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American rivers are among the most diverse and challenging in the world, and for many the excitement and escape they offer develop into a lifelong pursuit. In Downstream Toward Home, Oliver A. Houck recounts his six decades exploring America's waterways, from unnamed creeks and Louisiana swamps to the rivers of western canyons and the Alaskan tundra.This engaging travelogue leads readers to over thirty rivers found across the country. Along the way Houck provides quiet observations as he finds footprints of red wolves on a sandbank or paddles through an aqueous forest of cypress trees. Collectively, these moments of adventure and introspection reveal his distinct and extraordinary vision of the national landscape.From the thrill of approaching rapids to the peace of resting on a shoal, Houck's narrative draws from history and personal experience to remind us how each body of water plays an outsized role in its surrounding environment.