Audiobooks by Tom Walker

The Seventymile Kid: The Lost Legacy of Harry Karstens and the First Ascent of Mount McKinley

"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 Gold Rush, gained fame as a dog musher hauling U.S. Mail in Alaska, and eventually became the first superintendent of Mount McKinley National Park (now known as Denali National Park and Preserve). Aided by Karstens's own journals, longtime Denali writer and photographer Tom Walker uncovered archival 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 largerthan-life 'sourdough' Karstens, in which Alaska—its wilderness, its iconic mountain, and its pioneer spirit—looms large."

Tom Walker (Author), Basil Sands (Narrator)

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The Wanderer: An Alaska Wolf's Final Journey

"The Wanderer is the first book ever to chart a wolf's movement, almost to the day, for an extended period of time. Informed by unique access to research and field notes, award-winning author, photographer, and naturalist Tom Walker shares the story of Wolf 258, nicknamed 'the Wanderer,' part of a research project that studied wolves in Alaska's Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve for more than two decades. A GPS collar recorded the animal's coordinates once a day as it moved through the wilderness. To the amazement of all, the Wanderer traveled more than 2,700 miles in less than six months. To tell this story, Walker had unparalleled access to research and field notes, including the cooperation of the biologist who first collared the Wanderer and the wolf researcher now assigned to Yukon–Charley. The Wanderer recounts the compelling life of one particular wolf, while examining the broader complexity of the species as a whole and its struggle for survival. Walker explores not only the natural history of wolves, but the relationship of people—Indigenous, pioneers and settlers, biologists, politicians—to this predator, shedding light on the long northern traditions of trapping and hunting, the tangled politics of wolf management, and the futility of borders to contain large mammals."

Tom Walker (Author), Tom Beyer (Narrator)

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