Kister describes his dangerous low-budget expedition in a new book called "Arctic Quest." And he has nothing good to say about oil development around Prudhoe Bay, which he explored on foot.

"They've turned what was one of the biggest wilderness areas in the world into one of the biggest toxic waste lands in the world. It's surrounded by hundreds of toxic waste pits, there's a huge array of thousands of miles of pipelines and roads, housing facilities for thousands of people. There's stacks of barrels that have been strewn throughout the tundra for scores of miles from Prudhoe Bay."

Kister spent three months hiking and rafting in back-country Alaska. He survived a near drowning and bouts of hypothermia and illness, and he had to scrounge for edible plants and berries when his food ran out. But he says it was worth it to see the coastal plain, a land rich with animal and plant life. Kister strongly opposes oil development in the refuge.

"There's a very small amount of oil, only a six-month supply of oil for the United States. And it would take ten years for that oil to ever come to market. And if we would just increase the corporate average fuel economy of the United States automobile fleet, we would save more oil than would ever come from the Arctic refuge."

That's Chad Kister, author of "Arctic Quest."