In June 2007, Erin McKittrick and Bretwood Higman (Hig) walked out their front door in Seattle to start an unprecedented 4,000-mile journey. They had only one rule - no motorized transportation. A little over a year later, roughly following the Pacific Coast by foot, packraft and skis, they reached the first Aleutian island in far western Alaska. Their journey took them over thousands of miles through remote, harsh, roadless and trailless terrain, as well as dozens of small villages, and a few larger cities.

One of their goals was to explore and catalog the key environmental issues facing the region - clearcutting, pollution from mineral extraction, global warming and a decline in wild salmon numbers. These places are far from the public eye, but are considered key environmental battlegrounds. By moving through the areas on foot, they hoped to see firsthand the impacts of development - what worked and what didn't.

Join The Mountaineers on Wednesday, October 8 at 7 p.m. for this stunning slideshow and talk. Admission is free, and this is open to everyone. The talk takes place at The Mountaineers Building, 300 Third Ave W, Seattle. For more information on Erin and Hig's trip, visit their website at www.groundtruthtrekking.org.