The Only Kayak, Kim Heacox
The Only Kayak, Kim Heacox
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Only Kayak
A Journey Into The Heart Of Alaska

Author: Kim Heacox

Narrator: Matthew Josdal

Unabridged: 9 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/21/2023


Synopsis

Winner of the 2020 National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Classic!

In this coming-of-middle-age memoir, Kim Heacox, writing in the tradition of Abbey, McPhee, and Thoreau, discovers an Alaska reborn from beneath a massive glacier, where flowers emerge from boulders, moose swim fjords, and bears cross crevasses with Homeric resolve. In such a place Heacox finds that people are reborn too, and their lives begin anew with incredible journeys, epiphanies, and successes. All in an America free of crass commercialism and overdevelopment.

Braided through the larger story are tales of gold prospectors and the cabin they built sixty years ago; John Muir and his intrepid terrier, Stickeen; and a dynamic geology professor who teaches earth science "as if every day were a geological epoch."

Nearly two million people come to Alaska every summer, some on large cruise ships, some in single kayaks—all in search of the last great wilderness, the Africa of America. It is exactly the America Heacox finds in this story of paradox, love, and loss.

About Kim Heacox

Kim Heacox is an award-winning author, photographer, and motivational speaker. He lives with his wife in Southeast Alaska and is the author of several books, including John Muir and the Ice that Started a Fire and the novel Caribou Crossing. His feature articles have appeared in Audubon, Travel & Leisure, Wilderness, Islands, Orion, and National Geographic Traveler. His editorials, written for the Los Angeles Times, have appeared in many major newspapers. When not playing the guitar, doing simple carpentry, or writing another novel, hes sea kayaking with his wife, Melanie or watching a winter wren on the woodpile.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Astin

This book startled me. First - the author's voice. Kim is fully and completely open as he describes how a place brought about his metamorphosis. His honesty and authenticity commanded my attention. Even more impressive is his conviction. Kim describes how his experiences led to him becoming a 'conse......more

Goodreads review by Peter

Have you ever wondered what that national park ranger collecting your entrance fee and warning you about the wildlife is really thinking and dreaming about? Kim Heacox begins his life in Alaska as a young seasonal ranger in Glacier Bay. There is a good chance two of the people who heard his cruise s......more

Goodreads review by Donny

Valuable and gripping insight into what is arguably Americas most beautiful frontier, via the words of a man who is beyond talented at capturing the imagery, beauty, excitement, power and essence of the land. Kim’s documentation of his time as a ranger, a friend, husband, and many other roles is don......more

Goodreads review by Dave

“Never mind the children not yet born who would prefer a meadow to a mall.” Reading this book gave me mixed feelings. Not about the book itself. I loved it. You see, I’m heading to Alaska in a couple weeks. It’ll be my first time. I’ll only have enough time to explore a tiny sliver of an immense and......more