Arctic

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During 2020, we all found ourselves somewhat limited in our ability to pursue our “usual” schedule of activities. Travel was limited, and for Katherine and I, a continuation of long-distance hiking projects in Europe had to be put on hold. Although we could do several interesting hikes in Washington, Oregon, and several long-distance tours with the old ALF Speedsters in Colorado and down the Pacific Coast Highway, we found ourselves with a considerable amount of the year spent closer to our home on Whidbey Island.

Our solution to this dilemma took several forms. First, we began a series of musical concerts at our home. (I saved video from one of those concerts as COVID CONCERT, in this Blog.)

#1 Project

In addition to the Covid Concerts, I thought this would be a good time to develop an “artistic” compendium of the most significant Arctic Expeditions I was fortunate enough to be involved with during the 1970s and 80s. The first result was a two-volume, large-format set of books outlining these expeditions and displaying what I thought were the most compelling images.

I have already copied those books to my website for my followers to see. They are named:

Arctic Exploration in the Years 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982

Volume 1 and Volume 2

They are available here. I hope you enjoy them.

Volume 1 (Selected Photos)

Volume 2 (Selected Photos)

#2 Project

The next project which is called Swiss Alpine Hut Hikes in the Mattertal and Val d’Anniviers was one that I had often thought about, but I needed more time to undertake. I wanted to develop a large-format pictorial guide to the best alpine hikes in the Swiss Mattertal and Val d’Anniviers. The hikes described in the book range in severity from easy to difficult. I recommend anyone interested in hiking in the Alps consider any or all of these for their to-do list. This is a new entry to my site and is available here.

#3 Project

The third and current photo-journalistic endeavor I have wanted to do for a long time is now underway.

For the last 50 years, I have been an avid collector of First Edition Arctic and Antarctic Exploration Journals. These include Journals dating from as early as 1802 through the 1920s. A large portion of the collection encompasses the British quest to discover a Northwest Passage.

One of the things that makes these books so compelling is the engravings made from drawings by expedition members and included as dramatic visual documentation of these explorations.

Therefore, I have undertaken a project to photograph and refresh these 170 to 200-year-old published engravings and display them in a large-format book.

The first volume, which I hope to complete by April 2025, will be devoted to the four expeditions of Captain William Edward Parry:

Journal of a Voyage for the

Discovery of a North-West Passage

from the Atlantic to the Pacific

1819-20

Journal of a Second Voyage

for the Discovery of a

North-West Passage from the

Atlantic to the Pacific

1821-23

Journal of a Third Voyage

for the Discovery of a

North-West Passage from the

Atlantic to the Pacific

1824-25

and

Narrative of an Attempt

to Reach the North Pole

1827

This book, in particular, has a special meaning to me because Parry reached a latitude of 82 N, which I was also fortunate to achieve on our 1982 Expedition to the British Empire Mountain Range on northern Ellesmere Island.

As a technical side note, this project involves several steps:

Take high-resolution digital photographs of each engraving. This involved building a V-shaped holder for the book being photographed. This allows the photographing process to be completed without flattening these rare old books and damaging the spine.

2. Process the digital images. I use an excellent photo processing program called Luminar NEO, which allows me to restore engravings digitally by correcting visual imperfections.

3. Insert the photo file into a Word document formatted to an 18h x 22w page, add the original captions in the original font, and test print for correct lighting.

4. Write a short history of each expedition and develop maps to aid in understanding the context of the engravings.

5. Write an introduction on the history of the engraving process and its use in early 19th-century travel publications.

While there is no profit incentive for this obscure endeavor, I hope visitors to this website will enjoy the Art of Exploration.

Running At The Edge

The New Book is finally here! Whew.

Here is an example of how an otherwise normal Steve Trafton has lived his life while pushing extremes. It’s an exuberant and diverse read about how living on Easy Street may become your own blind alley. Being absent from life is not what this guy is famous for. Instead, he says that taking risks and being restless in your field of interest is a road map to a fulfilled life.

Stephen Trafton is not really your average guy though. During his lifetime he has:

survived a massive avalanche,
set a World Speed Record at the Bonneville Salt Flats,
pursued what became a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that resulted in one of the largest monetary judgments against the U.S. Government,
climbed 600 of the world’s mountains while recording 32 first ascents,
searched and found remnants from the lost Sir John Franklin Arctic expedition of 1845.

Of course he also:

led more than 200 mountain rescues,
trekked the width of the United States,
scaled each state’s high point,
and attempted the 8500 mile Peking to Paris Motor Challenge in a 1915 speedster.

What makes this achievement-oriented man tick? Well, there’s a method to his madness and it’s revealed in his book called At The Edge: A Life in Search of Challenge.

This former CEO of Glendale Federal Bank (now CitiBank) shows how you can push human extremes. Trafton first discovered his passion for the outdoors at the age of 12 when he scanned the Olympic Mountain Range from a perch thousands of feet above his family’s campsite. He had only left for a short walk, but ended up climbing Boulder Peak to the chagrin of his worried parents. Little did they know that this solitary adventure would spark a future life at the edge.

From retrieving the bodies of climbers caught in devastating avalanches,

-to roaming the remote Arctic in a dozen journeys.

From surviving hurricane force winds while trapped in a mountainside tent,

-to reaching pristine summits of unclimbed peaks.

These are events that shaped the life of an American adventurer, driven to do things that few people have tried.

With color photographs that help document his many excursions, escape into the mind of a true explorer who thrives on the next adventure.

You can read excerpts as well as see extra photos (starting with Baffin Island 1978) that were not published in the book. See the New Book tab above for more.

“If you’re not moving, you’re standing still.”

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