Here is a fine companion for any paddler, wanderer, or dreamer with a love for the wild. What you have here is not one more how-to manual for paddlers. These pages comprise a why-do volume exploring the spiritual core of paddle trip experience. Tim McDonnell writes with clarity, spirit, and self-effacing good humor, taking you along on several amazing wilderness journeys. Here you will share explorations into the wild that are fueled by something far more substantial than mere adrenaline and far more significant than mere ego. Wonder, playfulness, gratitude, and introspection are the key ingredients of this well-crafted book. Each of his essays flares a bit and then lingers with you, just as you would expect from a good fire.