I am afraid of going to Alaska. It is a fear I have chosen to face, so it is not holding me back. I won’t face that fear until I get to the Canadian wilderness, still a few weeks away. It’s a fear of bears and the general unknown ruggedness that comes from true wilderness. I’m curious to see if I’ll suddenly come face-to-face with that fear, or if I’ll find myself in Alaska without ever having acutely faced the fear, only the vague dread of the storied and legend-bound land.