Maps, maps, and more maps

***started writing this before the trip, but just now getting around to hitting the "Publish" button***

A little while back, I was re-watching the movie of Alexander Supertramp, “Into the Wild”. It got me to pondering and I poked around after watching the movie to see what further information I could find about his journey and his end. Turns out that the movie is a bit of a romanticization of the coming-of-age tale that – in this case – left the protagonist dead. Although we all take a similar journey, Supertramp to it to an extreme, and – unfortunately – was ill-prepared for the trek into the Alaskan wilderness. There are several theories about what actually killed him, but shortly before his death he did try to hike out, only to be turned back by the raging river that – when he had initially come out – had been an easily-crossable stream. However, had he possessed a map of the area, he could have seem that there was a hand-operated tramway that crossed the river less than a mile from where he was. Instead, thinking the river impassable, he returned to the bus-shelter he had been staying in and shortly thereafter expired.

With that in mind, I ordered up a map or two…or 18…

I found National Geographic’s “Adventure” series, which looks like it will fit the bill, and picked up a map for each location along our route. You might notice that the Alaska map is conspicuously absent in the photo above.  Yeah…somehow forgot it on the first go-‘round, but it’s in the collection now. Nick and I will be using GPS and smartphones for most of our navigational needs throughout the trip, but nothing beats having a paper map for back-up along the way!

Trips are amazing…and ventures out into the wild are transformative. They are challenging and can – truthfully – be deadly. With a bit of preparation, though, hazards can be minimized. Nick and I have been doing out homework on this trip for some time. A lot of folks think we’re crazy for doing it, but we’re certainly not the first, nor will we be the only ones on such a trek this summer. There’s even a whole Facebook group called the “PanAmerican Travelers Association”: nearly 14,000 adventurers who are connected to travel up and down the Americas. There are risks, to be sure, but nothing worth having or experiencing is void of risks. Just don’t fly at them blindly.