No Big Deal

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/99426715″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]In 1996, photographer John Burcham and three friends completed the first foot traverse of the 650-mile long Alaska Range. Together, they forded streams, chased off curious grizzlies and crossed crevassed glaciers. After 75 days, they had become a single unit. After delays mounted, Burcham decided to leave the group at the very end of the trip in order to make it to his sister’s wedding. He said goodbye and parted ways. He was alone in the continent’s last great wilderness with a sobering realization–crevasses, hungry wildlife and hypothermia can kill you, but loneliness can drive you crazy.

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