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From grizzlies, Dall sheep, and the elusive wolverine to bald eagles and the common ground squirrel, photographer Tom Walker displays birds, mammals, and more from work that spans four decades. This is a “Best of” collection from a celebrated Alaskan writer and photographer. Captions focus on factual natural history interpretation; for example: “An Arctic ground squirrel’s body temperature can drop below 32 degrees F without its tissues actually freezing. Hibernating squirrels are the ‘coldest mammal alive.’ Their heart rates drop from 200 beats-per-minute to 2 bpm with a pulse every 30 seconds.” This new gift book is seasonally organized, revealing the wondrous Alaska landscape and the activities and behavior of a variety of species during spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Park visitors, families, classrooms, and readers of all ages will delight in the range of beautiful images and learn what is happening in Alaska’s natural world throughout the year.
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In this incredible collection, Alaska's premier wildlife photographer presents the state's well-known wildlife along with rarely photographed species. "Tom Walker...is certainly one of our state's un-proclaimed living treasures, if not a national one. The reason is simple: his life and work are melded with Alaska's wildlife and wilderness, and he inspires us all to look at them with his imagination."
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Caribou, that magical animal of the far north, who roams across Alaska and northern Canada is depicted in this informative book in words, full-color photographs and maps. Tom Walker, a well-known writer and wildlife photographer has spent years photographing and writing about the Caribou herds of Alaska, specially the Porcupine, Central Arctic, Western Arctic, Denali, Mulchatna, and Nelchina herds. Tom writes about Caribou the provider, Caribou country, how the caribou is built for the northern climes, calving grounds, how they raise their young, their enemies especially the Grizzly Bear, summer life on the tundra, mating season, and winter survival. This is a comprehensive book on this mammal which has over 270,000 animals in the Alaskan herds. Often called reindeer, its latin name is Rangifer Tarandus which means to range wild and untamed. Important to those living on subsistance hunting and fishing, they are the bison of the far north, providing food, and clothing for the natives.
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In this 20th Anniversary Edition, Denali Journal, returns by popular demand. With select updates, this classic celebrates Denali National Park & Preserve, its wildlife and natural history in a lively, unique way. On these pages the reader encounters bull moose sparring for dominance; grizzly bears facing off against wolves; lynx hunting snowshoe hares; and the ever-changing seasons of the sub-arctic. No aspect of the natural world goes un-recorded from delicate orchids to soaring mountains. Denali Journal focuses on the area adjacent to the Park Road where most visitation occurs, highlighting the peak visitor months of June through September. Some historical and seasonal information is offered to provide background and perspective. The journal format invites the reader to begin reading anywhere.Denali Journal compares in quality to the best of Alaska nature books and gives a historical dimension that often is lacking in such literature. A wonderful book that is thoughtful, but not esoteric, self-centered or too technical. Walker is a watcher, an honest viewer of the affairs of wildlife.Especially useful for anyone planning a trip to the park. Highly recommended for all general collections.Only someone who has lived close to the land to see past its massive gorgeousness could locate and relate some of these smaller, but just as marvelous, natural wonders. A fine, readable book.
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In the aftermath of the 1898 Klondike gold rush, hardy pioneers forged through trackless wilderness on foot or by dog team to prospect every remote drainage in Interior Alaska. A chance discovery of gold in the Kantishna hills in 1905 sparked a wild stampede for riches. The rush to the Mt. McKinley region lured hundreds of people. The Kantishna is rife with stories of courage, loyalty and challenges met head-on. Bouts with wild beasts, isolation, disease, accidents and cosmic cold. Here to are darker tales¬…of armed robbery, attempted murder, suicide and insanity. Market hunters slaughtered the wildlife. Unscrupulous trappers poisoned animals for their fur. Mt. McKinley drew adventurers of another sort. For a decade a few eastern sportsmen and sourdoughs challenged the icy slopes. The stories of defeat and deception set the stage in 1913 for the ultimate triumph. Out of the detritus of the great Alaska/Yukon gold rushes emerged two men of a different stripe. Men of adventure and vision, rising above the lust for gold, proposed a national park where wildlife would be free of the epic slaughter that accompanied America’s northern expansion. Carving a national park out of this wilderness would not be easy. Alaskans would fight to protect their way of life. Here are the stories of these tough pioneers, tales similar to those that inspired Robert Service and Jack London…only these stories are true.
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The early history of Mt. McKinley National Park and its first rangers. Companion Volume to Kantishna. Pictorial Histories. Softbound, 6" x 9". 390 pages. 50 B&W photos and maps. ISBN 978-1-57510-145-3. PRICE INCLUDES $5.00 POSTAGE
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The Seventymile Kid tells the remarkable account of Harry Karstens, who was the actual, if unheralded, leader of the Hudson Stuck Expedition that was the first to summit Mount McKinley in Alaska. All but forgotten by history, a young Karstens arrived in the Yukon during the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush, gained fame as a dog musher hauling the U.S. Mail in Alaska, and eventually became the first superintendent of Mount McKinley (now Denali) National Park. Aided by Karstens’s own journals, and the journals of the three other climbers, longtime Denali writer and photographer Tom Walker uncovered new information about the Stuck climb, and reveals that the Stuck triumph was an expedition marred by significant conflict. Without Karstens’s wilderness skills and Alaska-honed tenacity, it is quite possible Hudson Stuck would never have climbed anywhere near the summit of McKinley. Yet the two men had a falling out shortly after the climb and never spoke again. In this book, Walker attempts to set the record straight about the historic first ascent itself, as well as other pioneer attempts by Frederick Cook and Judge Wickersham. Fans of Alaska literature, American history, and mountaineering lore will love this adventurous biography of the larger-than-life sourdough Karstens, in which Alaska, its wilderness, its iconic mountain, and its pioneer spirit looms large.
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The Wanderer: An Alaska Wolf’s Final Journey. This book is the first ever to chart a wolf’s movements for day by day for an extended period of time. Author Tom Walker draws on unparalleled access to a Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve’s wolf research study to share the story of Wolf 258, nicknamed "the Wanderer." Relying on a GPS collar that recorded the animal’s coordinates each day, biologists tracked Wolf 258 as he moved through the wilderness---and, astonishingly, traveled more than 2600 miles in less than six months.
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Wild Critters, a Children's read-aloud book with humorous poetry and photos. 8.5x11". Soft Cover. ISBN 0-9790470-2-1 Price includes FREE POSTAGE.
