To The Top: Reaching for America's 50 State Summits

by Joe Glickman, Nels Akerlund

Release Date: 01 April, 2003

Edition: Hardcover

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A Philosopher with a Light Touch

Joe - I'm reading this book - finally, and I have to apologize for waiting so long. It's really quite wonderful and I'm enjoying it immensely. You write so well. Not only that but along with the humor, omnipresently threaded through your writing, there is real wisdom and insight into the nature of life. You are a philosopher with a light touch my friend. I'm learning some good stuff from you. What I feel about the book is the writing is just so good now, such a pleasure to read and so much of it has come from the fact that you've seen value in taking risks, pushing yourself and in adventure. Besides being a general good read, the experience offered to the reader is of a deeper significance than may be apparent on the surface and I appreciate you for that. Nel's photos are a profound visual treat - a fine compliment to your writing.

Outstanding story telling...

I have been a big fan of F. Spencer Chapman for a LONG time. In 1930, he spent a YEAR on Greenland with the British Arctic Air Research Expedition (an important sounding name for a group of college boys on an adventure). The Team Leader was Henry George "Gino" Watkins. As such, they became supremely proficient paddlers in kayaks. They also spent considerable time nordic skiing on the glacial plateau, flying Tiger Moths in aerial surveys, as well as recording meteorological conditions.. On the Second Expedition in 1932, Watkins was again the leader, and Chapman again went along. Watkins died in a hunting accident. Chapman wrote both expedition books, "Northern Lights: The British Arctic Air Research Expedition" and "Watkins Last Expedition." But before WWII, he also went to the Himalayas and climbed several mountains, including Chomolari in the Kingdom of Bhutan (one of the highest peaks to be climbed prior to WWII). His book "Memiors of a Mountaineer" is a classic of those times in Tibet and the Himalaya.

Joe Glickman is our modern F Spencer Chapman. I recently got copies of Joe's "Kayak Companion" and "To the Top" books. Excellent material. Joe has an easy reading style, and his stories are amongst the best, paddling or climbing. If Joe can't make you laugh, your funny bone has to be broken. I usually find myself laughing at myself, because I too have been there.