Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier

In 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman organized a summer voyage into wild Alaska. He converted a steamship into a luxury "floating university," sailing north with some of America's best-known scientists and writers, including Sierra Club founder John Muir, who'd visited Alaska several times before and was considered an expert on its glaciers but was initially uncertain about joining Harriman owing to their political differences. Travel writer Adams (Meet Me in Atlantis) retraces the Harriman expedition via the state's intricate public ferry system and the Alaska Marine Highway. More than 100 years later, Alaska maintains its sublime wilderness, attracting millions of tourists yearly, who take Inside Passage cruises, docking in remote, picturesque Alaskan towns flanked by snow-capped peaks. Adams travels 3,000 miles, following the Harriman itinerary through the Inside Passage and continuing into the Aleutians and the Arctic Circle. He compares the accounts of the Harriman expedition to what he uncovers on his own journey. Along the way, he encounters the state's eclectic population, including its well-known bears.