My First Summer in the Sierra

This vivid travelogue conveys John Muir's life-changing adventure in the Sierra Nevada. Penniless but itching to travel, Muir took a job relocating Pat Delaney's sheep from California's Central Valley to the Yosemite region. When he set out in the summer of 1869, Muir, whose closest previous experience was walking a thousand miles from Indiana to Florida, wasn't sure that "the silly sheep" would make it through the wilds of the mountains. He was reassured that the accompanying shepherd would do the actual herding, and that he'd be left to study nature. Silver firs, waterfalls, fertile valleys, and snowcapped peaks bejeweled the landscape, imbuing Muir with a profound reverence for the natural world. His passionate journal entries detail the beautiful surroundings Muir encountered and the colorful characters he met along the way. They furthermore explain his transformation from an industrial engineer to a pioneer of the environmental movement. My First Summer in the Sierra has become a classic that has inspired many to follow in Muir's footsteps.