NED
Roesler watched the helicopter lift off and swing north over the ice toward
Barter Island until it was a distant speck in the arctic sky. Then tearing his
eyes from this last link with civilization he glanced around at what he thought
would be a firm, meadow like expanse. Instead of solid ground though he found
himself on a marsh like terrain which stretched to the horizon. punctuated only
by tufts of tall grass called tussocks. And for the first time he was struck by
the enormity of what he was doing .Most of
us fantasize at one time or another about chucking the nine to five routine for
a new less encumbered lif style but few actually take that giant step. ne
roesler is one who did. Three years before at age 37, He left a lucrative wall
street career to plursue the live of a freelance photographer. Then at age 40,
he left friends and family to attempt a monumental solitary trek across
wilderness alaska. photographing plants and animals as they are seldom seen by
man. his plan was to start from the shore of the arctic ocean in northeas alaska
. cross the formidable brooks range to arctic village head south west over the
ray mountains to the yukon river through mt mckinley national park and
eventually reach the gulf of Alaska. shouldering his 125 pound pack. he stepped
off the dry landing pathc immediately his boot disappeared into wet grass and
water finding solid ground only when it hit the permafrost lay six inches below
the surface. An ascetic looking six footer with a modest red beard and thinning
hair Roesler was swept by a wave of panic .This was my moment of turth he says
during years of vacation hiking in state side
wilderness areas i'd always known at least unconsciously that
civilization was less than 40 miles away here the next habitation would be
arctic village about 250 miles to he
south . And since the rice-paddy conditions would never allow me to meet my
planned pace of then miles a day. I would have to cut back on rations. It
wasn't and auspicious start.what
would prompt an man entering mid life to give
up all his creature comforts for such a venture . there was no single
incident that pushed me into changing life-styles. says roesler i'd been
restless for years vaguely aware that there had to be more to life than riding
a packed subway to wall street . But it wasn't until 1973 after a back packing
trip in Canada that i got a true signal of what i wanted to do with the second
half of my life .
After
hiking 1800 miles on the pacific crest trail the following year the idea of an Alaskan photo photographing expedition formed
in Roesler's mind . For the next nine months he trained daily to harden his
body . He also read everything he could about Alaska and made list after list
of supplies. Finally on july 2, 1976 he took that first overladen step onto
Alaska's North Slope.Although
the soggy terrain was fa more difficult than he'd anticipated Roesler's hardly
noticed it after the first day. Instead his diary reflects a growing elation at
the beauty and richness of animal life around him.After struggling uphill for several hours, Roesler
reached the top of a ridge only to gaze out across snow covered peaks
stretching far into the distance. Although he tried to push the word "lost
" from his mind, it took all his effort to hold back tears. feeling as if
the wind had been knocked out of him, he continued forward for another 100
yards, over a small rise that had blocked the view immediately below. His heart
stopped there glistening like a jewel was squaw lake valley which on the map
pointed like a finger to near by Chandalar lake.
