Joe Wilkins has now accumulated more than half a century of experience in the wilds of northern Alaska since receiving training in arctic wilderness survival in 1966.  During the 1970s he began hiking, backpacking and camping in the region which, in 1980, was officially designated Gates of the Arctic National Park. A complex land of breathtaking contrasts, this frontier is exceptional in no other region in North America does it get colder, darker, or wilder. Its remote beauty and extensive human history imbue the land with an elemental and visceral sense of inspiration for those who visit. Gates of the Arctic National Park: Twelve Years of Wilderness Exploration provides thorough, accurate and detailed information about Gates of the Arctic National Park along with a collection of Wilkins' own personal photographs. Wilkins has created a definitive, perennial book about one of the country's most enchanting national parks that will stand the test of time. "Few people will have the privilege of stepping inside the borders of Gates of the Arctic National Park; for this reason, the pictures and insights shared by Joe Wilkins are truly a gift to the entire nation." -David E. McCourtney, West Point class of 1999, Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) "There is gold in Joe’s stories for those who care to listen and glean the lessons learned." — Gary Youngblood, Chief Ranger (Retired), Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve "Joe’s book provides readers with a unique opportunity to share the experiences of exploring America’s ultimate frontier.” —Doug Jewell, Former Park Ranger Anchorage, Alaska "Photos offer a glimpse into the wild corners of America’s northernmost national park. Joe Wilkins gives an insider’s perspective of Gates of the Arctic." - Smithsonian.com "Few people have invested so much time and effort in exploring and getting to know this area. His descriptions of the region are accurate, current, and authentic. Joe also brings well-deserved recognition to the dedicated personnel of the National Park Service.” —Zak Richter, Park Ranger (Retired) Gates of the Arctic National Park "European mountain climbers have a term to describe a book like this. We consider Joe’s book to be the opera omnia of the park. Roughly translated, this means his book is the “complete work” of Gates of the Arctic National Park. This is our ultimate compliment!" —Francesco Bruti, MD, Genoa, Italy “Beautifully and memorably illustrated throughout, Gates of the Arctic National Park: Twelve Years of Wilderness Exploration is an extraordinary, informative, and deftly written account that will please even the most demanding of armchair travelers.” - Midwest Book Review "The Arctic wilderness is incredibly beautiful,” states Joe Wilkins in Gates of the Arctic National Park. Looking at Wilkins’ photographs throughout this book, this is almost an understatement–through superb photography he demonstrates breathtaking, spectacular sceneries page after page, stunning the reader with his images. This is a very beautiful book with plenty of text to explain what Wilkins describes during his backpacking, canoeing, and kayaking trips. He starts his book with nice location maps. His writing is very good, very easy to read, giving us details about several wilderness trips with different partners as well as details about the sceneries, richly illustrated with photographs. He leaves nothing out; we see close-ups of berries, mushrooms, and flowers, and also wildlife photos of grizzly bears, gray wolves, squirrels, moose, caribou, musk oxen, and so on. For the more stunning sceneries, he uses full-page photos and for others smaller formats, many with informative captions.” - Seattle Book Review Take a trip through some of the most remote, untouched and thrilling wilderness in the United States The Gates of the Arctic National park. In this book of stunning photographs and interesting histories and facts, Joe Wilkins shares the knowledge that he has accumulated through personal experience and adventures about this piece of this country's last frontier. Joe Wilkins, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Springfield, grew up in what is now the Shawnee National Forest of southern Illinois.  He has a lifetime of wilderness experience and has hiked, climbed and backpacked in national parks and other wilderness areas throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Beginning in 1966, with his training in arctic wilderness survival as a young military officer, Wilkins focused his arctic wilderness explorations in and around the mountains of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska - prior even to the creation of Gates of the Arctic National Park in 1980.  In this place, the forces of nature are unrestrained and the arctic ecosystem is unaltered. It is a spectacular area.  It is rugged, free, wild and remote.  Wilkins' book reports on his explorations of the area in and around North America's premie