He becomes protective of the natural beauty that surrounds him and finds it puzzling and frustrating that something so beautiful would be destroyed and replaced with cement. Developing deeper connections and stronger bonds. He grows more and more connected to his surroundings as the book progresses. This specific description serves to bring to mind a well known disliked organism and therefore successfully personifying the sheep as a vessel for his hatred for the destruction of nature. He refers to the sheep he heads as “hoofed locusts”, relating them to pests due to the damages they cause to the ecosystem with their feet. Instead he writes pages distributing what are thought to be inerrantly human adjectives to flowers, plants, and small critters. But in the end, when you finally arrive after all of that dreaming, the real deal will take first place.Īs you journey toward the Range of Light, read about Muir’s first summer in the Sierra, for only when you arrive and see it with your own eyes will you truly understand-and feel-his manic passion.Upon his arrival he was taken aback by the insincerity of the people he comes across, it is clear that he much prefers the company of plants and wildlife to that of humans so much so that he spends little time mentioning the people he encounters on his journey. Fantasize all day look at photos read books. Instead, there are only first impressions and the imagination. There is no bias or first-hand experience to influence the first timer. I believe it is near impossible for anyone to have a bad first summer in the Sierra. Tuolumne: Cathedral Peak Matthes Crest more shenanigans.

Yosemite Valley: the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral with Henrich cragging with Lori, Jean, Sean, and crew naps by the Merced shenanigans with Rich. I remember my first summer in the Sierra. Paperback: $13.95 available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and on order at most independent bookstores. John Muir (1838 – 1914) was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. My First Summer in the Sierra is an excellent introduction to the writings of John Muir. He explores in great detail the mountains, meadows, waterfalls, flora, and fauna of the rich landscape that captured his heart. As one of America’s great philosopher naturalists, Muir captures the spirit of the Sierra Nevada and brings the reader along as a witness to his great journey.

In the summer of 1869, Muir set out from California’s Central Valley with a flock of 2,050 sheep and made his way to the headwaters of the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers. In My First Summer in the Sierra John Muir recounts his early travels in the Sierra while working as a shepherd.

My summer in the sierra