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Across Yosemite's Wilderness: A Trailblazing Woman's Career Protecting the Park's Backcountry
Across Yosemite’s Wilderness is a memoir about the life and career of Laurel Boyers – the first woman to serve as head Wilderness Management Ranger in the park’s history and the first to do full time mounted backcountry patrol. This two-part memoir begins with a travelogue of Laurel’s last mounted patrol of the park as a ranger. This section, a chapter for each day of the patrol, walks readers through the wilderness all around the park’s iconic Yosemite Valley. The narrative of the patrol is interspersed with park history, stories from her career, descriptions of the geography and vegetation, and Laurel’s reflections on her 30 years of service. This section immerses readers in the details of a backcountry patrol, introduces them to the park and its history, introduces them to Laurel at the end of her career, and sets the stage for the chronological story of her life.
Part two tells her chronological story, beginning with deep roots. Her great grandfather ran a way station for early visitors to the park, welcoming Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in 1903. She was born in Yosemite Valley in a little house near what is now Yosemite Village and went on to join the Park Service in 1976. Her narrative is full of details on what life as a wilderness ranger is really like – stories of helicopters, search and rescue operations, multi-day hikes, mounted patrols, and the challenges of managing the wilderness. It also describes unique connections she made throughout her life, from having known Ansel Adams personally (and having a polaroid he took of her) to leading former first lady Laura Bush on a weeklong backpacking trip through the park. Through her career and experience, she reflects on the global significance of Yosemite and the importance of effectively managing and protecting its iconic wilderness and other wild places across the world.
This will be a window into Yosemite’s history, the inner workings of the park, the life and career of a trailblazing wilderness ranger, and the most remote corners of the park. Laurel Boyers’ perspective is an incredibly unique one, and few people have been lucky enough to live a life quite like hers.
Part two tells her chronological story, beginning with deep roots. Her great grandfather ran a way station for early visitors to the park, welcoming Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in 1903. She was born in Yosemite Valley in a little house near what is now Yosemite Village and went on to join the Park Service in 1976. Her narrative is full of details on what life as a wilderness ranger is really like – stories of helicopters, search and rescue operations, multi-day hikes, mounted patrols, and the challenges of managing the wilderness. It also describes unique connections she made throughout her life, from having known Ansel Adams personally (and having a polaroid he took of her) to leading former first lady Laura Bush on a weeklong backpacking trip through the park. Through her career and experience, she reflects on the global significance of Yosemite and the importance of effectively managing and protecting its iconic wilderness and other wild places across the world.
This will be a window into Yosemite’s history, the inner workings of the park, the life and career of a trailblazing wilderness ranger, and the most remote corners of the park. Laurel Boyers’ perspective is an incredibly unique one, and few people have been lucky enough to live a life quite like hers.
- GenresNature
264 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2025
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31 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 28, 2025
I found the second part of the book- the essays the most intriguing. I did learn much about Yosemite, but I would have loved more of the author’s personal stories of people, animals, and wilderness areas. Many times she just discussed why it is important to value wilderness and mentions of climate change. I liked how she toured Nevada Barr around ( I read High Country after my Yosemite visit last year), but she seemed to not like that she was required to do it. However, Laura Bush was an honor. I did like reading that section; I’m just making an observation. I would have found it interesting to hear more about Ansel Adams and what it was like to live in the park and some of the rescues. I was left thinking the author really had more to share but just didn’t do it. Telling someone to value something over and over again is not showing, which is what I instruct my writing students to do - show not tell. I did appreciate the brother’s artwork and the photographs, but I would have liked more pictures of what she actually traveled through on her last trip. I did attempt to look up images, but it was hard because since some of these scenes were in actual wilderness not much was available or it was hard to know if I was looking at the actual area.
October 26, 2025
The story of this woman who relives her nearly 40 years as a ranger in Yosemite Park was interesting. I learned a lot about nature and especially about bears, which are some of my favorite animals.
I admit that, while I imagine that dedicating one's life to preserving a park must be extremely satisfying, such an uncomfortable life would have made me immediately regret my office and coffee machine if I had been in her place.
La storia di questa donna che rivive i quasi 40 anni passati a fare il ranger nel parco di Yosemite é stata interessante. Ho imparato molte cose dal punto di vista naturalistico e soprattutto sugli orsi, che sono alcuni tra i miei animali preferiti. Ammetto che, se da una parte immagino che dedicare la propria vita a preservare un parco deve essere estremamente soddisfacente, la vita cosí poco confortevole mi avrebbe fatto subito rimpiangere l'ufficio e la macchinetta del caffé se fossi stata al posto suo.
I admit that, while I imagine that dedicating one's life to preserving a park must be extremely satisfying, such an uncomfortable life would have made me immediately regret my office and coffee machine if I had been in her place.
La storia di questa donna che rivive i quasi 40 anni passati a fare il ranger nel parco di Yosemite é stata interessante. Ho imparato molte cose dal punto di vista naturalistico e soprattutto sugli orsi, che sono alcuni tra i miei animali preferiti. Ammetto che, se da una parte immagino che dedicare la propria vita a preservare un parco deve essere estremamente soddisfacente, la vita cosí poco confortevole mi avrebbe fatto subito rimpiangere l'ufficio e la macchinetta del caffé se fossi stata al posto suo.
June 16, 2025
It is painful to read the story of the Yosemite National Park, World Heritage Site, officially designated Wilderness, against the current backdrop, the decimation of the NPS and other environmental, science and climate change government support. Yet, hopefully, this too shall pass, before too much damage is done.
The author, Laurel Munson Boyers, is the same age as me, and has spent her whole career involved with the protection of this priceless global asset. How that works and what it takes is reflected in this book.
I loved the personal stories of life in the wilderness, the funny and tragic stories of ranger life, and the dedication of Laurel and her colleagues. She paints a mean word-picture of amazing scenery and jewel-like private corners. The final trail ride is a lovely introduction to the rest, which dives deep into how she got there in the first place, her upbringing, her rookie mistakes, but finally to the joys of sharing knowledge with others managing, or seeking to manage, their wilderness assets alongside the over-consumption presented by hikers and other users. The problems of Namibia, Japan and New Zealand provided fine insights and food for thought. This book should be required reading in all hospitality-related courses, just for that!
She finished with a thoughtful examination of the history of Yosemite, which did not start with the EuroAmericans or Anglos (she uses both terms). It seems to be early days yet, but the recognition of the area as part of a thousand year old culture for the descendants of the original people has begun, and can only be for the good of the area. The pressure from entitled rock climbing and hiking fraternities to keep the place to themselves has to be resisted, carefully. And what really worried me as this ended, is how the restrictions on the gun-toting recreational users will be enforced in the next few years.
I could go on, but you’d rather read the book.
The author, Laurel Munson Boyers, is the same age as me, and has spent her whole career involved with the protection of this priceless global asset. How that works and what it takes is reflected in this book.
I loved the personal stories of life in the wilderness, the funny and tragic stories of ranger life, and the dedication of Laurel and her colleagues. She paints a mean word-picture of amazing scenery and jewel-like private corners. The final trail ride is a lovely introduction to the rest, which dives deep into how she got there in the first place, her upbringing, her rookie mistakes, but finally to the joys of sharing knowledge with others managing, or seeking to manage, their wilderness assets alongside the over-consumption presented by hikers and other users. The problems of Namibia, Japan and New Zealand provided fine insights and food for thought. This book should be required reading in all hospitality-related courses, just for that!
She finished with a thoughtful examination of the history of Yosemite, which did not start with the EuroAmericans or Anglos (she uses both terms). It seems to be early days yet, but the recognition of the area as part of a thousand year old culture for the descendants of the original people has begun, and can only be for the good of the area. The pressure from entitled rock climbing and hiking fraternities to keep the place to themselves has to be resisted, carefully. And what really worried me as this ended, is how the restrictions on the gun-toting recreational users will be enforced in the next few years.
I could go on, but you’d rather read the book.
March 6, 2025
Although I hadn't quite planned on reading this one so early, it seems particularly relevant right now given the political minefield our national parks have been caught up in. While written much earlier, I felt the author's genuine love of the park, nature, and reverence toward all living things should be shared. While I've never been fortunate enough to visit Yellowstone, I have visited Denali National Park and thus grasp some of the awe Boyers felt being responsible for this natural wonder. The book focuses on what as her last mounted patrol of the full park after some thirty years as a ranger, some of it as the first female head Wilderness Management Ranger. And what a journey it was. More amazing, her history with the park goes back further. Her grandfather was one of those who welcomed Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir to the park in 1903, leading to it becoming a national park under President Roosevelt, and she was born in Yosemite Village. Although the iconic Yosemite Valley is probably most familiar to most, the park itself is nearly the size of Rhode Island and, as is noted several times, is definitely a land of superlatives.
I won't detail the journey for you but it was a fascinating ride. As it progressed, stories were shared, both serious and humorous, such as Boyers' own encounters with the unknown as a ranger and tales of the park's history and people. That includes Native Americans, of course, who surely traveled those trails long before its well-meaning but not necessarily well-informed caretakers took over. Being in bear country myself here in Alaska, I had to chuckle at the tales of how many, many efforts were made to keep food sources away from the bears. Uh, hanging it in a tree is no guarantee as, like the ol' cartoon Yogi Bear, these black bears (Yosemite's grizzly population faded out, alas) were smarter than the average bear, not to mention ranger. In between the personal reminiscences and observations, we learn a great deal about the history of the area and its residents, too, not to mention how really, really difficult it is to erase human traces of a campfire and such. Did you know heat from a campfire can basically sterilize the soil beneath it? Or that former Fist Lady Laura Bush is a strong proponent of Yellowstone and, for that matter, national parks period. Largely personal photos illustrated the book.
Through it all, however, the thing that stands out is the rangers' abiding love of their jobs and how seriously they take their oath to protect the lands for all. Anyone who thinks rangers are simply props in cool uniforms has no clue all that is involved. They undergo serious training for a variety of potential problems, problems ranging from tourists determined to pet a buffalo (don't even think about it), to learning the history of not just the lands but the life on it, both plant and animal, and how to best care for it. Many are trained in search-and-rescue, law enforcement, fire fighting, ow best to present their site to visitors that often include political and world leaders, mountain rescue, ecology, wildlife behavior and care, and, well, so many more that I just can't list them all. Even in the case of this book we learn about those responsible for the care of the horses and mules used to cover tough terrain with dizzying drops along the trails, and how to keep the animals and humans safe. It all combines to following the mantra of both preserving and using the areas, often a tough, very narrow line. There are areas, for instance, in the park that have never been logged or had their trees harvested. Nature at her best.
Bottom line, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Boyer has an engaging writing style and utilizes both facts and humor, dropping in bits of history as we go, not to mention some of her own oops moments. I liked her. It was her obvious reverence for all that goes to make up Yellowstone National Park that played repeatedly in my mind, however, as I read. The emphasis of why we need places like Yellowstone. Why people seek out nature. How hard rangers work to keep it wild and free. That it belongs to the people, not the government. And, well, I could go on but it's a strong message of why we should be preserving our parks, not stripping them of resources and all that makes them so special to so many. Okay, off my soap box. My thanks to #TheGlobePequotPublishingGroupInc - #FalconGuides for the early look at this timely, meaningful work.
I won't detail the journey for you but it was a fascinating ride. As it progressed, stories were shared, both serious and humorous, such as Boyers' own encounters with the unknown as a ranger and tales of the park's history and people. That includes Native Americans, of course, who surely traveled those trails long before its well-meaning but not necessarily well-informed caretakers took over. Being in bear country myself here in Alaska, I had to chuckle at the tales of how many, many efforts were made to keep food sources away from the bears. Uh, hanging it in a tree is no guarantee as, like the ol' cartoon Yogi Bear, these black bears (Yosemite's grizzly population faded out, alas) were smarter than the average bear, not to mention ranger. In between the personal reminiscences and observations, we learn a great deal about the history of the area and its residents, too, not to mention how really, really difficult it is to erase human traces of a campfire and such. Did you know heat from a campfire can basically sterilize the soil beneath it? Or that former Fist Lady Laura Bush is a strong proponent of Yellowstone and, for that matter, national parks period. Largely personal photos illustrated the book.
Through it all, however, the thing that stands out is the rangers' abiding love of their jobs and how seriously they take their oath to protect the lands for all. Anyone who thinks rangers are simply props in cool uniforms has no clue all that is involved. They undergo serious training for a variety of potential problems, problems ranging from tourists determined to pet a buffalo (don't even think about it), to learning the history of not just the lands but the life on it, both plant and animal, and how to best care for it. Many are trained in search-and-rescue, law enforcement, fire fighting, ow best to present their site to visitors that often include political and world leaders, mountain rescue, ecology, wildlife behavior and care, and, well, so many more that I just can't list them all. Even in the case of this book we learn about those responsible for the care of the horses and mules used to cover tough terrain with dizzying drops along the trails, and how to keep the animals and humans safe. It all combines to following the mantra of both preserving and using the areas, often a tough, very narrow line. There are areas, for instance, in the park that have never been logged or had their trees harvested. Nature at her best.
Bottom line, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Boyer has an engaging writing style and utilizes both facts and humor, dropping in bits of history as we go, not to mention some of her own oops moments. I liked her. It was her obvious reverence for all that goes to make up Yellowstone National Park that played repeatedly in my mind, however, as I read. The emphasis of why we need places like Yellowstone. Why people seek out nature. How hard rangers work to keep it wild and free. That it belongs to the people, not the government. And, well, I could go on but it's a strong message of why we should be preserving our parks, not stripping them of resources and all that makes them so special to so many. Okay, off my soap box. My thanks to #TheGlobePequotPublishingGroupInc - #FalconGuides for the early look at this timely, meaningful work.
April 27, 2025
If you’ve ever wondered what it is like to be a National Park Service Ranger, this book is for you! (Especially if you are a woman!) Or if you love National Parks and wonder what happens behind the scenes. Or if you just really enjoy memoirs and/or the outdoors.
Laurel Munson Boyers served as the first woman Wilderness Manager at Yosemite. She back packed and patrolled, and reflects on her 30 year career. I particularly enjoyed hearing about her details with Laura Bush and several of her friends enjoying a secret get away a couple days before the park opened to the public. Kudos on the publication of your first book!
Staffing levels from 2003 could total 130-150 staff, researchers and volunteers per day; wonder what they are in 2025 after Trumps cuts.
We have always loved our National Parks, they really are National Treasures. God bless the NPS workers. Thank you for your service.
Many pictures throughout this book. The book is about 264 pages. Seemed longer than 264 pages, I think there were more rows of text per page than for other books.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Falcon Guides (the publisher) for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Across Yosemite’s Wilderness by Laurel Munson Boyers in exchange for an honest review. Also many thanks to Ms. Boyers for her dedicated service to Yosemite National Park.
Publication date is June 17, 2025.
Also a shout-out to the author’s brother Lex Munson who designed the book and created all the artwork throughout the book (without AI).
Laurel Munson Boyers served as the first woman Wilderness Manager at Yosemite. She back packed and patrolled, and reflects on her 30 year career. I particularly enjoyed hearing about her details with Laura Bush and several of her friends enjoying a secret get away a couple days before the park opened to the public. Kudos on the publication of your first book!
Staffing levels from 2003 could total 130-150 staff, researchers and volunteers per day; wonder what they are in 2025 after Trumps cuts.
We have always loved our National Parks, they really are National Treasures. God bless the NPS workers. Thank you for your service.
Many pictures throughout this book. The book is about 264 pages. Seemed longer than 264 pages, I think there were more rows of text per page than for other books.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Falcon Guides (the publisher) for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Across Yosemite’s Wilderness by Laurel Munson Boyers in exchange for an honest review. Also many thanks to Ms. Boyers for her dedicated service to Yosemite National Park.
Publication date is June 17, 2025.
Also a shout-out to the author’s brother Lex Munson who designed the book and created all the artwork throughout the book (without AI).
July 11, 2025
What a delightful tour, first through the scope of this park that compares in size to the state of Rhode Island and I would wager varies far more in topography and ecosystems than most states. Laurel Boyers delight in the wilderness she had the good fortune to manage for decades is palpable through her descriptions. She also depicts her companions vividly.
Second, in the essays that comprise part two, she provides insight into the challenges and pleasures of a life devoted to nature and balancing the preservation and enjoyment the national park service is charged with. With a topic so vast, it is difficult to dive too deeply into the details. Boyers manages to deftly convey the nuances without taking the reader into too many daunting technicalities.
A book to savor and one I look forward to dipping into to ponder and revisit the author's delightful observations.
Second, in the essays that comprise part two, she provides insight into the challenges and pleasures of a life devoted to nature and balancing the preservation and enjoyment the national park service is charged with. With a topic so vast, it is difficult to dive too deeply into the details. Boyers manages to deftly convey the nuances without taking the reader into too many daunting technicalities.
A book to savor and one I look forward to dipping into to ponder and revisit the author's delightful observations.
December 5, 2025
I graduated college in 1983 with a degree in Recreation Resource Management. Was completely convinced that working in a National Park was my future. Unfortunately, it was the era of Reagan and his evil minion James Watt. They made so many cuts that it was impossible to even get a volunteer job in a park at the time. But life marches on, and so did I.
I picked up this book from NetGalley eagerly, loving to read about the men and women who have made their careers in park management. I'm glad that I did. Boyers lived the life I wanted, and it was so nice to vicariously ride along with her as a mouse in her pocket. What a great career.! She should be very proud of her service. She is a very good writer. The book is a real pleasure to read. It's interesting, and flows along nicely. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the outdoors.
I picked up this book from NetGalley eagerly, loving to read about the men and women who have made their careers in park management. I'm glad that I did. Boyers lived the life I wanted, and it was so nice to vicariously ride along with her as a mouse in her pocket. What a great career.! She should be very proud of her service. She is a very good writer. The book is a real pleasure to read. It's interesting, and flows along nicely. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the outdoors.
June 17, 2025
Across Yosemite's Wilderness is a fascinating book! The author, Laurel Munson Boyers, grew up in the Yosemite Valley, joined the park service in 1976, and became Yosemite's first female Wilderness Manager. The writing throughout the book is engaging and vivid. There are also numerous photos in the book that further ground the author's recollections into reality for the reader. I enjoyed the author's stories as well as learning more about the park's history and people. Gleaning useful wilderness safety tips along the way was an added bonus of the book for me! Thank you to NetGalley and Falcon Guides for providing me a review copy of this book. I'll be buying myself a copy of the book to read again.
August 19, 2025
As a lover of Yosemite (and who cannot find something to love about Yosemite), I binge-read this book in 2 days. The book is something of a marvel. Yosemite is huge, the size of a small US state, and most of it is designated wilderness. There is so much one could cover in the book, especially if you grew up in the park. The author Laurel Boyers managed to take us on a journey through the entire park, with candid insights into its issues and the many people who care for the park. I loved going on this journey, remembering the world-class beauty and learning more about what it is like to be a woman ranger, often traveling solo, through this beautiful place.
August 3, 2025
Interesting memoir about a woman's 30 year career as a backcountry ranger, and what led up to it. Played into my experience camping in Yosemite in the 50's, backpacking in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, and many other camping experiences made it captivating for me. I also had frequent thoughts of what it would be like to be a ranger in the Sierras. The author leaves no questions unanswered, including the challenges, personal experiences, and technical training needed.
July 6, 2025
Horses and Yosemite! Loved her stories from her time working there.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews