A Long Trek Home: 4,000 Miles by Boot, Raft and Ski
The adventures of a young, idealistic couple who choose to reduce their world down to just two small packs and the next 100 yards in front of them.
In June 2007, Erin McKittrick and her husband, Hig, embarked on a 4,000-mile expedition from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands, traveling solely by human power. This is the story of their unprecedented trek along the northwestern edge of the Pacific Ocean–a year-long journey through some of the most rugged terrain in the world– and their encounters with rain, wind, blizzards, bears, and their own emotional and spiritual demons.
Erin and Hig set out from Seattle with a desire to raise awareness of natural resource and conservation issues along their route: clear-cut logging of rainforests; declining wild salmon populations; extraction of mineral resources; and effects of global climate change. By taking each mile step by step, they were able to intimately explore the coastal regions of Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, see the wilderness in its larger context, and provide a unique on-the-ground perspective. An entertaining and, at times, thrilling adventure, theirs is a journey of discovery and of insights about the tiny communities that dot this wild coast, as well as the individuals there whom they meet and inspire.The adventures of a young, idealistic couple who choose to reduce their world down to just two small packs and the next 100 yards in front of them.
In June 2007, Erin McKittrick and her husband, Hig, embarked on a 4,000-mile expedition from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands, traveling solely by human power. This is the story of their unprecedented trek along the northwestern edge of the Pacific Ocean–a year-long journey through some of the most rugged terrain in the world– and their encounters with rain, wind, blizzards, bears, and their own emotional and spiritual demons.
Erin and Hig set out from Seattle with a desire to raise awareness of natural resource and conservation issues along their route: clear-cut logging of rainforests; declining wild salmon populations; extraction of mineral resources; and effects of global climate change. By taking each mile step by step, they were able to intimately explore the coastal regions of Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, see the wilderness in its larger context, and provide a unique on-the-ground perspective. An entertaining and, at times, thrilling adventure, theirs is a journey of discovery and of insights about the tiny communities that dot this wild coast, as well as the individuals there whom they meet and inspire.



A great adventure story! You might expect this book about a 4,000-mile two-person trip to pivot around the personal dynamics between author Erin McKittrick and her husband Hig, but it really doesn’t. Hig has maybe one full page of dialogue in the whole book; the fact that he’s there is often signified just by a change in pronoun: “we” rather than “I”.You might also expect the book would try to entertain readers with poetic descriptions of exotic places and perilous events, but again, it really doesn’t. A…
Erin and Hig completed a most amazing, epic journey with only the most spartan of creature comforts. They kept pretty good spirits and good health throughout, and rarely (maybe never) actually required help from anyone else. They had everything planned and mapped out well in advance.I am most intrigued by the packraft they had with them always. It was almost a character in its own right. They could not have done this trip without it. Where can I get one?Somehow Erin was able to keep…