Gavin flying past Denali, day 28 of the Expedition, photo Jody MacDonald

Patagonia has just published the first full written account of the Alaska Traverse. Here’s a little taste, click on over to The Cleanest Line for the full account.

“To understand this story you have to understand that I’m not crazy. Sure I’ve had some close calls, but that doesn’t mean I’ve got a death wish. There was that time in Mexico when I got stuffed in a waterfall kayaking a first decent and spent over five minutes underwater. And there was the time we got knocked down and nearly run over by an ocean freighter sailing in hurricane force winds and 35-foot seas off Cape Mendocino, California. Ah, and there was that time I landed my paraglider in a river above a heinous waterfall in the Dominican Republic, that was a close call for sure. And I do have to admit to spending a particularly spooky 10 hours swimming in a Pacific atoll filled with sharks after a night-dive went really wrong. And I really got close that time my kite exploded in a howling gale kitesurfing in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland forcing me to dump my gear and swim for several hours in 10°C water against the wind to make landfall. But I promise I didn’t do any of these things for the adrenaline rush. And I didn’t do them because I’m careless, or because I didn’t understand the risks. By definition, expedition means going into the unknown. By definition, adventure means something is going to go wrong. What I’m guilty of is sometimes pushing too hard. And sometimes I’m probably guilty of dreaming a little too big.”

Click here to read the rest of the story.