The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds

After almost five months, movement brings stillness. Movement brings peace.

After almost two months in the constant company of the sea, we will head inland, traveling north into Canada’s Yukon. If our mountain crossing goes well, we’ll be in Whitehorse in less than two weeks.

four thousand miles of roadless, trailless terrain through a landscape

They have dense bones that can resist pressure underwater, fewer air sacs than other birds to reduce their buoyancy, and muscles designed for diving. But

Observation can guide us to wonder. It’s also the foundation of all scientific inquiry. Without observation, we have little hope of understanding an individual, a species, or an entire ecosystem.

He’s a study in contrasts, a rare person who sees little conflict in owning many identities at once.

Moving at human pace solidifies his connection to the land.

The idea of worrying about only as much as I need to for today, or tomorrow, has finally taken hold.

Oh, no, the current is so close.” Then, in a single, impossible motion, the animal channels its energy into its core and, like a spring released, launches onto its feet. Prancing, it high-steps along the steep bluff. When it eventually darts up the embankment into the brush, I clap my hands, the mother in me washed with relief.