The sun is a compass : a 4,000-mile journey into the Alaskan wilds /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

For fans of Cheryl Strayed, the gripping story of a biologist's human-powered journey from the Pacific Northwest to the Arctic to rediscover her love of birds, nature, and adventure.
During graduate school, as she conducted experiments on the peculiarly misshapen beaks of chickadees, ornithologist Caroline Van Hemert began to feel stifled in the isolated, sterile environment of the lab. Worried that she was losing her passion for the scientific research she once loved, she was compelled to experience wildness again, to be guided by the sounds of birds and to follow the trails of animals.
In March of 2012, she and her husband set off on a 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Alaskan Arctic, traveling by rowboat, ski, foot, raft, and canoe. Together, they survived harrowing dangers while also experiencing incredible moments of joy and grace -- migrating birds silhouetted against the moon, the steamy breath of caribou, and the bond that comes from sharing such experiences.
A unique blend of science, adventure, and personal narrative, The Sun is a Compass explores the bounds of the physical body and the tenuousness of life in the company of the creatures who make their homes in the wildest places left in North America. Inspiring and beautifully written, this love letter to nature is a lyrical testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
Winner of the 2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition: Adventure Travel

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In undertaking an epic trek from the Pacific Northwest to the Alaskan Arctic, Van Hemert, a wildlife biologist, and her husband encountered both the grandeur and danger of some of the planet's wildest locations. She vividly renders the experience, including being stalked by a black bear in the Brooks Range, initially visible only as "deep-set eyes, a pointed nose, and cinnamon-colored fur"; fighting the elements in a homemade rowboat off Vancouver Island; capsizing a raft in the Arctic Ocean; and coming under relentless attack for days by thousands of mosquitos in the Mackenzie Delta. Similarly, descriptions of witnessing a huge herd of caribou crossing Alaska's Noatak River and of being followed in the Arctic Ocean by two huge moose, "large, brown noses stirring the surface of the water as they stare blankly ahead," capture the magnificence of untamed nature. Van Hemert proves equally adept at exploring the inner dialogue that accompanied the harrowing physical feats, touching on love and loss, new parenthood, and the struggle to combine her passions for scientific inquiry and adventure. She leaves nature lovers with a story-of adventure, of environmental awareness, and of personal discovery-worth savoring. Agent: Bonnie Nadell, Hill Nadell Literary. (Mar.) c Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Wildlife biologist Van Hemert enters the ever-burgeoning list of books about women finding themselves while off the beaten path, including major best-sellers by Elizabeth Gilbert and Cheryl Strayed. But this is a bit different, a bracing adventure about a married couple in the Alaskan wilderness. Unhappy with her professional choices and unsure of the best career direction to take, Van Hemert and her husband decide to pursue their long-held dream of paddling and hiking across the Last Frontier. Unlike for many who write such books, the country is not unfamiliar to Van Helmert, who is from Anchorage, so they know to meticulously prepare their supplies and schedule food drops. But there are surprises (namely one surly bear) and some serious introspection and frustration as they consider more than once just what on earth they have committed to by embarking on such a massive trip. What they ultimately learn is that they really do love the outdoors and each other and Alaska's nature can't be beat. Book clubs will want to take note of this entertaining and inspiring chronicle.--Colleen Mondor Copyright 2019 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

A research wildlife biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center recounts a stirring wilderness adventure set against the background of a young woman juggling family, career, and a passion for rough country.From the Pacific rainforests of Washington state to a remote corner of the Alaskan Arctic, it was an often grueling, 4,000-mile journey by foot, skis, raft, and canoe that few would have attempted, even such experienced wilderness travelers as debut author Van Hemert and her husband, Pat. In 2012, the author, who had begun to question her devotion to science, and Pat, a home builder driven by wanderlust, embarked on an expedition that would succeed or fail on human power aloneno roads, no trails, no motorsand test the limits of their endurance on some of the harshest and most unforgiving terrain in the world. Van Hemert chronicles their journey in sharp, sometimes-harrowing detail, though not so minutely that the narrative bogs down in the exigencies of living in the wild. While she discusses their various triumphs and travails, the author fully expresses the wonder of what they saw and experienced, who they met along the way, the microcultures they encountered, and how the journey brought her back to a love of scientific inquiry (if not to a love of the laboratory). After a brief in-progress report, she opens with the couple's personal histories and motivations for undertaking the trip. What might have been perfunctory actually adds depth. For all the readers' vicarious thrills and Van Hemert's admirable writing, it is the author's candor regarding her doubts and her appealing vulnerability that make this memoir so resonant.One follows this engrossing adventure feeling as eager as the travelers to see what's around the next bend in the river, on the next island, across the next coastal passage, or over the next mountain pass. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Caroline Van Hemert is a biologist and adventurer whose journeys have taken her from the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean to the swamps of the Okavango Delta. She currently works at the US Geological Survey Alaska Science Center and regularly publishes articles in scientific journals about birds and other wildlife in the north. Her research and expeditions have been featured by the New York Times , MSNBC, National Geographic , and more. She lives in Alaska with her husband and two young sons.