ASP Podcast #21: John & Becca Wolfe, Alaska Adventure, 55 Ways

Becca and John Wolfe

Map © 2022, Alaska Adventure, 55 Ways, John & Rebecca Wolfe

Listen to John, Becca and Dan with your favorite podcast player, or via Apple Podcasts

Dan hosts John and Becca Wolfe, co-authors of Alaska Adventure, 55 Ways, Southcentral Wilderness Explorations, published this summer by Mountaineers Books, Seattle, Washington.

This 50th anniversary edition of 55 Ways, first written by Helen Nienhueser, represents three generations of wilderness exploring and collaborative writing.  

Helen writes in the Forward:  “It gives me great pleasure that my son and granddaughter are the coauthors of this new incarnation of 55 Ways, thus continuing what has become a family project for more than fifty years. We share the pleasure of guiding you into the places we love and ask that you join us in becoming stewards of these lands, taking care of them as you use them, and leaving no trace.”

The podcast conversation includes:

  • Reflections on three generations of exploring and collaborative guidebook writing

  • The unique characteristics of Southcentral Alaska, a 300 mile radius of mountains, watersheds, and coastal inlets

  • John and Becca relate what’s new and exciting about this incarnation of 55 Ways

  • “At the beginning of each trip entry, we provide an indication of Indigenous land: a brief acknowledgment of the people whose lands that specific trip traverses.”

  • New modes of wilderness exploration and travel, appropriate for all four seasons

  • Cautions and comments about Bears and Moose

  • John tells of his vision and involvement for the Alaska Huts Association

  • A personal tale of wilderness adventure with both Becca and John

  • Reflections on wilderness travel and exploring

  • Dan reads “Full Circle” a summation paragraph from the Preface of Alaska Adventure, 55 Ways

Alaska Adventure, 55 Ways Website

Special thanks to Christian Arthur for original music

Dan Kowalski