The Only Kayak: A Journey Into The Heart Of Alaska

This book is a treasure. It's the one book I give away the most. The wisdom, humor, and beautiful writing will stay with you for years. The storytelling, the characters, and the setting will draw you in and keep you turning pages, putting off all other duties because you have to keep reading. Though I've read it multiple times, it's still a book I pick up at random and read a chapter. I love Heacox's style of writing. He is a master of his craft, able to write well but with humility and compassion and humanity. He's not on an author's perch, looking down at us. You get the feeling you're out there in the wilderness with him, having deep conversations and heartfelt laughs. This book will make you think, about how we live in this world, about how we could live in this world. About what it means to love--places and people. And this book will make you feel, both tears and laughter, both joy and pain. He doesn't lob softballs. This is writing that hits you in the chest, fires up your brain, and on good occasion, gets you laughing from the belly. Do yourself a favor: let yourself love this book as much as I do. You won't be sorry.

Great writer. Interesting story

Enjoyable, enlightening read. Some great description of the unique visuals this country serves up. The obvious fact we are screwing it up because it is so unique is driven home with a rather large mallet. Author submits to depressive observations frequently. I, for one, got it the first time. We are an odd species, this proven again & again in most chapters. Alaska...what an experience. Glad I lived it in the late 60's/early 70's. I left as North Slope & pipeline were ramping up. Been back a few times & the glaciers are surely receding @ alarming rates. Old sourdough guy sent me off with "Just remember, it's a strange world Andy". What would he say today? That's the frustration that hovers throughout this well written book. By the way, my name's not Andy.

The last time I went to Alaska, I bought new binoculars. I had to get them even though I own two standard binoculars and the boat I was chartering had a pair. All of these are standard binoculars. I needed a pair with much greater magnification. I got a pair of 15X binoculars. These were not enough. I should have to 20X. You see, Alaska is large - very large. The distances are great, the heights make your neck hurt as you tilt your eyes to see the snow covered peaks. Sometimes the depth finder on the boat goes blank when the depths exceed its range and dive to more than 1500 feet, while a 3000 foot mountain is just off your starboard side. Glacier Bay is a very small part of Alaska, but it is still immense. If you look at a full map of Alaska you can just barely make out Glacier Bay in the Southeast portion of the State. Now imagine navigating a boat around Point Gustavus at the entry of Glacier Bay and suddenly you feel as if you have entered a great cathedral. If you are lucky enough to explore around this cathedral, you will soon learn that it is immense and filled with uncountable beautiful things. You will want powerful binoculars. It is around Glacier Bay that Heacox has built his book. He has crafted a provocative book that asks more questions than it answers and poses more dilemmas than it resolves. It tries to explore the difficulties of preservation and observation. How can people observe what needs to be preserved? As the Heisenberg Principle says, "The very act of observing something, disturbs it state." Heacox does not try to define the ideal balance, but it is clearly composed of many fewer large cruise ships sailing all the way to the farthest northern point to see Margarie Glacier. He seems to suggest that one kayak at a time might be ideal, but clearly that is impossible. Heacox takes his questioning and challenging beyond nature preservation to many other realms. Unfortunately, the arguments often stray into a bit of hubris and smugness - "I know nature and what nature needs. I know values and what is right and wrong." He sometimes pokes fun at people who may not have met his standards. This is unfortunate because it detracts from his otherwise powerful book. I wondered sometimes what he would say about me - someone who spent a career traveling around the world working on health for the poor in developing countries. I flew in a lot of polluting jets; I stayed in large cookie cutter hotels; and I worked with large pharmaceutical firms. Was I part of the solution or part of the problem? Overall however this is a wonderful book and deserves to be widely read and debated. Ultimately, and somewhat surprisingly to me, the book is a collection of love stories. So pop up a bowl of popcorn, grab a beer, sit back, enjoy this book, and maybe be reminded of the power of love.

This book is soul nourishing in its depth and beauty, in its wisdom and generosity and yes, its heartache. The writing reels the reader into the breathing earth as if s/he were walking through a healing forest bath, while also sounding the clarion call of how desperate and precarious our planets’ situation has become.

I read this book after I visited Alaska via a cruise and feeling I missed the real Alaska. Heacox’s writing is beautiful, but it also helped me put things into perspective in my own life regarding work and the greater world around me. At a time where a lot of us are feeling out of control of what’s going on, I felt more in control of my own life and greater responsibility for my own actions after reading this book, and also just a greater sense of wonder and joy at things right in front of me. If you need something to pull you out of the stress and worry of the moment, I highly recommend this book.

My new favorite author!!! All his books are amazing!

A captivating book which I could not put down