I recently finished "Alaska`s Wolf Man"-Book is about Frank Glaser,a later day far North Mt.man who was in Akaska during the period 1915-1955. Great read.

TAP,
if you enjoyed Alaska's Wolf Man, you might enjoy my favorite book of all: Trailing and Camping in Alaska by Addison Powell. Also check out the many Alaska books written by Russell Anabel.

TAP,
if you enjoyed Alaska's Wolf Man, you might enjoy my favorite book of all: Trailing and Camping in Alaska by Addison Powell. Also check out the many Alaska books written by Russell Anabel.
Thanks for the info Alyeska.I have all but two of Anabel`s books and they are great.I have never had a writer hold my attention like his books can. I will give Mr. Powell a try,thanks a million.

The Powell book is my all time favorite book. Not as much hunting stuff in it, but there is quite a bit. The one thing to keep in mind is time period. I believe he was writing about his time here in 1898-1906. Very dry humor. Also, if you aren't familiar with the southcentral Alaska area, particularly the Prince William Sound/Copper River up through Ahtna country, get a map and keep it handy. Those prospectors in the early days were some tough cookies.

I can`t locate the Powell book in this area.Any advice?

I believe you can order it from Amazon.com. I think they order it from the Publisher up here. I've seen both Barnes and Noble and Borders books carry it in their Alaskana section up here. The publisher is Prince William Sound Books, I believe.
http://www.alaska.net/~awss/PWSBooks.html

It really is a joy to read, Powell was one tough cookie with a very dry sense of humor.

I just read "First Raft Trip through Keystone Canyon" on the site of Prince William Sound books.That did it, I am ordering the book.---------Thanks Alyeska--------------

I recently ordered Glaser's book from Amazon -- thanks to your tips -- but Powell's was unavailable. For an incredible, incredible recent story concerning Alaska and bears read "Hunted" by David Fletcher. The true story of a British mountain climber who accidently kills a grizzly sow's cub and then is pursued for days and days by the sow.

Thanks Sunday, I will give "Hunted" a try.

T.A.P. - Be advised that "Hunted" is written in a more literary style than most "down-home" hunting adventure books. You might want to try Amazon.com and see if there are any remaindered copies in used bookstores. I bought two safari books yesterday through used bookstores and got them for about $4.00 apiece.

"Hunted" by David Fletcher is a joke!!! That book is faked, and Fletcher even left subtle, but obvious, clues in the text so that you could tell that the story was fake.

I can't believe some of the reviews on the back of the book - "kept me riveted to my chair" "great adventure story" etc. etc.

I only paid $10 for it at a used book store, but I still feel cheated, and I don't recommend this book at all.

On the other hand, it is so ridiculous that you may get a good laugh out of it!

Cooper - I will write the publishers and try to get a statement from them. Certainly, it is a very incredible story that stretches the limits of veracity, at the same time, New York publishing houses have fact-checkers and do not publish "true" adventures stories on a whim. It will be interesting to see how the publishers at Carroll and Graf respond.

Sunday Creek - I'll pass on just one item in the book to help show what I mean.

At one point, Fletcher is rapelling down an ice face to get to his tent (and WHY he is descending this ice face is another strange thing, which I'l discuss later), when he spots the bear near the base of the cliff watching him.

Fletcher writes (and I'm paraphrasing because I don't have the book in front of me): "He was standing up, watching me, and when I got near the bottom of the ice face, he ran after me, RUNNING ERECT, JUST LIKE A MAN...." (emphasis here is mine).

We all know that bears do not run erect - they first drop to all fours. To check on this further, I asked a friend of mine who used to guide for Pinnell and Talifson on Kodiak Island many years ago, whether he ever saw a bear run or walk erect.

He said he NEVER saw anything like that. At the most, from an erect position, they might take ONE step forward as they were dropping down to all fours.

I think nearly anyone who knows anything about bears will agree that they do not run "just like a man".

And further, the fact that Fletcher stated it in this manner suggests to me that he knew that, although this description might sound reasonable to an audience that may not know too much about bears, he also knew that people who did know something about bears would see, and realize, that Fletcher was just pulling our leg.

There are numerous other examples, but this is one that just jumps out at you.

True, bears do not run erect. Even a badlands cowboy like me knows that. When I read the book last winter I certainly questioned many aspects, particularly toward the end, but truth can be strange. I grew up reading the cowboying books of Will James and while he may have embellished the facts at times -- even as Russell Annabel was known to do in his Alaska yarns -- there were certainly many instances of tbings that could have happened even if they hadn't. In this case Carroll and Graf is a respected publishing house and the book jacket asserts several times that this is a true story. So, I do plan on contacting them for a reaction. I would be interested in any other examples you would like to post or you may email them to me privately. I have dealt with a number of New York publishers and while the disreputable houses will print anything that might make a buck, the better houses have pretty strict standards. If this story is a complete fabrication and not just whimsical exaggeration the publishers need to be accountable.

Here's another one.

On p. 46 (I have the paperback version) he mentions climbing the frozen waterfall, and tells us that it is 24 meters high - about 75 feet.

He begins climbing the ice, using just his crampons and ice picks. On p. 48, he says when he is "at least halfway up the waterfall" (so around 40 ft up), he puts in an ice screw to give himself a running belay.

Now go to p. 62. He has rapelled down the waterfall, and the bear has charged him while he is still on his rope on the ice face. He's climbing back up his rope to get out of the reach of the bear, and he states that he has gotten to the point where his ice screw "is just a short distance above me now". He clips into the ice screw, so he must be about 40 ft. up the ice wall, yet he states that he's trying to avoid the bears claws "...slicing through the air, just a short distance below my boots".

That is one tall bear!!!!!

Further on p. 65, he mentions that he is still hanging on his rope "...joined into the ice screw by the thin tape sling, placed halfway up the waterfall..." But then he says his is still worried about the bear because "my legs are still dangling down dangerously close to the ground"!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fletcher is doing this on purpose - telling us he is 40 ft up in the air, and yet at the same time he is just above the ground.

It gets worse!!!!!

When the bear takes a swipe at Fletcher with its paws, he states (on p. 66): "But the BLAST OF AIR from the bear's massive paws slicing past me hits me like a powerful gust of wind. I'm BLOWN WELL OVER to one side of the ice screw.... This same blast of air also starts my climbing rope oscillating wildly....."

That is one heck of a bear!!!!

Sunday Creek - to address your comments on authors who exaggerate their stories (or just having some plain inaccuracies in them) - that's also the way I viewed this story when I first started reading it. But as I went through it, it just kept getting stranger and stranger.

First, the entire premise of the story is somewhat strange - a bear seeking "revenge" to the extent that he follows a climber way up a mountain, over a period of several days.

When Fletcher first encounters the cub down at the base of the mountain, he (an avowed "nature lover") panics and throws his ice pick at it, killing it!!!! He mentions how the cub is screaming and wailing. So, where is the mother?

In all my readings of Alaska stories or other bear stories, I don't think I have EVER read of an encounter with a cub where the mother wasn't within close distance - certainly close enough to hear her cub screaming. But in Fletcher's story the mother never appears (until much later).

I guess it's not impossible that the mother would be far away, and most of the other things I am suspicious of in the story probably aren't "impossible" either. But the oddities just keep adding up. And then, like I mentioned before, I became convinced that Fletcher was not just exaggerating his story - he was purposely inserting these oddities and other clues so that we would realize that the story was fake!

I don't want to take up a lot of space on this forum discussing the book (or ruining it for those who haven't read it yet), unless people want me to.

BTW - you might want to check on amazon for this book, and read some of the reviewers comments there.

I don't mean to breakup the discussion of Hunted, but do have one more recommendation for a Book of early Alaska. If anyone has an interest in the political scene of our great nation and the general confusion it caused in Alaska at the turn of the century, please look at 'The Copper Spike' by Lone Jansen. She did her research and there are some really incredible stories. Basically it revolves around the 'Irish Prince', The Copper River Northwestern Railroad (the Can't Run and Never Will), Kennecott Copper Mine, Valdez, Cordova, Katalla, etc... True in every context.

Amazing what the workers had to overcome, the riches that come from the mine, the mess the feds made here, the wilderness and the splendor of Alaska and its people.

Alyeska, always good to hear suggestions. I started the "Wolf Man" book last night. Cooper, my letter to the publisher is going in the mail today. I hope they respond.

I finished "Alaska's Wolf Man" last night. Very good read.

Another interesting and very readable book on Alaska during WWII is "The Thousand Mile War" - an account of the battle in the Aleutian Islands. This was the only place in the U.S. where the Japanese actually landed and occupied US territory.

It mentions how the U.S. lost more planes to the weather than they did fighting the Japanese!