A young upstate New York woman begins an adventure of a life-time as she moves away from her safe and conventional path. She is unable to resist the excitement and challenge of a chance to become a geological explorer in Alaska, where she maps remote wilderness areas and journeys to the depths of her own heart. A memoir that is full of rich and eccentric characters with human failings. This landscape reveals the courage and sacrifice of the author's "family" of visionary explorers who mapped the wild state. Surviving dangers most people will never face, the author persists in the face of hardships and loss. Framed against the backdrop of Alaska's raw beauty, it is an inspiring story of achievement and hope, told with gentle humor, compassionate grace, and above all, an abiding respect for America's last frontier.