Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Alaska Adventures with Horses and Huskies

by Miki Collins, Julie Collins

Identical twins Miki and Julie Collins trap, hunt, fish, and garden in Alaska's wilderness just north of Denali National Park in Alaska's vast interior. Their closest companions are loyal sled dogs and Icelandic horses, which eat fish and can withstand northern extremes. Whether taking a 1,900-mile excursion around Alaska by dog sled, defending their huskies from a charging grizzly, or dealing with a panicked horse in an airborne plane, the Collins sisters offer a new perspective on life in the northland. Theirs is an unusual lifestyle even by Alaska standards.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book about a life tougher than I'll ever live. I appreciated the pragmatic perspective of the sisters, their humorous acceptance of getting into and out of scrapes, their can-do attitude about the backbreaking work involved in their profession, and their sharing of the cultures and people they interact with along the way. While I feel cold even reading about fifty below as a temperature, I'm impressed with them for rolling with it!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable account by two women, Julie and Miki Collins, living in the wilderness of Alaska near Denali. This book focuses on some of their trips and adventures with dogs, sleds, and Icelandic horses, including their introduction to the horses and the challenges of learning to work with them in remote and sometimes inhospitable places. The book is well-written and the adventures are always interesting, sometimes inspiring. One cannot help but come away with a great deal of respect for these women, who approach all of these incredible challenges and adventures in such a matter-of-fact way - living the life they love and dealing with problems as they arise.

[Nola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Alaska Adventures with Horses and Huskies is an intense book in one sense. It recounts scary events, a couple of very long and adventurous trips by dogsled and quite a bit of the details of a very challenging life. There is something unsatisfying about it also. How they came to live where and how they do is a complete mystery. I recently ready Seth Kantner’s Shopping for Porcupine, and the contrast is notable. Seth Kantner both explains and questions how he came to be in northern Alaska. Julie and Miki do none of that and write very little about the other people who live in the area. This last thing is a notable lack, especially when they stop to visit people they know along the way on a dog-sledding trip and, while there is a photo, there is nothing about how the person fits into their lives or anything else about them. The twins are certainly brave and scrappy and adventurous and much more competent then I could ever be, but the adventures can seem, at least to me, a bit fool-hardy That makes the extremities of the adventures feel pointlessly dangerous, especially when the horses and dogs are endangered. Trapping is a part of their lives and although they talk about the immense amount of physical work involved and don’t mention the animals, I know this is can be a horrible way for animals to die.

[Yuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book as a kid and have reread it many times over the years. Love the stories and glimpses of life in rural Alaska. Nice thing about the ebook over my very worn paperback is that there was an epilogue/authors' note added in 2017. It's only a few pages but gives a brief update on how the Collins' are doing and some of the changes in their lives in the decades since the events of the book. Hope they find the time to write a follow up some day.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, I love these ladies. Their lifestyle entails so much physical labor but I'll be damned if it's not a better way of life. Forever envious and living vicariously through these twins who are over twice my age.

[tyRonE hArDing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Lots of interesting adventures living in Alaska with dogs and horses.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, I enjoyed these books. I am a sucker for travel/adventure stories (especially women oriented ones), and these women are pretty hard-core.

[Joyce McCombs · Rating 5 out of 5]

More amazing adventures from Interior Alaska's own Trapline Twins - don't miss the chapter on how they airlifted one of their Icelandic ponies home...and what happened when the tranquilizer wore off!

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sequel to The Trapline Twins. I enjoyed reading of Miki and Julie's adventures, but I'm glad I live in a milder climate. These women are awesome.