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The Adventures Of A Nature Guide
The Adventures Of A Nature Guide is a book written by Enos A. Mills, a renowned naturalist and conservationist. The book is a collection of stories and experiences from Mills' life as a nature guide in the Rocky Mountains. It provides a vivid and detailed description of the flora and fauna of the region, as well as the challenges and joys of living in the wilderness. The book also includes Mills' insights into the importance of conservation and the need to protect the natural world. The Adventures Of A Nature Guide is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the natural world, outdoor adventure, and environmental conservation.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
- GenresTravelNonfictionNature
Paperback
First published January 1, 1920
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About the author
Enos A. Mills
74 books7 followersEnos Abijah Mills was born in Kansas but moved to Colorado early in his life during a bout with digestive illness. At age 15, he made his first ascent of the 14,255-foot Longs Peak. Over the course of his life, he made the trip 40 times by himself and nearly 300 additional times as a guide.
In 1887, after returning to health, he moved to Butte, Montana. There he lived and worked intermittently until 1902, spending more summers traveling the West Coast of the United States, Alaska, and Europe. In 1889, he had a chance encounter with famed naturalist John Muir on a San Francisco beach, and from that point on Mills dedicated his life to conservation activism, lecturing, and writing.
In 1902, Mills returned to Colorado and purchased from his cousin the Longs Peak House in Estes Park. He eventually homesteaded in the surrounding area and later turned the Longs Peak house into the Longs Peak Inn, from which he treated guests to excursions into the wilderness and evening nature talks.
From 1902-1906, Mills also served as the Colorado State Snow Observer, a position that took him into the wild he so loved. His job was to measure the snow depths to predict spring and summer runoff. Following this position, he served as government lecturer on forestry from 1907-1909. During this time, he also authored several articles and books on nature and Estes Park area.
Throughout his time in various assignments, Mills was also leading the fight to preserve the area around Longs Peak as a national park. Aided by groups such as the Sierra Club and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mills succeeded and Congress established Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915. Called the "Father of Rocky Mountain National Park," Mills continued to lecture and write books until his untimely death at age 52 in 1922.
From: National Park Service Founders: Enos Mills
http://www.nps.gov/home/historycultur...
In 1887, after returning to health, he moved to Butte, Montana. There he lived and worked intermittently until 1902, spending more summers traveling the West Coast of the United States, Alaska, and Europe. In 1889, he had a chance encounter with famed naturalist John Muir on a San Francisco beach, and from that point on Mills dedicated his life to conservation activism, lecturing, and writing.
In 1902, Mills returned to Colorado and purchased from his cousin the Longs Peak House in Estes Park. He eventually homesteaded in the surrounding area and later turned the Longs Peak house into the Longs Peak Inn, from which he treated guests to excursions into the wilderness and evening nature talks.
From 1902-1906, Mills also served as the Colorado State Snow Observer, a position that took him into the wild he so loved. His job was to measure the snow depths to predict spring and summer runoff. Following this position, he served as government lecturer on forestry from 1907-1909. During this time, he also authored several articles and books on nature and Estes Park area.
Throughout his time in various assignments, Mills was also leading the fight to preserve the area around Longs Peak as a national park. Aided by groups such as the Sierra Club and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mills succeeded and Congress established Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915. Called the "Father of Rocky Mountain National Park," Mills continued to lecture and write books until his untimely death at age 52 in 1922.
From: National Park Service Founders: Enos Mills
http://www.nps.gov/home/historycultur...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 3, 2020
Enos Abijah Mills (1870-1922) spent his entire life exploring nature and then sharing his observations with anyone interested. This book, The Adventures of a Nature Guide, was originally printed in 1920 (reprinted in 2015) and Enos died just two years later. Through his fifty-two years, the burning passion that took life before his teens never dimmed:
"From the time I realized that animals and birds play merrily and frequently, wild life and wild places appealed to me with intensified interest. My estimate of wild folk rose mightily and the watching of wild life at play has claimed a large share of my outings and has given me an interest that never grows old."
The teaser that persuaded me to buy this book was the opening chapter--Walking Blind in the Snow-covered Mountains. Mills had been exploring the world atop the Continental Divide, alone as was his norm, when he lost his vision to snow blindness. Most of us would ponder our mortality but Mills rationally and calmly found his way back to civilization by employing his remaining senses:
"...feeling my way with the staff so as not to step off a cliff or walk overboard into a canon."
"[Blindly, trudging through endless snow, I shouted to] attract the attention of a possible prospector, miner, or woodchopper. No voice answered. The many echoes, however, gave me an idea of the topography—of the mountain ridges and canons before me. I listened intently after each shout and noticed the direction from which the reply came, its intensity, and the cross echoes, and concluded that I was going down into the head of a deep, forest-walled canon..."
xx
"...my staff encountered the top of a dead tree that leaned against the ledge. Breaking a number of dead limbs off, I threw them overboard. Listening as they struck the snow below I concluded that it could not be more than thirty feet to the bottom."
It took Mills more than two days with only a staff and his remaining senses to find his way down the mountain but he never lost his positive attitude or his belief that he would prevail. Only a nature lover could see that as an adventure.
It becomes clear as I read his adventures that to Mills, it didn't matter what nature threw at him--snow, heat, or storms. He considered each an opportunity to learn more about the natural world:
"The following day, while the storm was at its wildest in the lowlands, I was descending the mountains between eleven and nine thousand feet. Much of the time I was in the broken storm cloud, and, as I wrote in my notebook, 'For two hours the crash and roll of thunder was incessant. I counted twenty-three times that the lightning struck rocks, but I did not see it strike a tree.'"
Throughout the book, Mills shares many amazing experiences. Here's one where he watches the ever changing inhabitants of a woodpecker's nest (over a period of years), starting with the original owners and then followed by chipmunks, bluebirds, wrens, and more.
"The woodpecker's nest is one of the cleanest and safest and probably the most continuously comfortable of all birds' nests. It keeps out the rain and excludes the extremes of cold and heat."
Who knew? Here are a few more adventures:
"...is both interesting and necessary for one who enjoys the outdoors to be able to return to the lightning-struck tree, the almost hidden beaver colony, the nest of the humming-bird, and to recall the peculiarities of a particular place and its distance from the orchid or the bear sign which he saw."
"the wall-like, sixty-degree slope was constantly hugged closely, the wind a number of times saw how nearly possible it was to wipe me off without doing so. The mercury in my pocket thermometer barely showed above the zero mark, and all warming performances—hurrying, arm swinging, and dancing—were impossible on the icy, windswept steep."
If you are a nature lover, hiking enthusiast, or admirer of the independent spirit, you will enjoy this book.
"From the time I realized that animals and birds play merrily and frequently, wild life and wild places appealed to me with intensified interest. My estimate of wild folk rose mightily and the watching of wild life at play has claimed a large share of my outings and has given me an interest that never grows old."
The teaser that persuaded me to buy this book was the opening chapter--Walking Blind in the Snow-covered Mountains. Mills had been exploring the world atop the Continental Divide, alone as was his norm, when he lost his vision to snow blindness. Most of us would ponder our mortality but Mills rationally and calmly found his way back to civilization by employing his remaining senses:
"...feeling my way with the staff so as not to step off a cliff or walk overboard into a canon."
"[Blindly, trudging through endless snow, I shouted to] attract the attention of a possible prospector, miner, or woodchopper. No voice answered. The many echoes, however, gave me an idea of the topography—of the mountain ridges and canons before me. I listened intently after each shout and noticed the direction from which the reply came, its intensity, and the cross echoes, and concluded that I was going down into the head of a deep, forest-walled canon..."
xx
"...my staff encountered the top of a dead tree that leaned against the ledge. Breaking a number of dead limbs off, I threw them overboard. Listening as they struck the snow below I concluded that it could not be more than thirty feet to the bottom."
It took Mills more than two days with only a staff and his remaining senses to find his way down the mountain but he never lost his positive attitude or his belief that he would prevail. Only a nature lover could see that as an adventure.
It becomes clear as I read his adventures that to Mills, it didn't matter what nature threw at him--snow, heat, or storms. He considered each an opportunity to learn more about the natural world:
"The following day, while the storm was at its wildest in the lowlands, I was descending the mountains between eleven and nine thousand feet. Much of the time I was in the broken storm cloud, and, as I wrote in my notebook, 'For two hours the crash and roll of thunder was incessant. I counted twenty-three times that the lightning struck rocks, but I did not see it strike a tree.'"
Throughout the book, Mills shares many amazing experiences. Here's one where he watches the ever changing inhabitants of a woodpecker's nest (over a period of years), starting with the original owners and then followed by chipmunks, bluebirds, wrens, and more.
"The woodpecker's nest is one of the cleanest and safest and probably the most continuously comfortable of all birds' nests. It keeps out the rain and excludes the extremes of cold and heat."
Who knew? Here are a few more adventures:
"...is both interesting and necessary for one who enjoys the outdoors to be able to return to the lightning-struck tree, the almost hidden beaver colony, the nest of the humming-bird, and to recall the peculiarities of a particular place and its distance from the orchid or the bear sign which he saw."
"the wall-like, sixty-degree slope was constantly hugged closely, the wind a number of times saw how nearly possible it was to wipe me off without doing so. The mercury in my pocket thermometer barely showed above the zero mark, and all warming performances—hurrying, arm swinging, and dancing—were impossible on the icy, windswept steep."
If you are a nature lover, hiking enthusiast, or admirer of the independent spirit, you will enjoy this book.
December 27, 2024
This is the seventh of the books by Mills that I've read, and I think it's the most personal. Here, he shares not only information about the natural world, but also his thoughts about interacting with others when in the wilderness. Two people are spot-lighted: 8 yr old Harriet Peters who he led to the summit of 14,2592 ft Long's Peak, and 27 yo homesteader Esther Burnell (who would become his wife).
Philosophically, I think I'm on the same page as Mills, but he was much more adventurous than I'll ever be. He claimed to set off for the tundra no matter what the weather just so he could experience extreme elevations under all conditions. During a particularly harsh windstorm, he even ascended Longs just so he could measure the speed of the wind (170 mph). My sister and I were on the summit of Specimen Mtn (12, 494 ft) on a windy day, and she hated it, fearing that she would be carried off the cliff (she weighed less than 100 lbs), while I felt exhilarated and loved the experience ... but I'm sure the winds were nowhere near 170 mph.
As in his other books, he shares his own observations, but here he also quotes other well-known people ... scientists, poets, politicians, educations, philosophers ... all expressing the importance of nature experiences. Harvard President Charles W. Eliot is quoted as bemoaning "the incapacity of the American people, as a whole, to judge evidence, to determine facts, and even to discriminate between facts and fancies." That strikes home when I consider the current political conditions in the United States.
Mills also wrote that "Agassiz said that his chief claim to distinction was that he had taught men to observe." That I can understand. Scudder's essay about his first interaction with Agassiz is an all-time favorite of mine.
This was written in 1920. Mills died in 1922 at age 52.
Philosophically, I think I'm on the same page as Mills, but he was much more adventurous than I'll ever be. He claimed to set off for the tundra no matter what the weather just so he could experience extreme elevations under all conditions. During a particularly harsh windstorm, he even ascended Longs just so he could measure the speed of the wind (170 mph). My sister and I were on the summit of Specimen Mtn (12, 494 ft) on a windy day, and she hated it, fearing that she would be carried off the cliff (she weighed less than 100 lbs), while I felt exhilarated and loved the experience ... but I'm sure the winds were nowhere near 170 mph.
As in his other books, he shares his own observations, but here he also quotes other well-known people ... scientists, poets, politicians, educations, philosophers ... all expressing the importance of nature experiences. Harvard President Charles W. Eliot is quoted as bemoaning "the incapacity of the American people, as a whole, to judge evidence, to determine facts, and even to discriminate between facts and fancies." That strikes home when I consider the current political conditions in the United States.
Mills also wrote that "Agassiz said that his chief claim to distinction was that he had taught men to observe." That I can understand. Scudder's essay about his first interaction with Agassiz is an all-time favorite of mine.
This was written in 1920. Mills died in 1922 at age 52.
October 11, 2022
True or not, I think of Mills as the father of Rocky Mountain National Park. That said, I really don't know much about him, other than he ascended Longs Peak hundreds of times, sometimes twice in one day.
This book is a collection of essays about being immersed in nature: learning about nature by being in the outdoors and paying attention to your surroundings; what it takes to be a "nature guide"; how experiencing nature affects one's education; and other stories.
Many of the stories here took place in RMNP, an area I think I know very well. (There are about 150 named lakes in the Park and I've visited more than 100 of them.) He never gets specific about where these stories happen, but there are sometimes enough clues for me to figure it out.
I know the area well, and I think I know what sorts of animals and plants can be found there. Perhaps most interesting to me is the list of animals he encountered regularly (perhaps daily?) that are no longer in the area, or in the area in such small numbers that I've never come across them, such as Grizzly bears. (Grizzlies haven't been seen in Colorado for 70+ years. While hiking, I often find bear scat but seldom see the creatures.)
I can't help but think of how interesting it would have been to spend a day or three in the wilderness with Mills. I have no doubt that with his guidance, I'd see and understand much more about my surroundings than I manage on my own.
This book is a collection of essays about being immersed in nature: learning about nature by being in the outdoors and paying attention to your surroundings; what it takes to be a "nature guide"; how experiencing nature affects one's education; and other stories.
Many of the stories here took place in RMNP, an area I think I know very well. (There are about 150 named lakes in the Park and I've visited more than 100 of them.) He never gets specific about where these stories happen, but there are sometimes enough clues for me to figure it out.
I know the area well, and I think I know what sorts of animals and plants can be found there. Perhaps most interesting to me is the list of animals he encountered regularly (perhaps daily?) that are no longer in the area, or in the area in such small numbers that I've never come across them, such as Grizzly bears. (Grizzlies haven't been seen in Colorado for 70+ years. While hiking, I often find bear scat but seldom see the creatures.)
I can't help but think of how interesting it would have been to spend a day or three in the wilderness with Mills. I have no doubt that with his guidance, I'd see and understand much more about my surroundings than I manage on my own.
October 10, 2020
Read for Volunteer Naturalist bookclub. Mills is considered the father of Rocky Mountain National Park. He includes some great anecdotes about experiencing the wilderness; my favorite being one in which he describes how over the course of a couple of days he navigates his way from above treeline back down to "civilization" while being snow blind. His writing gives the impression that his intimate knowledge of the natural world is thanks to his close observation of it rather than from reading about it. One overarching impression that I found interesting...100 years ago it seems the PR message was the wilderness is not something to fear (several times he describes encounters with people shocked he is in the backcountry unarmed). In 2020, I feel like the message is perhaps not the opposite, but that the wilderness is something to be respected...many visitors approach RMNP as they would an amusement park: hiking in flip flops, carrying no water or rain gear, approaching wildlife for selfies...
February 27, 2023
I found the essays inconsistent in quality and interest. Mills displays an amazing degree of ego in some of his writings. I appreciate what he did to influence the designation of Rocky Mountain National Park but don’t need to read any more of his articles. The last chapter expounding on how brilliant his baby daughter was from the moment she was bor n was toooooo over the top.
February 24, 2018
These stories were written over a hundred years ago. I enjoyed them, some of his points still apply even in this new millennium.
March 6, 2018
What an absolute treat!
February 2, 2008
This is a classic for any nature guide or heritage interpreter. All of the concepts later attributed to Freeman Tilden and others show up to some degree in this book published in 1920. Mills ran a nature guiding school on Long's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park before it became a park. He was influential in getting it to be a park.
May 10, 2018
I have to say, Enos Mills was an amazing person. I can’t say that I entirely believed all of his adventures, but they certainly were interesting.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part describes a series of adventures the author had exploring mountainous regions. The second part contains a series of essays on nature, education and nature guiding. I listened to the book during the night so I’m sure there were sections I would have found boring in daytime hours. But otherwise I thought his ideas were amazingly modern and pertinent even today. I was especially impressed by his ideas on education, and agree with him on the necessity for people to connect with nature.
Overall a terrific read with a great Librivox narrator.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part describes a series of adventures the author had exploring mountainous regions. The second part contains a series of essays on nature, education and nature guiding. I listened to the book during the night so I’m sure there were sections I would have found boring in daytime hours. But otherwise I thought his ideas were amazingly modern and pertinent even today. I was especially impressed by his ideas on education, and agree with him on the necessity for people to connect with nature.
Overall a terrific read with a great Librivox narrator.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews