Pan-American Air Line

If not for its geographic location, few travelers would visit Point Barrow, Alaska. Barren and windswept, the state’s northernmost point offers little more than an opportunity to snap a selfie against a featureless backdrop. For Paul and Magdalena Guschlbauer, their arrival in summer 2018 at a spit of land jutting into the Beaufort Sea marked the end of two years of preparations and the start of a six-month adventure.

As the solstice sun made its elliptical loop around the Arctic sky, they readied for the longest overland traverse on earth, the serpentine route from the top of the United States to the bottom of Argentina, except for them it was literally over land. Unlike the many travelers who’ve made the same trip via truck or motorcycle, they planned to complete the journey by way of vintage bush plane.

Once, such exploits were commonplace, even at Point Barrow. It was from there in 1928 that the first airplane crossed the Arctic Ocean. The mid-twentieth century