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Hi,
I just came back from the Yosemite Park in California, while on a trip to the US.
There, for the first time, I read about John Muir, the naturalist.
He is very famous in the US.
Can someone recommend me 2 or 3 good books that he wrote ?

I already bought The Yosemite.

Thanks for your feedback.

While I don't have any book recommendations I do want to say that I'm extremely jealous of your trip to Yosemite! This is on my short list of life goals so congrats to you for gaining that experience. How was it? What did you see?

Speaking of naturalists I'm going to propose that we read and discuss Darwin's Origin of Species or maybe Voyage of the Beagle in 2010. We have enough books on the menu for the rest of this year, but next year might be great for one of these classics. As you probably know Darwin was a naturalist. Not sure if John Muir is the same sort of naturalist as Darwin was.

Hello Chris,
It was amazing. It was a quick visit but it was enough to fill my head with fabulous landscapes.
I saw the Yosemite Valley, the Yosemite falls, the giant sequoias etc
I took many pictures. I hope to go again one day.
I am making a site about my trip in the US, with pictures, I can pm you the link when i am done if you are interested.

Yes, I'd love to see the photos. Please send the link whenever you have them online. You can also post photos right here in this thread or in our community photo album at http://www.booktalk.org/album.php

Celinio wrote:Can someone recommend me 2 or 3 good books that he (Muir) wrote?

I have read loads of mountaineering-related literature, and John Muir is one of my least favorite authors. I feel like I just committed a sacrilege. Perhaps you should just head over to the library and read whatever they have. If you are like me, you'll stop reading after about twenty pages. That said, I sincerely hope that you enjoy what you find.

The one thing I have appreciated in Muir's tales are his descriptions of camping in the mountains. For instance, instead of hauling in a huge backpack filled with a month's salary worth of gear, he would carry a blanket and a loaf of bread. At night, he would build a fire, bury the coals, and sleep on top of them. I've spent a few memorable (and mostly sleepless) nights trying to emulate Muir in the mountains.

I don't know if you might have heard about the recent Ken Burns documentary on the National Parks. John Muir had most of one night on that show. I don't think that he is necessarily remembered today for his writing as much as for his advocacy for preservation. From what I've read of his, though, he did have a fine spiritual appreciation for our great landscapes.

Don't know about his books but I have hiked the John Muir Trail. North to South to be precise.

Grim wrote:I have hiked the John Muir Trail. North to South to be precise.

That makes two of us, though I hiked south to north.