and liberated American slaves. While interest in African migration waned after the Civil War, it roared back in the late nineteenth century with the rise of Jim Crow segregation and disfranchisement throughout the South. The back-to-Africa movement held great new appeal to the South's most marginalized citizens, rural African Americans. Nowhere was this interest in Liberia emigration greater than in Arkansas. More emigrants to Liberia left from Arkansas than any other state in the 1880s and 1890s. In Journey of Hope, Kenneth C. Barnes explains why so many black Arkansas sharecroppers dreamed of Africa and how their dreams of Liberia differed from the reality. This rich narrative also examines the role of poor black farmers in the creation of a black nationalist identity and the importance of the symbolism of an ancestral continent. Based on letters to the ACS and interviews of descendants of the emigrants in war-torn Liberia, this study captures the life of black sharecroppers in the late 1800s and their dreams of escaping to Africa.