Summary

When the book opens, Ken is working as a dishwasher at an oil-field camp in Alaska. Feeling adrift in life, he and a co-worker Liam decide to go on a hike/canoe trip through the tundra. The trip does not go as planned and they two men end up on a long hike back to their camp that requires them to trespass through an oil field. They make it back, after an exciting and fearful trek through the oil field in which they nearly get caught. Liam and Ken had a great time on their adventure, which inspires them to hike the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline across North America, from Alberta to Texas.

The Keystone XL is a hot and controversial topic at the time, pitting the fossil-fuel industry against environmental concerns. After leaving Alaska, Liam and Ken begin to...