Accidental Adventures: Alaska

America’s fascination with Alaska began at the turn of the last century, when Jack London and John Muir captivated readers with their fiction and nonfiction, and continues today, both with such popular books as Into the Wild and the explosion of Alaska reality TV shows. In such a giant and forbidding place, people lose their way. They hurt themselves. Their equipment fails. They clash with wildlife. And in Alaska, one stroke of bad luck—one small mistake—can mean catastrophe. This books collects 20 such stories, all told from the survivor’s point of view. The book relates true stories of getting lost in the wilderness, bear attacks, dead-stick landings, snowmobile calamities, capsizing canoes, and even escaping a volcanic eruption. Told as cautionary tales, these stories are not only a nail-biting good read on their own, but illustrate the many perils of living, working, recreating in the Last Frontier.

Chris Lundgren is the author of two books, The Runner’s World Guide to Running and Pregnancy from Rodale and Legendary Locals of Chugiak-Eagle River from Arcadia Publishing. She has written for Runner’s World, Alaska Coast, Morris Publications and other magazines and newspapers across the country A 21-year resident of Alaska, Chris spends as much time in the outdoors as possible. She is a longtime volunteer at the Eagle River Nature Center, a place where local guides and outdoor experts teach workshops and through which thousands of tourists pass each year. She lives in Anchorage.