Mountaineering Essays

by John Muir

One of the world’s foremost writers of the mountaineering essay?his writings are finely wrought expressions of the transcendental joy he found in the mountains?John Muir also founded the Sierra Club in 1892 as a way of supporting his belief that Americans must preserve national parks throughout the country in order that future generations might be spiritually inspired. Characterized by an iron endurance and an insatiable curiosity, Muir vowed to spend his days studying God’s unwritten Bible?nature?or what he termed the "University of the Wilderness." Muir early on learned to keep a journal in the manner of Emerson, but he is also considered one of America’s pioneer glaciologists, an interest he gained while wandering in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Whether frozen in a subzero blizzard on Mount Shasta, seemingly doomed on the unforgiving slopes of Mount Ritter, or exhilarated by the ice-shapes viewed from the summit of Mount Rainier, Muir reveled in the mountain experience.

This volume contains eleven mountain essays that include both adventurous narrative, joyful exultation, and descriptions of natural features such as alpine soil beds, ancient glaciers and living glaciers, and mountain sculpture. In each, Muir maintains a careful and subtle balance between the physical aspects of ascending and the more symbolic observations of the sublimity of his surroundings. Mountains are for him a source of discovery that provide an affirmation of the human spirit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Mountaineering, Travel

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

John Muir was far more than a naturalist; he was a secular prophet who translated the rugged language of the wilderness into a spiritual calling that saved the American soul from total surrender to materialism. Born in 1838 in the coastal town of Dunbar, Scotland, Muir’s childhood was a blend of seaside wanderings and a brutal religious upbringing. His father, Daniel Muir, was a man of uncompromising faith who forced John to memorize the New Testament and most of the Old Testament by age eleven. When the family immigrated to the frontier of Wisconsin in 1849, this iron-fisted discipline continued on their farm. However, for the young Muir, the "Book of Nature" began to rival the Bible. He saw the divine not just in scripture, but in the black locust trees and the sun-drenched meadows of the midwest.
The pivotal moment of Muir’s life occurred in 1867 while working at a wagon wheel factory in Indianapolis. A tool slipped, piercing his cornea and leaving him temporarily blind in both eyes. Confined to a darkened room for six weeks, Muir faced the terrifying prospect of a life without light. When his sight miraculously returned, he emerged with a clarity of purpose that would change the course of American history. He famously wrote, "This affliction has driven me to the sweet fields. God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons." He immediately set out on a 1,000-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico, beginning a lifelong odyssey of exploration.
Muir eventually found his "true home" in California’s Sierra Nevada. To Muir, the mountains were not mere piles of rock, but "the range of light." He spent years as a shepherd and guide in Yosemite, living a life of extreme simplicity—often traveling with nothing but a tin cup, a crust of bread, and a volume of Emerson’s essays. His scientific contributions were equally profound; he defied the leading geologists of the day by proving that the Yosemite Valley was carved by ancient glaciers. While the state geologist, Josiah Whitney, dismissed him as a mere "shepherd," the world’s leading glaciologists eventually recognized Muir’s genius.
His transition from explorer to activist was born of necessity. Seeing the "hoofed locusts"—domestic sheep—devouring the high mountain meadows, Muir took up his pen. His landmark articles in The Century Magazine and his 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt became the catalysts for the modern conservation movement. Under the stars at Glacier Point, Muir convinced the President that the wilderness required federal protection. This meeting laid the groundwork for the expansion of the National Park system and the eventual return of Yosemite Valley to federal control.
As the co-founder and first president of the Sierra Club, Muir spent his final years in a fierce philosophical battle with Gifford Pinchot. While Pinchot argued for "conservation" (the sustainable use of resources), Muir championed "preservation" (the protection of nature for its own sake). Though he lost the battle to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley from being dammed, the heartbreak of that loss galvanized the American public, ensuring that future "cathedrals of nature" would remain inviolate. John Muir died in 1914, but his voice remains ubiquitous, reminding us that "into the woods we go, to lose our minds and find our souls."

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a number of mountaineering books that are personal accounts of ascents. This is the first I have read that hints at the spirituality and wonder of why people climb. It's also fascinating comparing Muir's ascents in the 1800's to methods today - a lot of what he does as a veteran mountaineer might astonish modern mountaineers. It's good stuff, though he does tend to ramble of about species of flowers and glacial action for awhile in each essay.

[No Magic Pill · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the name implies, this book is a series of essays written by John Muir, a prominent outdoorsman and one of the primary reasons America has so many national parks.

Muir eloquently describes his romps around the woods, climbs up prominent peaks (Mt. Shasta, Rainier), and other adventures in the untouched western U.S. wilderness. His writing is quite beautiful, invoking feelings of awe towards nature and providing vivid imagery to put the reader in Muir's own boots. An excerpt: "when one of the greatest and most impressively sublime of all the mountain views I've ever enjoyed it came full in sight – more than three hundred miles of closely packed peaks of the great Coast Range, sculptured in the boldest manner imaginable, their naked tops and dividing ridges dark in color, their sides in the cañons, gorges, and valleys between them loaded with glaciers and snow. From this standpoint I counted upwards of two hundred glaciers, while dark-centered, luminous clouds with fringed edges hovered and crawled over them, now slowly descending, casting transparent shadows on the ice and snow, now rising high above them, lingering like loving angels guarding the crystal gifts they had bestowed."

There is no mistaking Muir's fascination and sheer love for the wilderness: his writing conveys just how much nature means to him and how he sees it differently than the average hiker.

This book is highly recommended for any outdoors person, and should be read while experiencing nature (preferably similar to where was!).

If you're wanting to experience Californian nature and mountains, I highly recommend Trinity Alps Resort, located near Redding, CA. Established in the 1920's (my great-grandfather went there as a child), it is a wonderful place to relax with friends and family and experience nature. The hike to Emerald Lake is challenging (26 miles round-trip from TAR), but entirely worth it: landscapes straight out of this book are present along the entire trail.

See also: Albert Bierstadt's complete works, California's High Sierra.

[Chels S · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't fancy all the pagan childish talk of "plant people" and "mountain cathedrals" or the obsession with "Mother Nature". Muir's "God" seemed to more Pan of the Pagans than the Holy Trinity of Christianity.

[Hali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful slog. Thoreau's influence is clear the whole way through.

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

he is so happy about the mountains. always. he is never not happy to be in nature.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely want to read the rest of John Muir's short stories throughout this book. Muir was an absolute legend in the earliest days of Yosemite valley around the turn of the 20th century. He is ultimately responsible for saving many national park areas in the U.S. as well as starting the Seirra Club, a totally epic conservation organization that still exists today. The story "A Near View of The High Sierras" starts with him meeting a couple of painters in Yosemite Valley who wished to be taken to a beautiful landscape deserving of a painting. He had just been in an amazing area around Tuolumne Meadows so he took them there. After he got them set up he took off for an attempt to summit nearby Mt. Ritter. It was a day's walk to the base so he took a blanket and a loaf of bread and set out. Muir is incredibly descriptive in his writing. At times it was hard for me to follow because he took two pages to describe a meadow. I often read a few pages twice just because i felt myself zoning out while riding the train to work. Coming from a time without GoPro cameras to capture 60 frames per second for an upload to YouTube, he had to be incredibly descriptive to even get the gist of what he was seeing, thus the need for complex and lengthy descriptions by our standards today. He commented a few times throughout the story that he should teach himself how to paint so that he could show the world this amazing place that he lived in for most of the year. His attempt at summiting Mt Ritter was thwarted by poor weather and even poorer climbing conditions. He had to down-climb several sections because the rock was covered in a thin layer of ice and without crampons or ice axes it became impossible, so he bivied out two days with just a blanket and a loaf of bread and made back for painters' camp. I wish I were half as badass as mountaineers in that time. With all of our high-tech gear I feel like we've become increasingly soft, attaining a pathetic state relying more on our gear than our skill and ability to learn from nature, something I'm sure that our mountaineering ancestors would laugh at.

Check out my other short story reviews from my blog of 30 day life experiments at http://theyoungurbanunprofessional.co... you can also follow me on Twitter @YoungandUrban

[Tamra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it a lot. Found lots of memorable quotes. He was a good writer, able to conjure the words, sentences, and chapters to take people into the wilderness with him. He wrote "I never see a beautiful flower or a fine combination in nature without thinking of you and wishing you were there to appreciate it with me."

[Leigh Verrill-Rhys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so incredibly beautifully written, it's hard to believe Muir was freezing in the wilds of the Sierra Nevadas when he wrote these essays. The descriptions of the mountains and glaciers are so masterful, inspiring. Breathless. You can imagine what he must have felt being in this vast wilderness alone, as a scientist as well as spiritually.

[Rift Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, typical John Muir, excited and hyper-happy even when he's freezing to death in a mountain storm! *laughs* It's really good reading tho, and Muir's happiness is infectious. :)

[Elissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

More good nature reading, a little more cold and icy than the last one: more glaciers, high mountain peaks, blizzards, etc. But still, a good breath of fresh, if frigid, air.