I n 1879, by canoe, the famous naturalist John Muir explored and mapped the awesome ice-filled bay today known as Glacier Bay, one of the jewels of our national parks.For the old Scot, Alaska was "the morning of creation" where he could hear "the stars singing together." So impressed was he by the wildness and stunning beauty of the country that he urged his readers, "Go to Alaska. Go and See." One hundred years later, almost to the month, two young men went north to see. Not by plane (although 50 years after Muir's odyssey here, Alaska would become the "flyingest" state in the union). Not by car. Not by steamer. Not under sail. Instead, they set out from Seattle under misty, gray skies in early June 1979 on two sliding seats, each man pulling on a pair of 10-foot oars in an open wooden dory. In a 100-year anniversary celebration of Muir's explorations, Peter McKay, then age 27, along with his partner, Dick Luxon, was going to row to Alaska. |