See through Muir's Words: My Summer in the Sierra (illustrated): A photographic wilderness excursion with John Muir as your guide

This book differs from the original: 295 photographic illustrations Botanical terms used by Muir are accompanied by updated scientific nomenclature and common names Enjoy an illustrated wilderness excursion with John Muir as your guide! In 1869, at age 31 y, John Muir traveled with a flock of sheep and his faithful St. Bernard, Carlo, from the Central Valley of California to the Sierra Nevada mountains. He kept a diary but waited to publish My First Summer in the Sierra when he was 73 y, just a few years from his death. To better “see through Muir’s words” the extraordinary sights that he encountered, I selected 295 photographs from his route over the past two decades. I supplemented the 1911 work with these, so the reader could better visualize why Muir was so inspired by his historic summer. Because Muir used botanical terms often in his descriptions, I kept these in his original text but added the common names for many of the plants he highlighted. While Muir recognized the extraordinary beauty of Northern California, he quickly understood what long-term harm would result from grazing sheep in alpine meadows. He became a strong advocate for environmental conservation and is a co-founder of the Sierra Club. He later looked back and valued this journey as “the greatest of all the months of my life.” This is high praise indeed given the extent of Muir’s travels and accomplishments. In large part to John Muir, these mountains and meadows now draw over 4 million visitors a year to a place we all now call Yosemite National Park. View Less