Ilse Abshagen sits on the Ugly Duckling, looking through binoculars in 1961. (Photo courtesy of Christiane Leitinger)

For the past few months, Christiane Leitinger has been hunting the Ugly Duckling, an amphibious vehicle previously owned by her parents. She traveled from Juneau to Haines to Anchorage to trace the path her family took in 1961 driving from Florida to Alaska in the World War II-era GMC that is part car, part boat. The journey took…

Lizzy Hahn is a reporter and photographer from Nome. She has worked in newsrooms across Alaska including the Anchorage Daily News, Nome Nugget and UAF Sun Star.