Paddlenorth tells the riveting story of Jennifer Kingsley 54-day paddling adventure on the Back River in the northern wilderness of the Arctic as she and her five companions battle raging winds, impenetrable sea ice, treacherous rapids, and agonizing sores and blisters while contending with rising tensions among the group. But they also experience the lasting joy of grizzly sightings, icy swims, and the caribou summer migration.Woven through this spellbinding narrative are often-harrowing accounts of the journeys of earlier explorers, some of whom never made it back home.Paddlenorth paints an indelible portrait of the spectacular Arctic landscape, rendered with a naturalist eye and an artist sensibility, and offers an eloquent exploration of how wilderness changes us.