My First Summer in the Sierra

In this nature classic, the celebrated conservationist chronicles his summer shepherding in the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountains. In the summer of 1869, John Muir made his first long trip to Yosemite. When a friend offered him the chance to accompany his flock of sheep and a shepherd to the high pastures of the Sierra, it was an opportunity Muir could not resist. My First Summer in the Sierra is the journal he kept of those summer days, of the wildlife and plant life, and of his explorations into the magical places of the mountains. Founder of the Sierra Club, and its president until his death, preserver of his beloved Yosemite as a national park, Muir was a spirit so free that all he did to prepare for an expedition was to "throw some tea and bread into an old sack and jump over the back fence." In a world confronting the deterioration of the natural environment and an ever-quickening pace of life, the attraction of Muir's writings has never been greater.