The Cold Vanish, by Jon Billman (Amazon) Outside journalist Jon Billman investigates disappearances that have occurred in national parks and remote areas of North American wilderness. These are what he calls "proverbial vanish-without-a-trace incidents, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks.” The plethora of curious cases... Continue Reading →
Notes From Self-Imposed Siberian Exile
Book review: The Consolations of the Forest, by Sylvain Tesson (Amazon / Book Depository) I'd promised myself that before I turned forty I would live as a hermit deep in the woods. I wanted to settle an old score with time. French author Sylvain Tesson felt an itch familiar to many: to escape the stress... Continue Reading →
Then and Now, Across America’s Last Frontier
Book review: Tip of the Iceberg, by Mark Adams (Amazon / Book Depository) Travel writer Mark Adams recounts his experiences traveling in Alaska, that "last great American frontier", following the trail of an exploratory expedition run by railroad tycoon Edward Harriman in 1899. That expedition was mapping the state's coastline, and included famed naturalist and... Continue Reading →
Trekking the Urals for a Soviet Mystery
Book review: Dead Mountain, by Donnie Eichar Book Depository In February 1959, nine experienced hikers died under mysterious circumstances on a cross-country ski trip in the Ural Mountains. They were university students, longtime friends, and accustomed to the harsh conditions and remote, exerting atmosphere of hiking and skiing during winter at the border of Siberia. When... Continue Reading →