Northern Lights & Shadows

Sixteen Years in the Alaska Bush

Lee and his wife, Joan, lived in the vicinity of Denali (Mt. McKinley), North America's highest peak. The book describes how they built their cabin and lived a rustic life.

Lee runs a trapline, learns to fly a plane, and wanders through wilderness. The Basnars subsist on wild game and berries, and they smoke and preserve fish caught in nearby streams.

No matter their situation—flying in a small plane, breaking trail on snowshoes, driving snowmachines through blizzards, skiing under the northern lights, or confronting bears and wolves—the couple’s respect for Alaska’s stunning natural world is unmistakable.

Swans, loons, foxes, and other wildlife are their neighbors, and the Basnars share in nature's drama. Caribou trigger a landslide that buries part of the herd. Grizzlies attack and kill moose. Wolves howl under wintry skies.

The author describes coping with the many challenges of their lifestyle. His appreciation for wilderness and the animals that depend on it grows throughout the book, and he realizes that trapping animals is something he and the furbearers can live without. He recognizes how greed and carelessness can threaten wilderness, and the book explains his conversion from hunter and trapper to conservationist.

After becoming a pilot, Lee roams Alaska’s skies in his ski plane in winter and floatplane in summer. He lands on remote lakes and fishes for arctic grayling or rainbow trout. Miles from the nearest human, he sets up camp and explores the wilderness alone. He survives some terrifying experiences when wind and rain blast his small plane, forcing emergency landings.

The pain of frostbite, the agony of spring breakup, and the tough labor of backpacking the meat from a 1,000-pound moose are offset by the joy of watching sunrise transform Denali into something surreal.

Northern Lights and Shadows describes real people living in a setting that surpasses most imaginations.