Submitted by Timberland Regional Library
Erin McKittrick’s new book, “Small Feet, Big Land: Adventure, Home, and Family on the Edge of Alaska,” follows the challenging expeditions and intimate daily life of the adventure trekker and her husband, Hig, as they set out to explore the vast and remote corners of Alaska with their two young children in tow. McKittrick will give a talk after hours at the Olympia Timberland Library on Wednesday, November 13 at 7:30 p.m.
The couple has logged over 7,000 miles through Alaska’s wilderness. Their journey from Seattle to the Aleutians is chronicled in McKittrick’s first book, “A Long Trek Home: 4,000 Miles by Boot, Raft, and Ski,” and their award-winning film, “Journey on the Wild Coast.”
Now Erin and Hig had to adjust to the short attention span—and even shorter legs—of a toddler, in addition to the weight of a baby, while they surveyed on foot Alaska’s rapidly changing coastline. The family of four visited remote Arctic villages, investigated existing and prospective zinc and coal mines, and lived for two months atop one of the world’s largest glaciers. They observed the dramatic effects of climate change on the landscape and reflected on the very different world in which their children will live when they are grown.
Whether facing down a curious grizzly bear, eating whale blubber with new friends, picking berries on the sunny tundra, huddling in a tent during pelting rain, or catching fish for the freezer, their unconventional life and adventures draw the family closer together. In between expeditions, Erin and Hig raise their children in a yurt in Seldovia, Alaska. Their website is www.groundtruthtrekking.org.
The Olympia Timberland Library is located at 313 8th Avenue SE. For more information, contact the library at (360) 352-0595 or visit www.TRL.org.
