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Wilderness Days
In the evocative words of one of America’s best-loved nature writers, Wilderness Days brings together the essence of the magnificent wilderness with which he so deeply identifies. Sigurd F. Olson collects from his writings those moments that most vividly depict the turn of the seasons in the great woodlands and waters of the legendary Quetico–Superior region overlapping the Ontario–Minnesota border.
264 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1973
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About the author
Sigurd F. Olson
22 books80 followersSigurd F. Olson was an American author, environmentalist, and advocate for the protection of wilderness. For more than thirty years, he served as a wilderness guide in the lakes and forests of the Quetico-Superior country of northern Minnesota and northeastern Ontario. He was known honorifically as the Bourgeois — a term the voyageurs of old used of their trusted leaders.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 22, 2018
Wilderness Days succeeded in doing what I wasn't sure it could do and what only good nature writing can do: It made me interested in another person's experience of a very specific geographical region that I have no particular ties to. And it kept me interested. Because like good nature writing also does, it made the personal experience universal. It put in me the desire to explore this region for the wildness it still contains today and for the love that the book's author, Sigurd Olson (1899-1982), had for it.
This is Olson's "canoe country" -- the Quetico Superior along the Ontario-Minnesota border -- a land of calm lakes and rushing rivers connected via portages that long ago served as trade and voyaging routes. Home of plentiful summers and silent frozen winters.
Olson covers all the seasons here with their individual sounds, sights, colors and rewards. Of spring, he says "One must be on time to see these things, for they don't wait." He describes fall similarly. Because "time doesn't wait in the North," he must seek out and savor the last of the brilliant color before the next gale puts a swift end to it. His description of a winter encounter with timber wolves will never leave me, nor will his telling of a late-spring storm whose duration and severity took even the migrating birds by deadly surprise.
Throughout, he shares quieter observances about alpenglow and the way the "Ross Light" transfigures both the landscape and viewer, watching "white horses" (rapids) breaking from the mist at dawn, recapturing the "lost wonder" and mystery of our forebears through the ritual of fire-building, "ghost camps" and memories of shared experiences with wilderness companions who've passed. In one of my favorite writings, he talks about how a cabin should never be too comfortable.
And of course, like all good nature writing, Olson shows us how we, how everything, is connected. He shows us this more than he tells us, but because he was also an environmentalist, there is discussion and warning about what we lose when we abuse and misuse the wild and its wildlife - what we lose when wild becomes managed. And especially, what we really lose when we no longer live close to nature.
This is Olson's "canoe country" -- the Quetico Superior along the Ontario-Minnesota border -- a land of calm lakes and rushing rivers connected via portages that long ago served as trade and voyaging routes. Home of plentiful summers and silent frozen winters.
Olson covers all the seasons here with their individual sounds, sights, colors and rewards. Of spring, he says "One must be on time to see these things, for they don't wait." He describes fall similarly. Because "time doesn't wait in the North," he must seek out and savor the last of the brilliant color before the next gale puts a swift end to it. His description of a winter encounter with timber wolves will never leave me, nor will his telling of a late-spring storm whose duration and severity took even the migrating birds by deadly surprise.
Throughout, he shares quieter observances about alpenglow and the way the "Ross Light" transfigures both the landscape and viewer, watching "white horses" (rapids) breaking from the mist at dawn, recapturing the "lost wonder" and mystery of our forebears through the ritual of fire-building, "ghost camps" and memories of shared experiences with wilderness companions who've passed. In one of my favorite writings, he talks about how a cabin should never be too comfortable.
And of course, like all good nature writing, Olson shows us how we, how everything, is connected. He shows us this more than he tells us, but because he was also an environmentalist, there is discussion and warning about what we lose when we abuse and misuse the wild and its wildlife - what we lose when wild becomes managed. And especially, what we really lose when we no longer live close to nature.
January 31, 2011
I loved this book because it relates to the Boundary Waters Canoe area north of Ely, Minnesota where I canoed and camped in the early 1970's. My rating may not be quite as high without that personal connection to the land. Similar in style to "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold.
July 14, 2013
This is a good book. Anyone from the northern states who understands and feels the out doors will enjoy this book. I found it best a chapt and a time not a read through. Read a chapt reflect on it and wait a day or two before reading another.
February 28, 2018
Anyone who appreciates the wilderness and the north would love this book. A collection of Sigurd Olsen's essays about canoe trips into the wilderness of the Quetico Superior country. Beautiful writing.
July 31, 2008
A collection which featured some essays I had already experienced along with some new [for me] material. Not my favorite from Sig, but still worth reading.
December 16, 2020
This book is a "greatest hits" compilation from earlier books, along with a little bit of new material that introduces each of the sections. He won the John Burroughs Medal for it in 1974, the highest award in nature writing, and in this case a recognition of the value of all his books to that point.
As his biographer, I'd say this is a decent way to introduce yourself to Sigurd's writings, but I think you'll likely get more enjoyment by starting with his book "The Singing Wilderness." It was his first book and a New York Times bestseller. Lots of great essays about the emotional connections people experience in nature. Then I recommend they try "Listening Point," which best expresses Sigurd's land ethic. Finally, I recommend "Reflections from the North Country," his most philosophical work.
If you're looking for a book that's more about wilderness adventure, though, try Sigurd's "The Lonely Land," about a journey along the wild Churchill River in 1955.
As his biographer, I'd say this is a decent way to introduce yourself to Sigurd's writings, but I think you'll likely get more enjoyment by starting with his book "The Singing Wilderness." It was his first book and a New York Times bestseller. Lots of great essays about the emotional connections people experience in nature. Then I recommend they try "Listening Point," which best expresses Sigurd's land ethic. Finally, I recommend "Reflections from the North Country," his most philosophical work.
If you're looking for a book that's more about wilderness adventure, though, try Sigurd's "The Lonely Land," about a journey along the wild Churchill River in 1955.
January 21, 2025
This book is full of the things I love best about Sigurd Olson. He was so willing to sit quietly and patiently and listen to and feel nature. Nature fills and fuels my spirit like nothing else, and he writes about all of it poetically and lovingly - as a primal need for humans.
April 21, 2023
I think this is my favorite book by one of my favorite authors. It is a walk through the seasons, and you can hear the birds sing and the water lapping the shore. His words feed my soul.
September 19, 2020
A great recommendation and a book that you ease into. Beautiful, evocative writing that takes you to the wilds and reminds you of why they matter and why we have to treasure them.
February 8, 2022
A very enjoyable read for anyone who loves the wilderness
December 9, 2024
Some of the best nature writing I've read. This is divided by seasons and I read it slowly over the past year. Really good.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews