Rhythm of the Wild: A Life Inspired by Alaska's Denali National Park

by Kim Heacox

From Kim Heacox, the acclaimed author of The Only Kayak and John Muir and the Ice That Started a Fire, comes Rhythm of the Wild, an Alaska memoir focused on Denali National Park. Music runs through every page of this book, as do stories, rivers and wolves. At its heart, Rhythm of the Wild is a love story. It begins in 1981 and ends in 2014, yet reaches beyond the arc of time. Author and mountaineer Jonathan Waterman has called Heacox “our northern Edward Abbey.” In this book we find out why.We hitchhike with Kim through Idaho, camp on the Colorado Plateau, and fly off the sand cliffs of Hangman Creek with a little terrier named Super Max, the Wonder Dog. We meet Zed, the Aborigine; Nine Fingers, the blues guitarist; and Adolph Murie, the legendary wildlife biologist, who dared to say that wolves should be protected, not persecuted. Kim also reprises in this book his friend Richard Steele, a beloved character from The Only Kayak.Some books are larger than their actual subject—this is one. Part memoir, part exploration of Denali’s inspiring natural and human history, and part conservation polemic, Rhythm of the Wild ranges from funny to provocative. It’s a celebration of—and a plea to restore and defend—the vibrant earth and our rightful place in it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Memoir, Travel

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Kim Heacox is the author of more than a dozen books, five of them published by National Geographic.

He’s won the National Outdoor Book Award twice, first in 2015 for his novel Jimmy Bluefeather, the only work of fiction in 25 years to win the award. And again in 2020 for his memoir, The Only Kayak, as an “outdoor classic” (originally published in 2005).

He writes opinion-editorials for The Guardian in celebration and defense of the natural world, and lives in a small town in coastal Alaska with his wife, Melanie, where they support the emerging Glacier Bay Leadership Program within Tidelines Institute. Learn more about him at www.kimheacox.com and download the Jimmy Bluefeather book club guide at westmarginpress.com.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kim Heacox's first encounter with Denali National Park as a ranger in 1981 changed his life and ignited a lifelong love affair. He invites me to share his life/his stories:

"What you hold, dear reader, is a story of love and hope, equal parts natural history, human history, personal narrative, and conservation polemic. I make no attempt to be a neutral journalist, a rare bird in today's corporate culture. I'm a storyteller. And I'm not alone. The same strength, clarity, and inspiration given to me by this place I've seen given to others. Many others. Many times."

Heacox has returned to Denali again and again over the years steeping in its essence, and has made his home in Alaska just next to Glacier Bay.

I was fortunate to read the majority of this memoir at night tucked into the Denali Education Center, just across the Nenana River from the park boundary after exploring the park during the abundant hours of daylight.

While Heacox includes a lot about the park--everything from wildlife facts, descriptions of places, his experiences there, his interaction with youth groups he leads, his experience as writer-in-residence there, the issues involved the push-pull of tourism vs. wildness--this is a memoir. What brings him here? What does he receive from the park? How does he give back? What about life away from Denali? How does he learn and grow?

Heacox is a gifted storyteller. I stand beside him in his high school days as he considers his future--What will he become? I see his thoughts as NASA scientist James Hansen testifies about rising temperatures before a Senate committee in 1998. I listen in to his ponderings on economic growth, especially that fueled by burning coal, oil, and natural gas. I rejoice as he finds a woman who is as infatuated with Alaska and Denali as she is with him. Heacox is inspired by the Beatles, from their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show to the current day; and their music also shapes and influences his life.

As I walk through Heacox's adult life with him, I consider my own. Where have I been? What are my priorities? Where am I headed?

"As every national park is a land of stories, every visit to a national park is a search for our place in that story, for the divine in each of us; it's a search for something that might explain who we are and ought to be."

I can see the draw to Denali National Park. Time in nature is church for me. I am in awe and treat the space around me lightly while holding it in reverential respect. In DNP the land is still mostly wild, the spaces are vast, and the earth and air vibrate with aliveness. I agree:

"Denali resides in each of us as the deep quiet, the profound moment, the essence of discovery. It offers a chance to find our proper size in this world."

If you ever get the opportunity to spend time in Denali, seize the opportunity. It's a once in lifetime [for me] experience. In the meantime, I recommend that you live vicariously through Kim Heacox's memoir.

Publication 2015

[Liene · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This is how we light up the night and keep thousands of jets in the air every minute. This is how we fill our oceans with plastics and polymers, and use our military to police foreign lands… and feed the world with industrial agriculture and genetically modified foods that produce billions of ears of Frankencorn that the farmer himself can no longer eat but that serve as raw material for high fructose corn syrup, a staple of the American obesity epidemic. This is what double-wraps all our shiny choices on the shelves at Costco, Walmart, and Piggly Wiggly, and gives us cities built on landfill. This is Hydrocarbon Man, the New Us, Mister Cheap Energy, restless like that bear in the basement, forever in pursuit of more, and more after that, a bargain that many moralists and ecologists say cannot and will not continue. The American Dream, they say, is an American Fantasy.”

[Valorie Hallinan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely will add this writer to my list of nature/environmentalists I admire. I wrote about this excellent memoir on my blog, Books Can Save a Life: http://wp.me/p28JYl-1cD

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The road to Wonder Lake.... is the path toward the Good Life. I got a copy of this to prepare for an upcoming trip to Camp Denali, never expecting such fantastic writing! The lyrical and evocative writing was compared by reviewers to Barry Lopez or Aldo Leopold. I would add Terry Tempest Williams, for its totally soulful style.... but add in a strong dash of novelist Tom Robbins... because the book is incredibly humorous and playful. Musical. 1960s.... !!! It's like a time slip.... back to a time when people really questioned "the program"... How did he retain his youthful enchantment with the world, curiosity and refusal to "get with the program?" How did he do it? Well, I guess he moved to Alaska...

"Forget success. Be a healer, peacekeeper, storyteller. Eat homegrown carrots and potatoes. Sleep in a small cabin; let the mountains be your mansion."

“Any fool can destroy trees,” said John Muir, another hero. What’s hard is to stand before the truck, the tank, the big machine, whatever it might be, and say “no more.” You’ve had your run. This is where the folly ends. It’s time to dig deep, get creative, do something new. Ride a bicycle to Honduras; volunteer in an orphanage. Pick papayas. Eat mangos.”


One of my favorite translations projects was working for a philosopher at Hiroshima University translating his papers into English. He worked a lot on the concept of "play" and Heacox's words below really resonated:

"Perhaps the most difficult work before us is to work less, and play more. Creativity is the key. Stay young. Live simply, frugally. Turn work into play. Find what you’re passionate about and do it with great gratitude. The money will follow, maybe. Be a playful worker, a hardworking player, a musician, an artist, a writer, a teacher—the best teacher in town.”

More than anything this book is about resisting "endless growth" and models of productivity and consumption... to just stop. I was humbled by it, since I know how much I have failed to live up to my own life philosophies, forged in my youth...Looking forward to reading his book on Muir and his earlier memoir. And speaking of memoirs, I loved how he mixed the personal content and the story of his life, as filtered by his time in Denali, with long forays into music, books and science.

Saw him on Ken Burns' national parks documentary in Denali segment... soulful.

[David Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Denali: A Love Affair

Kim Heacox loves Denali. No two ways about it, he thinks Denali is the greatest. He introduces us to Denali right after he has arrived to work his first summer as an interpretive ranger in 1981. These are the guys and gals that meet visitors and talk to them about the sector of the park they’re visiting. Before he reports to work that first morning he borrows someone’s bike and takes off on a wild, self-directed tour that lasts all night and by the end of his ride he’s ignited a life-long love affair.

Rhythm of the Wild is about far more than his relationship with Denali. To an extent he uses Denali as a metaphor for everything that is right about the wonders of the natural world – it becomes a counterpoint to the gross commercialization of our society, which he adamantly believes is headed in the wrong direction.

He uses his love affair with Denali as a way to advance a set of dialogues close to his heart. He asks himself and in doing so, asks us which is more important. Which trumps: economic development or preservation of our natural environment? Which counts for more: material acquisition or accumulating a lifetime of transcendental experiences? Over the long haul, which will matter more to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren: developing a plot of land for mineral extraction and immediate financial gain or limiting species extinction? Heacox leaves little doubt with the reader as to his own conclusions. By posing these sorts of questions numerous times and in slightly different ways he’s actively engaging each of us to question our own beliefs about these specific relationships and more broadly about the direction our society is headed and do we agree with that direction.

Do not for a minute think this book is simply an environmentalist’s polemic, stripped of the joy that attracts people to Denali. No, Heacox’s story of his journey is lyrical and heartfelt. His book sings. It riffs with Beatle beats & his own syncopated rhythm. His trip is as much a personal odyssey navigated down the musical streams and eddies of his own developing consciousness, as it is an homage to Alaska’s untamed beauty.

In one sentence, near the middle of his memoir, Heacox captures the spirit of his book: “DENALI SAVED US. It slowed us down and rearranged our chemistry with its infinite landscapes and cosmic stillness.” He was talking about the effect Denali had upon he and his wife when they returned there after a stint in Anchorage. However, his quote could easily be applied as a recommendation to his readers, cajoling us to reconsider our priorities, where we place our energy and where, if we chose to, we might instead re-direct our lives.

Fortunately, for Heacox, he discovered his passion for writing as a young man. Pursuing writing as a career allowed him to apply his life’s philosophy to everything he did. His embrace of a simpler life dictated his rejection of capitalism’s fixation upon growth without surcease, noting as his literary icon Edward Abbey surmised: “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”

There is no question in Heacox’s mind what is important and what is not. His belief system is antipodal to all of Alaska’s conservative Republicans who clamor for growth, more growth and then some more. Flying his political colors proudly he applauds those who helped to secure “a Wilderness Act, the first Earth Day, the establishment of Mount McKinley National Park … it took liberal values championed again and again, always opposed by conservatives.”

Toward the end of his book he tackles this quandary in a quite personal way. He suggests consumerism has robbed us of our natural instincts to wander freely, expose ourselves more openly to nature, without all of the safety nets now deemed as necessary components of everyday life. The cure to this national ailment is simple he advises. “Climb a mountain. Learn the song of birds. Read the secret language of storms. Befriend a flower. Listen to the land.”

If success is defined by the money you earn or possessions you own, forget it. “Be a healer, peacekeeper, storyteller. Eat homegrown carrots and potatoes. Sleep in a small cabin; let the mountains be your mansion.”

The trek he began on that bicycle more than 34 years ago is an invitation to all of us to ride deep into the night to discover who we are, who we can become.


Originally published in The Anchorage Press on 6/12/15

[Mansa Bhagavatula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved every part of the book . Picked it up at the visitor center in Denali NP. And I'm so glad I did. All the questions I had about wildlife conservation,gun control, climate change,consumerism while being in a place that was truly wild were echoed and discussed in this book. It has a political undercurrent ,with the writer having liberal ideology voicing his opinion about modernization and criticizing the policies of republicans that harm this planet. But what makes this book special is the way he describes this unspoiled land. You get lost in his words and in the world he describes and sees. It's so beautiful that I didn't mind that the book had no clear direction. It was just the author and the park and his love for the mountains, glaciers, sheep , wolves and everything in between that shone through and made me want to keep reading till the end.

[Patrice La Vigne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in Healy, so these stories really resonated with me. Kim writes about his experiences working in the park on and off through the years, so it was an interesting behind-the-scenes peak into the life of a seasonal ranger. His writing is so poetic, I soaked all the imagery up.

[Kevin Hoffmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I enjoyed its insights and thoughtfulness about how we treat nature and each other.

[Lindsey Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to meet Kim Heacox and his wife Melanie twice in my four Alaskan summers, during my first and my last. It is an absolute joy to read his stories of Denali spanning more than three decades, with characters and locations familiar to me. If you've never been to Alaska, this book will make you want to travel there as soon as you can, because you will want to experience the magic and wonder that Kim describes so well. And I promise—you will find it.

[Doranne Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Rhythm of the Wild, Kim Heacox not only shares his life story, but also much of the history of Alaska's Denali National Park. He is acutely aware of many paradoxes e.g., wanting to leave the National Parks naturally wild, and yet needing people to visit so they can be inspired to save the earth and the critters living on/in it.

[Cindy Grossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unknown land to me brought alive. Thanks for the plaintive cry for saving our environment and giving me deeper knowledge on the history of our national park system and those visionaries behind the movement.
Wonderfully written- I love non-fiction that captivates me in its telling.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chose this because it was recommended by the lodge where we will be staying. I came away with some sense of the feel of the park, but didn't much care for the continued complaints about modern civilization. They are well taken, but not what I was looking for.

[Marcia McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because it's on a list of recommended books for our upcoming Roads Scholars trip to Denali. I really enjoyed it. It's a combination of memoir and environmental plea for our planet, especially for Denali. I also learned about the wildlife of the park.

[River James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written 5 years before The Only Kayak, and I'm going to take that as an explanation as to why this is such a lesser book. If you have read any environmental writing or have a love for the outdoors, then this gets rather pedantic.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way he says so much is beautiful and poetic. I underlined so much. I hated chapter Five and almost gave up. Probably because I could not relate to any of his literary references, never having read any Edward Abby, Etc.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice fun nature read that gives a good bit of insight into Denali national park.

[Jacquelynn Hollman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about this man's love for the Beatles & Denali...in equal measure.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful , first hand account of Denali and our National Parks

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me fall in love with Alaska all over again.

[Jackie Schmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw insight into humankind and the world around us.

[Donald J Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and intelligent, it wrings out your primal nature and encourages you to champion preservation and wildlife.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't super exciting, but it was a nice contemplative book with an environmentalist tilt. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't recommend it unless you like books that aren't really about anything.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kim Heacox grew up in Spokane, Washington, just across the border from northern Idaho. The Rhythm of the Wild is partly his memoir, beginning with his dare devil days of traveling on his Schwinn through the city with his wonder dog, Max. Together (bike, boy and dog) they fly off a cliff into Hangman Creek. They survived. It's that sense of adventure that led Kim to find something to do with his life that was not listed on the occupational checklist given him in his senior year in high school. He checks Other. And ultimately became an environmental writer. In his youth he hitchhiked throughout the West, reading authors such as Edward Abby and John Muir. Eventually he does a short stint as a Ranger in the interior of Alaska, at Denali National Park. He falls in love with the park and the wild Alaskan landscape and makes this his permanent home. The book describes the park; the tallest mountain in North America (Denali), the Alaskan landscape, and its wildlife. Although his descriptions of the country and its history were great, what I found most satisfying was his philosophical writings: he writes of the need to keep our open spaces, to prevent increase human encroachment in wild areas; progress should not mean unfettered growth--our consumerism obsession is destroying our world. If I could I would have given this a 3.7 rating.

[Sheila Tarbet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book by Kim Heath, a former ranger, a ranger's husband, and a writer. He writes of growing up in the Pacific Northwest and his life as a young man as he attempts to find his place in the world. His writing honors Denali National Park and the wonders of Alaska and at the same time reminds us of the threats by the oil and coal companies and climate change. He's inspired by that "old guy" Edward Abbey (Desert Solitaire), but as one reviewer said, he has a "generous humanity" that I don't recall in Abbey.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great preparation for Alaska trip though 2 days at Denali clearly isn't much time. Interesting flora, fauna, history and politics.
pg 211 "Let us write and speak with brave self-reflection and go forth, inspired by all, intimidated by none, grateful for every day, to accept seemingly insurmountable problems as golden opportunities...Fall in love every day. Fall in love with a friend, a flower, a cloud, a novel, a poem, an idea, a song. Fall in love with words, with life. Open your heart to the beauty around you every day"

[Cara Mcnulty · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former National Park Service ranger Heacox recounts his passionate and enduring relationship with Alaska’s Denali National Park, a chunk of Alaskan land the size of Massachusetts with only one road. He write of the beauty and the wildlife with a lot of humor and Alaska is definitely on my bucket list.

[Paulcbry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sometimes humorous but always keenly appreciative account of the environs of Denali National Park. The author is a very good nature writer and I hope to read more from him. His story of riding a bike at night in the park is funny!

[Nancy Seamons · Rating 3 out of 5]

A timeline of one man's love of Alaska and the wilderness there.

[Carolyn Pina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written "nature" book as well as an interesting memoir.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn you Kim now I want to go to Denali! :-)