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The Bravest Little Dog in Alaska: Glacier Bay National Park

April 6, 2026·1 hr 9 min·5 clips

Stikine whimpers at a narrow ice bridge, forcing Muir to confront the dog's shared mortality and courage.

1. National Park After Dark episode 365 features host Danielle telling the story of John Muir and his dog Stikine at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. 2. Danielle is the primary narrator; co-host Cassie reacts throughout; neither gives their last names in this episode. 3. The episode's core thesis, stated in the cold-open, is that a small terrier named Stikine taught the father of national parks an important lesson about the inner lives of animals. 4. Danielle explains she chose this story as a 'redemption' episode after her previous dog-focused episode, which ended with all the sled dogs dying in the Arctic. 5. John Muir background: born in Scotland, emigrated to Wisconsin at age 11, founded the Sierra Club in 1892, served as its president for 22 years, and convinced President Theodore Roosevelt during a 1903 Yosemite camping trip to establish the National Park Service. 6. Muir's controversial legacy is addressed at length: his writings contain racist and derogatory language about indigenous peoples and Black Americans, and his vision of 'pristine wilderness' erased the thousands of years of indigenous stewardship on the same lands. 7. The episode specifically notes that Muir's expeditions to Alaska depended entirely on indigenous Tlingit guides whose names and contributions he largely omitted from his writings, referring to one guide simply as 'Joe the hunter.' 8. Glacier Bay National Park is 3.3 million acres in Alaska with at least 1,045 named and unnamed glaciers; the park is experiencing some of the highest recorded rates of glacial retreat in the world. 9. The most famous glacier, Marjorie Glacier, is an active tidewater glacier retreating 12 to 14 feet per day due to climate change — though the federal government's website no longer mentions climate change in the park's descriptions. 10. Stikine belonged to Reverend S.H. Young of Fort Wrangell; Young pitched the dog to the skeptical Muir by saying he could 'endure cold and hunger like a bear, swim like a seal, and was wondrously wise and cunning.' 11. The name Stikine comes from the Stikine River and the Stikine Tlingit people, and means roughly 'Great River' or 'Muddy River' — referencing glacial sediment that colors the water. 12. Muir initially dismissed Stikine as a 'worthless toy dog' but noticed his 'fox-like grace,' weather-resistant coat, and, memorably, a tail 'as airy and shady as a squirrel's.' 13. Stikine consistently swam to shore before anyone else, disappeared whenever it was time to leave, and once threw himself into salmon-lit river rapids at night to catch Muir's canoe rather than be left behind. 14. After Stikine's paws were cut by jagged glacier ice and the dog made no complaint, Muir fashioned moccasins from his handkerchief — the physical turning point in their relationship. 15. Muir compared Stikine's stoic, independent personality to Diogenes, the Greek philosopher who rejected comfort in favor of a simple life close to nature, and began reconsidering whether animals have genuine inner lives. 16. The story builds to a storm morning in Taylor Bay where Muir wakes before dawn, takes only a piece of bread, and sneaks out of camp to reach Brady Glacier alone — only to find Stikine already following him through the rain. 17. Muir calls Stikine 'daft' and tells him 'the wild day has nothing for you,' but Stikine refuses to go back, and Muir relents and shares his bread with him before they continue toward the glacier. 18. The episode is told in Danielle's narrated style interspersed with Cassie's reactions, extended digressions about small dogs (Shih Tzus, misophonia, matching dog sweaters), sponsor reads, and a discussion of climate change signage removal from national park websites. 19. Listeners who enjoy narrative natural history storytelling, dog stories, or the history of conservation and its contested legacies will find this episode engaging. 20. Those who need an episode focused on hiking trails, wilderness survival, or true crime rather than historical narrative and animal behavior will likely prefer a different episode.

As heard by us

A small Alaska story turns into a sturdy, warm listen about a dog with more nerve than sense.

This episode keeps things simple: John Muir's Alaska story becomes a small, memorable chase, with Stikine the dog refusing to be left behind and swimming a rapid to stay with the group.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a small dog who swims a river rapid to keep up with John Muir.

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