Even the most relentlessly positive people in my life are showing signs of stress about this ripoff winter. Many of us wake up late and depressed, watching the daylight trickle down to solstice, marking a mid-point, while there is not enough snow on the ground to really play in.
Alaskans complain about making it through an intense winter only to get a lackluster summer, but right now I feel that winter isn't doing its part. Alaska is a place, after all, of extremes, and you need one to balance the other.
I think it's time we all take a timeout and stop watching the sky for signs of snow. After all, a watched pot doesn't boil; therefore, a watched forecast doesn't produce. Look down, instead, into the pages of a good read. Then we can see what winter does to recapture our attention. Go ahead, snow for all I care.
Here are some of my favorite books about getting outside that will make staying inside more appealing.
"Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire" by Nicholas Howe
I worked and played in New Hampshire's White Mountains for a summer in college, taking my days off to hike from hut to hut along the region's famous Appalachian Trail system. This nonfiction book was featured prominently in the Welcome Center at the base of Mount Washington. Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeast, with the highest recorded wind speed measured on the Earth's surface (231 miles per hour). Tourists frequently showed up with grand intentions to hike the mountain, wearing flip-flops and carrying a Dasani water bottle. The volunteer search and rescue crew took note of hikers undeterred by such warnings as "volatile weather" and "6,000- foot summit" and waited for the (more frequent than you might imagine) midnight rescue call. This scenario is familiar to Alaskans, where we have words to describe the initiated (sourdoughs) versus untested (cheechakos). So what could a book from New Hampshire possibly tell hardened Alaskans about failing to properly respect outdoor adventuring? Quite a bit. In "Not Without Peril", Howe reports in colorful detail many examples of summits gone wrong; from historical brave ascents by women in petticoats, to the present day flip-flop-and-Dasani-bottle scenario. This is a great read, both factual and engaging.
"Drop City" by T.C. Boyle
In this novel, a group of California hippies hop into a bus, heading for interior Alaska where they plan to live off the land. What could possibly go wrong? Everything, and it does, unsentimentally and spectacularly. Once the members of the commune make it (incredibly, against all odds and many laws) north, they encounter an Alaska with more than the zero inhabitants they expected, and where the "fat of the land" they intend to live off is hidden under snow for the better part of the year. Boyle is an incredible storyteller and satirist, and this story is as much an acerbic examination of hippie culture as it is a respectful and at times beautiful portrayal of an Alaska winter. For the most part, Boyle's characters are not particularly memorable. But the landscape they navigate and the hypocrisies they expose stand out. This story feels unnervingly familiar even though I've never experienced it, which to me is one mark of a good novel. Good luck putting "Drop City" down if you decide to pick it up.
"A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
When I discovered Bill Bryson is British, I liked his book more. I imagined him as my long-lost grandpa, reading chapters of his book to me in his reassuring accent. As my grandpa he had cleverly and subtly, over the years, taught me more history than I'd learned in school. "Into the Woods" is mostly a work of nonfiction about hiking the Appalachian Trail, a 2,160-mile path from Georgia to Maine. Bryson is not, in fact, my grandpa but he is a very entertaining storyteller, and his journey on the Appalachian Trail is hilarious. Before Cheryl Strayed had written the confessional "Wild" about her long walk on the Pacific Coast Trail, we had Bryson's account, which, although ostensibly about his hike, mostly deals with the history of the trail. That said what makes this read memorable is Bryson's often self-effacing humor, and especially his reunion with a college pal with whom he'd vowed to hike the trail. This is an easy and engaging read. If you have to travel this Christmas, bring this book for quick distraction and entertainment.
"Eiger Dreams" by Jon Krakauer
First, a word about Krakauer's infamous (in Alaska, anyway) "Into the Wild". Up here in the great north we do a lot of things to stay warm during the winter. One go-to heated conversation is about Christopher McCandless, who famously burned his money but not to stay warm. That's all I'm going to say about "Into the Wild", because this paragraph is actually dedicated to Krakauer's "Eiger Dreams" another rollicking read with Alaska shout-outs (where, forever burned into my memory, are some of the creative team names for would-be Denali summiters). This is a great read for those of us with an attention span too short to commit to an entire book. The 12 chapters take you many places, from the book's namesake, the terrifying north face of the Eiger (I like to say it in a German accent because it takes the edge off during a tense story -- Google Eiger and you'll see what I mean), to K2.
"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami
I spent last summer becoming angrier and angrier with Haruki as I turned the pages of his strange and seemingly pointless magnum opus, unable to stop reading even though I started to suspect the many threads, symbols, and characters were never going to satisfyingly resolve. After reading "Running" I don't quite forgive him, but I at least understand him better. Murakami was a business owner and bartender in Tokyo before he became a writer. For Murukami fans, recurring symbols and characters in his books become evident (jazz, even his personal trainer). For runners, or triathletes, this book is a really stunning meditation on what it means to train, especially long distances. It doesn't strive to be anything more than it is, which is one person's perspective and meditation. He goes all the way with this, though, and I think much of what he says about life will resonate with runners and other readers.
These books, and many more, are available in bookstores, the library and the Internet. While winter is taking its time arriving in full force, I'll be looking for some new favorites.
Alli Harvey lives, works and plays in Anchorage.
CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, the title of Bill Bryson's book was incorrect.
Alaska Dispatch Publishing