Mountains Of Memory: A Fire Lookout'S Life

by Don Scheese, Wayne Franklin (Contributor)

In Mountains of Memory, seasoned wilderness
dweller Don Scheese charts a long season of watching for and fighting
fires in Idaho's River of No Return Wilderness the largest federal
wilderness area in the mainland United States. An inspiring tale of
self-discovery, Mountains of Memory paints a complex portrait
of the natural, institutional, and historical forces that have shaped
the great forested landscapes of the American West.

A student of nature writing as well as a fire lookout with over a
decade of experience, Scheese recounts his life at the top of the
world, along with daring adventures such as backpacking and
mountaineering in the Bighorn Crags and kayaking down the Middle Fork
of the Salmon River. All the while, he touches upon the mysterious and
powerful realities of the wilderness around him—stunning dawns
visible within the glass cage perched on a 9,000-foot mountain,
stirring flashes of lightning visible all around the dark landscape as
the radio crackles with reports of strikes observed and fires spotted,
long-awaited trips down the mountain to civilization for cold beer and
hot pizza.

In the tradition of Edward Abbey and Gary Snyder, Don Scheese offers
readers a meditation on the meaning and value of wilderness at the
beginning of the twenty-first century.

Genres: Nature, Memoir, Outdoors

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

Don Scheese is a professor of English at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Wendy Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great examination of wilderness and the human relationship to it. Also serves as a great introduction to classic nature writers like Snyder and Thoreau--has a really nice bibliography. Scheese's sections on the history of Idaho are really interesting, and I learned a lot about wildfire fighting.

[John Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1980 with a degree in Geography. Don Scheese later taught there in the Geography and English departments and I know I would have had him as a professor had I been 10-15 years younger. I appreciate that I was able to get a sense of what he might have been like as a teacher through this book, though it is not at all about teaching. In it he brings out a summer working as a fire lookout on Ruffneck Peak in the Frank Church Wilderness of Idaho. Besides bringing us a sense of why he loved this work so much that he did it for at least ten summers, he explores the sense of place and thoughts on the American wilderness and explores many other ideas. Though I wasn't able to have him as a professor, I am glad I was able to benefit from his teachings through this book.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fire lookouts in wilderness areas have long been intriguing to me. There is quite a bit of interesting information dealing with the Idaho wilderness areas and the forest service in general. It was also interesting to read of the thoughts of someone who spent many summers alone in the Frank Church wilderness area as a lookout. I have often thought that would be a great summer job.
Not a remarkable read but I enjoyed it because I could picture the areas he was describing, especially since I have recently driven through some of them.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There are more mountains to climb, there is much more wilderness to explore.”