After a 1,200 mile solo canoe trip from Grand Portage, Minnesota to Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Jerry Pushcar wanted to see more of North America's untamed wilderness. Waters Beneath My Feet is the personal memoir of his response: a three-year solo odyssey from New Orleans, Louisiana to Nome, Alaska.
His compelling journey began by paddling up the mighty Mississippi, battling barge traffic and wing dams all the while. The danger didn't stop there. Between the Mississippi and his destination, Pushcar would spend more than two years in the bush, navigating tricky encounters, mammoth lakes, untamed rivers, and inhospitable winters. All were precursors to the final test: the Bering Sea. He almost didn't make it.
Contact with Pushcar was lost for weeks near the end. Just as the newspaper in Nome was preparing to declare him lost at sea, a bush pilot spotted him walking along a stark, snow-covered cliff above the ocean. Offered a ride for his final 30 miles to Nome, Pushcar declined. "I've come this far, I might as well finish it."
The record-breaking journey ended in Nome at 5:36 P.M. on November 12, 1977.