Changing Paths: Travels and Meditations in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness

by Bill Sherwonit

Changing Travels and Meditations in Alaska ’s Arctic Wilderness is an autobiographical exploration of author Bill Sherwonit’s relationship with the Alaska wilderness. Written in three parts, it first describes Sherwonit’s introduction to the Brooks Range and his years as an exploration geologist. Taking a step back, the author then takes us into the past to explore his childhood roots in rural Connecticut and his recognition of wild nature as a refuge. He concludes with his emergence as a nature writer and wilderness advocate. An engrossing, fascinating, and eye-opening tale of one man’s life and of wilderness conceptions, this vivid description of an area of Alaska that few people get to experience is authentic and enlightening. It is an extraordinary contribution to the literature of place from one of Alaska’s most accomplished nature writers.

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Judd Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I'm looking for a casual, relaxing read, I often turn to travelogues. Sherwonit's trip through the Central Brooks Range of Alaska is a good example of this genre, though the changing paths run deeper than his trails alone.

First, the surface level: Sherwonit tells a story of two weeks spent in the backcountry of Alaska, working from a small village to a spot on the river where he'll be picked up by plane. It's something of an understated trip: while grand in its ambition and remoteness, it's a pretty ambling path. Sherwonit has left double the time he needs to accomplish the goal; spends a great deal of time holed up in his tent waiting out rain; and honestly doesn't do that much in the way of grand adventuring other than a couple of river crossings that seem slightly dressed up for drama.

Given that review, the book would likely sit a bit below 3/5 stars for me. But, what sets this book apart is alluded to in the title, and fleshed out as you get to know the author. Midway through the book, we're introduced to his religious past, told through a variety of vignettes of deconversion throughout. And, from very early on, we get a taste of his life as a geologist prospecting for companies that we later learn he has come to loathe for their environmental impact. It's these shifts of mind that represent the 'changing paths' much more so than the actual journey he's on.

I think he's told this story well, in that he lets the grandness of the forthcoming adventure get us acquainted with him. As the voyage ambles on, this allows the personal stories of transformation and mind changing to fill up more space as the adventure mellows. Indeed, I think in this day and age, any author that's willing to centre a book around their changes in ideology is worth celebrating, and Sherwonit does it well.

I should also admit a bit of bias, in that Sherwonit's journey matches my own in some notable ways. Growing up in the east of the continent; a formative grad school journey into Arizona that introduced him to the wild; a longing for the mountains thereafter; his grappling with worry and anxiety... and even the deconversion process and a change in ideology (from environmentalist to ecomodernist in my case)... it all feels pretty relatable. It makes the story approachable and touching in a way that's highly personal.

Two minor gripes: First, because it's a relatively personal telling of the journey, Sherwonit relates it in the terms that he experienced it. This involves putting a book about Alaska by Robert Marshall at the centre, a recurring motif that we revisit dozens of times throughout the book. But, this ends up putting the reader slightly outside of it all: we're left feeling like we're a bit outside of the joke for not knowing this frequently referenced book in detail, given it's so central to Sherwonit's understanding.

Second, and this is probably a little unfair, but for as much as Sherwonit gets personal, we're always left at an arm's length away. Because we get to know /him/ quite intimately, it's a little weird that we never really get to know anything about his family, other than a mother suffering from health crises. This is exacerbated by allusions to a departed partner, as well as lots of tacit gestures towards the ruggedness of his journey (e.g., frequent moves, living remotely, backcountry adventures, etc). In the final pages, we learn that the partner he meets in the book is not his current partner, but it all stays shrouded in a bit of a fog. It almost feels as though Sherwonit is ready to let us into a bunch of ways his life has changed... but not quite this one yet.

Personally, the book is easily five stars when I include the relatable content. But, given the purpose of my rating codex is to assess the book for /other/ readers, I'd give it 4-4.5/5, mostly because of the two comments above plus the slightly ambling pace.