James Campbell (2) (1961–)

I've been fascinated by the TV show "The Last Alaskans" about a few folks who live subsistence life out in the Alaskan Wildlife Reserve area above the arctic circle so when I discovered a book that included some of the Last Alaskans on the day I received my Amazon lawsuit credit, I couldn't resist buying it.

If you enjoy Alaska and the outdoors and have a soft spot for wilderness memoir (as I do) you will probably enjoy this book about a middle aged guy and his teenaged daughter that visit Alaska three times (to build a cabin, to hunt in the winter, and to hike & paddle a river) and each time stay for several weeks.

I think I enjoyed this more because I know the area where they were and some of the characters (Heimo & Edna) from the show. By the end of part three, the river trip, I was bored and ready to be finished with the whole thing, but I suspect that's because I don't know much about paddling so much of the description about how to run rapids and line a boat were boring to me. You might love that part!

I was amazed and impressed by the author's daughter and how much she was willing and able to do at such a young age.

… (mehr)

An ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Told in three parts as three different trips, Father and teen daughter head to Alaska near the arctic circle for adventure. In their first trip, they spend the summer helping cousin Heimo build a new cabin with manual tools, ice cold river water and hours of peeling and hauling logs. When they return home, teen Aiden wants to go back. So they head back to Heimo's cabin for part of the winter, helping his and his wife with the trap lines and hunting Caribou and Moose in -50 degree temperatures. In the third part, Dad and daughter return again, this time to backpack over the Brooks mountain range and then paddle in their folding canoe through the class 3+ rapids of the Hulahula river. Quite an experience in one of the earth's most remote places.… (mehr)