Book Description

From the author/illustrator team that produced the bestselling Reading the Forested Landscape: a fascinating and beautiful natural history of North American granite summit balds.

In The Granite Landscape Tom Wessels synthesizes history, geology, biology, and personal narrative to enhance our understanding and appreciation of these high, wild places—the granite summit balds of North America. He explores the unique and fragile ecosystem that is common to exposed granite expanses from Acadia to Yosemite—how it evolved slowly over millennia, and how it is threatened today by foot traffic and overuse. Wessels' wonderfully informative and accessible text combine with his dramatic photographs and Brian Cohen's beautifully detailed illustrations to bring the denizens of the granite bald to life.

The mountains they celebrate include: Acadia National Park in Maine; the White Mountains of New Hampshire; the Adirondacks of New York; the Wind River Range of Wyoming; the Beartooths of Montana; the Enchantments of Washington; and Yosemite National Park in California. 18 photographs, 30 illustrations, 1 map, glossary, index. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

EXCELLANT !!!!
First off, I loved this book. I know some will poo poo this book for not being a hardcore geology book, but thats what makes it so good. Mr. Wessells gives a very good geology course limited to the granite outcroppings in the U.S. and he does it so that is is very interesting. At times I felt like I was right there at his side as he described the landscape he was in. I had to limit myself to a chapter a day, though I cheated a couple of times, I could have read it in one sitting. I sure wish my geo classes in college had been this interesting.
Brian Cohen's illustrations are fantastic as well.
My only disappointment was the author's photographs, though that can be forgiven fro writing such a good book. It is now a permanent part of my library. ... Read more

Book Description

To quote the Los Angeles Times: "Impelled by a profound love of the land, the ten stories in In the Loyal Mountains are a reminder that American literature draws its unique strength from a powerful sense of place." In this luminous collection, Rick Bass firmly establishes himself as a master of the short story, with tales that embrace vibrant images of ordinary human life and exuberant descriptions of the natural world. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

I may never need to read another book again
The truly orgasmic experience of reading Rick Bass' book has made me rethink my initial take on Cold Mountain - hailed by Mr. Bass himself as the book to end all need to read other books... Bass' work has made me reshape my look at the cosmos and step back in awe. Even the manor in which the book is typeset creates a longing in my soul for an existence in which reading this book provides my sole physical sustenance. I may be too bold in saying that all books be burned save this and perhaps Cold Mountain to keep us all from wasting our time pondering anything else.

Antlers and fires
As a lover of Rick Bass' nonfiction, I sometimes find myself a little disappointed with his approach to fiction. In some of these stories, the metaphors and symbols Bass attempts to draw are lost on me--either too bizarre or too obscure or too complex. But there are some truly beautiful moments here, particularly in the stories "Antlers" and "Fires." Bass is most successful when his stories are deeply rooted in a place he knows well, and when his plot lines are relatively simple. Both stories mentioned above deal centrally with human relationships: fear and longing. Set in a carefully wrought landscape (in the case of these two stories, northwest Montana), the people and places come alive in a way than few other writers (except maybe Wendell Berry) can emulate. I do recommend this book, but I would more enthusiastically recommend some of Bass' nonfiction, especially "Winter," "The Lost Grizzlies," and "The Book of Yaak." Also, his book of short stories, "Platte River," has some lovely moments. Keep writing, Rick!

Some of Bass's Best!
10 great short stories that illuminate the breadth at which Bass can write. The different subject matter compliments Bass's other works nicely. If you are a first time reader of Bass, start with Winter: Notes from Montana and then grab this one as a follow up.

Fair
This collection of short stories does not rise to the level of the recent work of Mr. Bass as seen in the New Yorker. Starting slowly and awkwardly, the stories merit and skill increase till the final stories which show great promise. Future work by Mr. Bass will be sought out, but these stories can be skipped unless you're interested in the author's development as a writer of short fiction. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (9)

Darwin rules
I loved this book, but probably not for the reasons of most other readers.It reminded me of the Darwin Rules website and books celebrating the ways in which people find to remove themselves from the gene pool.
Surely this applies to mountaineers!This is my conclusion after reading Maria Coffey's engaging book.She relates harrowing tale after harrowing tale in which these absurd risk takers try again and again to kill themselves.Eventually they all seem to succeded.
It becomes hilarious after about the fourth chapter.
Coffey does not try to make us feel sorry for those left behind.This is a wise ploy as it would only soften the impact of what she has to say, which is that these people cannot be helped, but perhaps understood.

Asks all the right questions
A terrific successor to Fragile Edge by the same author. That book was a personal journey - a quest for answers -followed by the author after the death of her famous mountain climber boyfriend on the slopes of Everest.

This book looks at the effect of following this most dangerous of passions on the partners left behind and some who sometimes accompany their loved ones. Even more interestingly, Maria Coffey looks at the point of views of those who have no choice in their relationships with those whose addiction seems as self-serving and as inevitable as any other addiction - parents and children.

I really liked Coffey's earlier book, and I recommend this one as much. I believe she has matured as a writer as well. She has the knack of addressing very large picture issues yet not losing sight of the personal and `small moments'.

Some of the personal testimonies about coming to terms with loss and dealing with grief are true not only for losses under such circumstances, but there are some universal truths particularly for anyone who has had to deal with death and the "loss of a future", rather than a mere celebration of a life fulfilled (as many older person funerals have become in my culture in recent years).

An understated but important subtext for me is what this has to say about gender relations. It is no accident that most of those off risking their lives, and the fur=tures of those around them are male. Ms Coffey does touch on this, and especially the unusual circumstance of women with children who still pursue the apex of whatever mass of rock and ice they have their heart set on. However, she never table thumps an agenda . . . you are lft to ponder your own conclusions.

A remarkable achievement.That Ms Coffey has the confidence of so many associated with the pursuit is a testament to her insight and empathy.

I rate this alongside Ed Douglas's book "Chomolungma Sings The Blues" as my favourite books discussing ethical and spititual concerns about mountaineering.

powerful thoughts on unanswerable questions
Losing a friend or loved one is never an easy process, but it becomes even more tangled when they leave for a mountain adventure and never return.I first experienced this in the early 70's when 3 close friends were killed while attempting Mt. Elias in Canada.Maria Coffey examines how climbers and their families and friends cope with the devastating losses that shadow this sport.
She begins with a search for why people climb in the first place, and in particular why they continue after close calls; without becoming banal, she quotes Jim Wickwire, "One of the addictive aspects of climbing is that it allows you to be in the present moment in ways that are impossible in ordinary life".Similar thoughts come from Csikszentmihalyi's concept of 'flow' - which finds that the "enjoyment of risk comes not from the danger itself but from managing it, from the sense of exercising control in difficult situations."And then, there's the ultimate mountaineering existential futility of Camus' Sisyphus facing an "unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing... Each atom of that stone , each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world.The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart".
The bulk of this powerful book interviews the survivors and comrades of lost climbers.At times, its difficult to read, but the feelings expressed range from acceptance to anger and denial.In most cases, there is a community of shared experience and values.Whether you're an active climber or arm chair mountaineer this book gives a much needed balance to the hyberbolic tales of expedition climbing. And for those of us who have lost people to the mountains it offers, not comfort, but a stoic acceptance.

A much-needed exploration ofthe price paid by some
My friend Arlene Blum (Anapurna: A Woman's Place) climbed in the Himalayas and elsewhere and lived to tell the tale. She now leads treks into the world's remote and wild regions, but she once rendered me speechless with her offhand reply to my horror at one hair-raising tale she told of crossing an ice bridge about a million miles up a some scary mountain.
"Why on earth would you do that?" I had asked, when I recovered my voice. And another unspoken question hung right behind the first: Having done it once and survived, why on God's green earth would you do it again? And again, and again.
"Oh, it's not really dangerous," and she poured me another cup of tea.
Not dangerous. Yeah, right.
Arlene had already lost a lover and several friends to accidents in high places, and others have died cold and lonely deaths since then. Not dangerous? I mean, what??
But there will still be those who MUST climb mountains. Some of them will die, and their survivors often are quoted as saying, "He died doing what he loved best," or the feminine equivalent. Maria Coffey's book, Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow," chronicles the naked underbelly of the experience of this particular kind of loss. It looks behind the public quotes into the hearts and bleeding souls of the survivors, and I believe it's a story whose exposure is long overdue. The personal costs of extreme adventure are too often dismissed for the thrill of reading about the adventures themselves. Coffey handles with grace and delicacy the stories of wives, husbands, lovers, friends, and children left behind my someone who just had to climb yet one more mountain - for reasons the rest of us armchair travelers can't even begin to imagine.

Into the dark with a flashlight
Coffey is to be applauded for asking the hard questions about the climbing game. In my experience, mountaineers too often pay lip service to the death toll in the hills, regardless of their own struggles with grief and fear. I think it's because grief and fear become so tied up together for a high-altitude climber of any enduring ambition, it becomes very difficult for them to honestly talk about the issues -- because it's all very close to the surface and uncomfortable. Coffey's exploration, filtered through her own grief, is compelling but not complete. What's missing is that internal monologue where grief and fear are seen to be in starkest play. I certainly recommend Coffey's book, but I would urge you to look at the new book by Peter Hillary, `In The Ghost Country', to complete the picture of the dark side. There you'll enter Hillary's mind and find the grief and fear of the game working there for all to see, a lifetime of horror playing out in his head on a walk to the South Pole. I love both books. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Mt. Whitney: The Peak and Surrounding Highlands
While this book's contents and descriptions are adequate for the trails covered it is incomplete in it's scope of the Mt. Whitney region. I returned it as it did not include a reasonable selection of available trails or even primary ones such as the High Sierra Trail or Whitney Portal. Odd, considering that it's title states it's The Hiker's Guide to the High Sierra. I have to travel significant distances to experience the premier hikes in North America and prefer my hiking guides to be more detailed to enable me to make a more informed trail selection decision in an area I've never been to before. This book might serve someone adequately that is already familiar to the region. The backpacking tips and outdoor advice seemed dated.

Not for a typical day hiker
A cautionary note: don't buy this book expecting it to help you do a day hike of Mt. Whitney on the main trail. This is not that type of book and doesn't contain much information about this. This guide mainly focuses on other peaks in the Eastern Sierra Nevada range and concentrates on alternate routes to the Whitney peak, such as Cottonwood lakes and the routes via the John Muir trail. There's also some interesting information on the Meysan Lakes trailhead and instructions on how to summit Whitney via this diffuclt and little-used trail (as least all the way to the summit).

If you like many maps and topographical information, this guide is great. They also have small elevation maps which detail the route and how many feet you have to ascend on any given trail. There is a long history of Mt. Whitney, from the first time it was climbed in the 1860's until now. Sometimes this history gets a little wordy, I felt, but if you want to know personal details of the hiker killed by lightning in 1904, then you will emjoy the extra verbiage.

So, if you're planning a day hike of Whitney, this book is not for you, but if you're a multi-day backpacker with a thirst for maps and the history of the region, then you'd enjoy this guide. ... Read more

Book Description

The only comprehensive geologic summary of North Cascades National Park and vicinity, covering points of interest along major access roads, trails, and backcountry routes.Written for the non-geologist but also of interest to the trained earth-scientist wanting an overview of this complex region.Abundantly illustrated and complete with geologic map and detailed shaded relief map showing roads, trails, and points of interest.

Composed of everything from volcanic island arcs and deep ocean sediments, to parts of old continents and even pieces of the deep subcrustal mantle of the earth, Washington's North Cascade region is a true geologic mosaic.Here, authors Tabor and Haugerud reveal that the spectacular scenery of these mountains is matched by equally spectacular geology.

Beginning with a summary of the geologic history of the North Cascades, the first section also offers the novice a primer on geologic terms and processes. The second section covers 150 points of geologic interest organized by the major rivers of the range and arranged along roads and trails. Many details of the rocks and geologic processes in the North Cascades are introduced, making this a must-read for those studying the region. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Magnificant!
This book is without a doubt the best non-technical description you will find on the geologic/tectonic evolution of the North Cascades of Washington State, and I am certain it will remain so for several years. The information presented in this book is synthesized from more than a century of field work conducted by numerous investigators, not least of which include the authors. I would recommend purchasing two copies (as I have): one for your library bookshelf and another for the rough-and-tumble environment of a backpack...

A fine new book about the North Cascades in Washington State
This superb book is a guide to the geology and natural history of the North Cascades-a wild, nearly roadless mountain range in northern Washington State. The book is not only an indispensable visitors' guide that describes key viewpoints and outcrop features along roads and trails in the region, but also explains to the novice, how the North Cascades came into being in wonderfully lucid language. It explains the ongoing geologic processes that presently shape this rugged country as well as the long history of tectonic processes that assembled the underpinnings of the range and led to the distribution of the varied rock units exposed on the peaks and gorge walls. The book is exceptionally well illustrated with dozens of exquisite, annotated sketches as well as colored photographs. This is simply the most authoritative and accessible resource available on the geologic story of this unique and beautiful region written by scientists that have spent decades walking and mapping the terrain and puzzling over how it evolved to its present state. It is a peerless quide to the area. ... Read more

Book Description

The magnificent and much-loved Sierra Nevada, called the "Range of Light" by John Muir, is the dominant feature on the California landscape. First published forty years ago, this handbook has become an enduring natural history classic, used by thousands to learn more about virtually every aspect of this spectacular mountain range--from its superb flora and fauna to its rugged topography. Comprehensive yet concise and portable, the book describes hundreds of species: trees and shrubs, flowering plants and ferns, fungi and lichens, insects and fish, amphibians and reptiles, and birds and mammals. Now completely updated and revised, it will continue to be the essential guide to the Sierra Nevada for a new generation of hikers, campers, tourists, naturalists, students, and teachers--everyone who wants to know more about this unique and beautiful mountain range.

* Describes more than 750 of the species most likely to be encountered with more than 500 new color photographs and 218 detailed black-and-white drawings

* Includes engaging and accessible introductory sections on Sierra Nevada topography, climate, geological history, and human history

* The compact, updated species accounts make identification easy, provide informative remarks on ecology and life history, and note which species are threatened or endangered ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A True Classic
This is the book that took me through too many nights, and early morning units of biology and on into my Masters Studies. A quick reference book that has most of your common everythings on it -- it gets you into a ballpark and usually that is close enough for almost everyone. Plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, insects --- it is all here in one place and the big bonus is that it weighs about 300 pounds less than a set of professional reference books. If I could take only one book with me camping or hiking in the Sierra, this would be the one. And don't forget your 5x and 10x Loupes. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Masterpiece of Appalachian Natural History
This collection of beautifully-crafted essays should be required reading in all Appalachian Studies classes. When readers tell me that they enjoy the natural history references in my Ballad novels, I urge them to read Scott Weidensaul. This wonderful book traces the natural history of the Appalachian Mountains all the way from Alabama to New Brunswick, Canada. In clear and lyrical prose, Weidensaul describes the formation of the mountain chain, touching on plate tectonics and the configuration of the prehistoric continents. Several chapters describe the plants and animals past and present which make for the unique ecosystem that is Appalachia: the use of the mountains as a migration path for birds and monarch butterflies; the 20th century chestnut blight which destroyed a species of tree, and the extermination of the passenger pigeon. With a keen understanding of nature and an obvious love of the land, Scott Weidensaul writes a guide to the mountains that is both informative and enchanting.

truly excellent book on Appalachian natural history
Scott Weidensaul has produced with "Mountains of the Heart" one of the finest examples of popular natural history writing I have ever seen. Thorough and authoritative, yet an easy read and quite engaging, he tackles an immensense subject with enthusiasm and obvious experience. Discussing the geology, ecology, fauna, flora, and conservation of the entire Appalachian mountain chain from central Alabama to Belle Isle, Newfoundland, you will never find a better book on the subject.

In reading the book I have learned so much about the natural history of this great eastern wilderness. Unlike many other natural history books which discuss faraway, exotic lands like Antarctica, Thailand, the Amazon jungle, or the Australian Outback, Weidensaul makes an area where I live in fascinating, bringing to my attention a variety of things I never even suspected, making this book a unique treasure. An area I took for granted, had lost my sense of wonder about now seems new and interesting to me. I am sure those reading this review would be similarly enlightened.

No you say? Do you know why leaves change color in fall, and how? Or why some trees turn one colors while others don't? Do you know what effect this leaf change has on the animal community in forests (ever hear of foliar fruit flagging?)? Did you know that many Appalachian tree species can survive winter temperatures as low as 80 degrees below zero, far colder than the mountains ever get today? Do you know what tannin is, and why trees produce it, and what effects this has on the forest community? Weidensaul makes what to me was a fairly mundane subject, perhaps suitable for a grade school science book, fascinating and weird. Trees are rightly one of the stars in this book, as Weidensaul recounts the sad tale of the American chestnut, the plight of the Fraser fir, the role of oaks in modern forests (and the potential problems their predominance could cause), and the magnifence of the white pine among many other plants.

However, animals receive a great deal of attention in this book as well, as by no means it is only about botany. Almost an entire chapter is devoted to the awe-inspiring annual hawk migrations down the length of the Appalachians. The many unique and highly local species of the mountains salamander fauna, one of the richest in the world, are recounted in great detail. Another unique fauna, the mussel fauna, again one of the world's richest, is also discussed, a subject not much to the lay naturalist. Weidensaul discusses some of the chain's fauna winners - such as black bears, successfully co-exisiting with people in crowded Pennsylvania, moose, which are rebounding in the northern Appalachians, and the raven, formerly a bird of deep wilderness but that one that is increasingly adapting to disturbed habitat - and its losers as well - such as brook trout, a species in decline in all but the most pristine streams, the red wolf, long gone from most of the range and yet to be successfully reintroduced, and the passenger pigeon, once a the most common land bird in the world, thriving on the vast crop of acorns in the Appalachians, now extinct.

A truly excellent book with nice illustrations in it, this will please any lover of natural history.

A lesson in natural history, ecology, and connectedness
If someone assigned you the task of writing a history of the Appalachian Mountains, how would you organize it? Keep the information in its separate realms of geology, botany, zoology, and anthropology? Start in Alabama and work northward? Go state by state, province by province, and look at the smaller specific mountain ranges? Well, Scott Weidensaul has taken none of those approaches, thank goodness. His is an education by general themes: basic geology (for it must start there), bird migrations, habitat specialization, forestry, mammalian zoology, archaeology, pollination, extinction, survival. Each chapter has a pure focus; and yet all of the chapters somehow touch on all of these topics. Weidensaul's conversational style has the reader walking through the woods with him, chatting seemingly aimlessly, all the time seeing and learning about the life that abounds. Gems of detail sneak up on us while we read. If you travel 1000 feet up, the habitat and ecosystems change as if you had traveled 100 miles north. Wow. And then there are the interspecies connections, some well-known and some new to us: squirrels and oaks, oaks and gypsy moths, migratory birds and fatty fruits, white pines and ship masts, bears and wetlands, fishers and porcupines, crossbills and spruces. The natural world makes sense after reading this book. Highly recommended for naturalists everywhere and mandatory reading for residents of the Appalachian states and provinces.

Natural History for the head and the heart
Natural history writing is often like porridge. Sometimes it is too hot, and we see nothing but the author's passion for the place he/she is describing. Other times it is too cold, and the writing is merely a dull list of species descriptions and scientific concepts. Weidensaul's book strides that narrow middle ground of being just right. His chapters span the length of the Appalachians, covering topics as diverse as soil science and hawk migrations. However, he never becomes bogged down in dry scientific writing: his love of the Appalachians resonates throughout the book. In a country where most natural history writers turn their eyes west, Weidensaul's book is a much needed overview of an underappreciated mountain range.

Captured Our Hearts
Our family squabbled over who was reading next when we borrowed the hardcover edition from the local library. We each became completely immersed in these mountains as Scott's vivid and descriptive writing drew us in. For the casual outdoors person who wants to learn more about the flora and fauna along the trail; for the naturalist who reads and nods in agreement with the text; for who appreciates the natural history of this region; this is the book to add to the top of the reading list. And you might want to buy two copies! Leave one at home. Put the second in the backpack for field notes. ... Read more

Book Description

Second only to Everest in height but more formidable, K2 has challenged the greatest names in climbing--and often won. K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain is the first comprehensive climbing history of this beautiful but deadly peak. From fateful first attempts to the harrowing events of 1986 and more recent ascents, the book examines the human and natural factors that have given the mountain its reputation. Author Jim Curran traces the earliest explorations of the Karakorum by Godwin-Austen and Younghusband, as well as the pioneering exploits of the Duke of the Abruzzi. A K2 climber himself, Curran interviewed Kurt Diemberger, Jim Wickwire, Charlie Houston and other climbers to help shed new light on past expeditions and to look at the many challenges that remain on the mountain. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

K2 The Unreadable Story
This book starts out with a great premise; to tell the story of the expeditions to the Karakoram region of the Himalaya with the eventual climbing and summiting of the second highest mountain on the planet, K2. In the beginning the author tempts you with some history, including with how the mountain was named and how difficult exploration was in yesteryear. The story progresses to epic struggles to climb the mountain for the first time, then wends its way to the present,with the every increasing body count from continuing suicidal attempts to defy nature. So far so good. The author has an enormous wealth of information to draw from, and to paint a picture of the history of K2. However, he fails miserably. The profusion of names and camps and who is going up and who is coming down gets mixed in a miasma of poor grammar and storytelling. Some examples: Page 139, "In the event it was only four who had the opportunity, but this was to be a long way off." Page 190, "Now, just below the Shoulder, they were faced with a tent shortage and, in what came to be seen as one of the most controversial moments of the summer, they did a deal with the Korean expedition whereby they carried a Korean tent and some fixed rope up to the Shoulder and in exchange for fixing the rope above the Bottleneck they would be allowed to use the tent for their first summit push.". If you can read these two examples less than twice and understand what the author is saying, then you will enjoy this book. My opinion is that this is what happens when your friends do your editing. Words such as "learnt", phrases such as "to try and", and "caught them up", would have easily been spotted and corrected by any decent editor. In short, I expected alot from this book and was disappointed by the painful way I had to get it. I would stick to Reinhold Messner's books, and pass on this one.

scary mountain time
This book from Jim Curran charts the chequered past of the second highest mountain in the world. From the first survey of the mountain where it received its name to the events surrounding the 1995 tragedy in which Alison Hargreaves (and others) lost their lives, this is a chronological history of the mountain. It recounts the early expidtions (one including Aleister crowley, famed for black magic and general weirdness), through to the first 'real' attempts in the late thirties. The stupendous story of the 1953 american expedition where Seven climbers risked all in a vain attempt to save american mountaineer Art Gilkey is also covered in depth, as is the Italian dinosaur of an expedition that first reached the summit in 1954. Then onto the warts and all American expeditioins of the seventies, the Chris Bonington expidition that retreated after the loss of Nick Estcourt in 1978, and onto the 1985 calamity that cost many lives including Britons Al Rouse and Julie Tullis. Nothing new here, but what is covered is factually correct and interesting. If you want a concise history of the mountain, look no further.

More than a book..a trip to the history and adventure
I've read many books about himalayas and k2 particularly, and this one shows in great way the whole story of the mountain, it shows how amazing was to finally discover a pass to reach its base camp after many years....and that's just the beginning.The rest is great.

A factual account of the mighty mountain
This book goes into great detail into how the mountain was first "discovered" and presents in a factual and unobtrusive way the major expeditions that have been mounted to the mountain. It outlines the differing tactics employed by each expedition and discusses the internal politics of some of the more famous expeditions. If you are the sort of person who loves the adventure of the mountains from your armchair, this is probably not the book for you. If however you feel drawn to this "mountain of mountains" and are fascinated about all the things that have made this mountain so difficult and exciting, this is your book.

A book about mountain, tragedy and people
This is an outstanding book for those who want to have a first understanding why K2 is such a challange and why it is called the Savage Mountain. It is an geographical and historical review of all the relevant facts about K2. But what makes this such a great book is the fact that as you begin to understand the "what's", "why's", "when's", and "where's" about K2, the book pictures a live portraid of a mountain, and the reader feels like K2 is almost like a live beeing. It is interesting how can one person admire, hate, love and respect a mountain like if it was another person. ... Read more

Book Description

Celebrate this spectacle of earth and sky on a tour of Colorado's heights led by photographer Eric Wunrow and former Colorado governor Richard D. Lamm, two savvy observers of their beloved home state. In this stunning photographic collection, explore the peaks that define this awe-inspiring region. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Solid
This is one of the better Colorado photography books out there. While the photos are not consistently great, they are consistently good. Wunrow spent a lot of time hiking to remote areas of Colorado, which is to be commended. I do recommend 'Colorado II' by David Muench over this book, but I have ranked 'Mountains of Colorado' as the third best book on my list of 'Best Colorado Picture Books' (which can be seen by clicking on my name and looking at the Listmania lists).

Great Christmas gift
I purchased several copies of this book and sent them to my friends and relatives across the country.

Everybody loved it.

Stunning Scenery
Catch a glimpse of some of the more rare and overlooked vistas that this amazing state has to offer. Wunrow offers an incredible visual aesthetic in both photography and book design that takes the reader on a voyage to all corners of this wonderfully diverse state. A keen eye for composition, combined with strenuous backcountry hiking to areas unknown to even avid backpackers like myself, the images are striking and sometimes haunting. Former Governor Lamm's essays are engaging and well written, and form a wonderful complement to the photographs. Highly recommended for anyone looking to enjoy the most uniquely magnificent and previously unpublished views of America's most beautiful state.

WUNROW CAPTURES REAL COLORADO MOUNTAIN BEAUTY
I moved to Colorado in 1989. Without fail, when friends and relatives come to visit, they marvel at the beauty of the scenery, awesome landscape and amazing sights nature has handmade in Colorado's mountains. This book has made a perfect holiday gift for all those friends and relatives who only dream of being here in Colorado every day! From winter to summer, the Mountains of Colorado has it all! Without a doubt, the most beautiful photpgraphs I have ever seen!

Outstanding photography and essays.
Eric's photography shows his ultimate commitment to artistic perfection. Each photo is a work of art and carefully composed. The essays capture the meaning and beauty of the mountains of Colorado. I am honored to be his uncle. ... Read more

Book Description

The Colorado Rockies are Ann Zwinger’s subject in prose and drawing. There, 8,300 feet above sea level, summer is short and winter long and often harsh; it is a place where much of life exists on the margin. In good years the grasses are lush; in bad years, even the mice starve. But it is a land the Zwingers have lovingly explored and recorded, careful not to disrupt the balance of the land, the relationship of plant to animal and of each to its environment.

These forty acres, called Constant Friendship after the Maryland land her ancestor settled in the early 1730s, are "a place of all seasons, for even in winter there is a promise of spring, and in spring the foretaste of summer. The white of snow becomes the white of summer clouds, the resonant green of spruce becomes the green head of drake mallard … here part of each season is contained in every other."

In beautiful and simple language and with 80 illustrations, "Beyond the Aspen Grove" tells of meadow, lake, marsh and forest, of algae and dragonflies, of deer and jays that live in the thin clear air of the mountain world.

"Ann Swinger’s "Beyond the Aspen Grove" takes us to the Montane Zone of Colorado (7,000 to 9,000 feet) to walk her land with her, to savor the immense variety of life to be found there, above and below ground, in its streams, meadows, under the surface of a lake and among its groves of aspen and Ponderosa pine. The book is a compendium of information, packed densely with meat like a rich nut … [a] work of love that is also a work of science and a work of art."—May Sarton in "The New York Times Book Review" ... Read more

Book Description

A poetic, delightful look at Mount Rainier in the early part of this century-now in paperback. ... Read more

Book Description

"On tops of mountains, as everywhere to hopeful souls, it is always morning," Thoreau wrote. J. Parker Huber is along for the climb, comparing what Thoreau say in his era to what we can see today. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

the height of thoreau-vean reading!
J. P. Huber's book is the most interesting of all those published in this new series by Houghton Mifflin. The reason for this is that he mixes Thoreau quotes with a detailed, almost pitch by pitch, description of the early ascents of many New England Mts. This book should be a must-read by all interested in mountains, mountain climbing, and environmental scholarship in general. For the latter reason, the publisher, Green Frigate Books, asked Huber to pen an intro blurb to my recently published book "Profitably Soaked: Thoreau's Engagment with Water." ... Read more

Book Description

Mt. Holyoke, which overlooks the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, has been a tourist destination and an inspiration for artists and writers for almost two centuries. The view from its summit attracted the Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole among many others, including literary visitors such as Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. In 1836, Cole created the most famous painting associated with the mountain, based on sketches he made during his visit to the site. The Oxbow, which is a centerpiece of this book and the accompanying exhibition, shows a thunderstorm sweeping across the sky above the mountaintop in contrast to the gardenlike pastoral scene in the valley below. It has been described as the most important American landscape painting of the nineteenth century.

Frequent flooding, changing settlement patterns, and industrialization have all had a role in altering the view from the summit. The Oxbow became a closed loop bisected by a highway, and marinas punctuate the Connecticut River. From Cole’s time to our own, artists including Edward Corbett, Stephen Hannock, Alfred Leslie, and Elizabeth Meyersohn have observed and recorded these alterations. Color plates of their paintings and photographs, reproduced in the book, allow us to track changes to the landscape and to Cole’s influence. Contemporary artists both challenge and pay homage to his vision of the scene, even as their images are used to underline the need to preserve the mountain’s natural beauty and cultural significance. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An Unusual Book
This book is very interesting.If you paint landscapes you will find it interesting to see how artists over a period of time have depicted a well known landscape.If you are a student of art history you will also enjoy this book for the same reason.The essays are well written.They cover not only art but attitudes regarding preservation and use of the land.There are many paintings and photographs to ponder over.The design of this book is similar in size to a large sketchbook used to record ideas out in the field. I wonder if this book was designed this way because the exhibit deals with the landscape? The painting, "View From Mount Holyoke" by David John Grue-1903 is used to illustrate the jacket slipcover.It will invite you into the book even with the title on the front and the barcode on the back. Of course as with any book covering art and artists over a period of time if you want more information on a particular artist mentioned you will have to go to other sources. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Myths and Realities of the Himalayan Environment
Zurick and Karan's book on the Himalaya is easily the best book in recent years focussing on the condition of the Himalayan environment. Instead of using evidence from a few small examples, usually villages scattered across the Himalaya from Pakistan to Assam, the authors invoke a meta analysis, an examination of many studies and especially data from the entire area. This technique avoids any instances of the universal fallacy, that is, generalizing from a few cases the characteristics of all.

The thematic focus is on what is called The Theory of Himalayan Degradation as it was constructed by the alarmists in the 1970s into the 1980s including the German ecologist H-C Reiger, earth scientists Bruno Messerli and Jack Ives, and journalists like Erik Eckolm, a sometime science editor of the NY Times. Much of this concern, that there is a widespread environmental catastrophe in the Himalaya, is still being promoted. Zurick and Karan, both human geographers who have have been studying the Himalaya for a total of sixty years, find in their analysis that the Himalayan environmental situation is highly variable, problems exist, but the basic scenario that overpopulation causes cultivated land expansion and deforestation of steep lands, thereby increasing erosion, and silt laden runoff deposited downstream, is overly simplistic.

The authors review a large number of field studies and data sets across the Himalaya and through cartographic analysis to demonstrate that the current status of the Himalayan environment is diverse. Through a series of seven intensive regional studies, in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan the authors demonstrate the contemporary environmental status. Factors such as historical land tenure systems, trading routes, border closings, road building and migration all play critical roles in influencing environmental perturbation.

For anyone interested in the Himalaya the book is well worth reading. The authors provide contextual photographs, copius notes to the chapters, and the very first published set of maps of Himalayan districts accompanied by tabular material on 100-year population, agricultural and forest data. The introductory chapters will provide the general reader with a good background to Himalayan habitat and society. I highly recommend it.

Nigel J. R. Allan, author/editor, Human Impact on Mountains; Mountains at Risk: Current Issues in Environmental Studies; Karakorum Himalaya: A Bibliography. ... Read more

Book Description

Here is an excellent opportunity to learn about the volcanic events and landforms of the American West while hiking ten trails through its most scenic mountains. Hikes in New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, California, Oregon and Washington reveal the fury of past events and demonstrate the power of volcanic activity today.

In hiking these trails, one can learn about the processes that form volcanoes and the contradictions scientists are still struggling to explain regarding certain volcanic upheavals. Interestingly, the energy released during the Mount St. Helens eruption can be compared to the atomic bomb that ended World War II--not just one but 20,000 of them. Yet Mount St. Helens was just a firecracker compared to others. And, Yellowstone Park sits within the remains of what was once a huge volcano. The rim surrounding the park is 50 miles across. Yellowstone is one of those contradictions, having been formed by the same process that brought the Hawaiian Islands out of the ocean. Both areas are still active and the hikes explore their disposition and prognosis.

In this book and on the trails, geology and archaeology intersect to tell a tale of landforms rising from the earth and the ancient people's struggle to persist and adapt. Geologists have died studying volcanic eruptions. Native Americans wrote gods into their history while watching fire burst from the ground. Hiking these mountains turns exercise into awe and respect for the energy still building under these massive ranges. The author explores the most interesting landforms, with some trails to summit craters and others through the innards of decapitated volcanoes still standing as high mountains. ... Read more

Book Description

Developed in association with the Banff Centre for Mountain Culture, Extreme Landscape brings together the original work of 19 renowned writers, explorers, adventurers, and scientists who share a passion for, and a commitment to, the world’s extreme environments. Ranging in subject from culture, spirituality, and psychology of extreme landscapes to their consumption and conservation, the diverse essays in this collection present a thoughtful and complete exploration of the enduring lure of mountains and their wild extremes.

Featuring contributions from such authors as Barry Lopez, Wade Davis, Gretel Ehrlich, and Reinhold Messner and first-hand accounts from the Andes and the hidden valleys of Tibet to the wind-scoured fjords of Patagonia and the icy reaches of northern Greenland, Extreme Landscape is a meditation on the indelible effect of extreme environments on our lives—and of our equally indelible impact on these landscapes.

Released in 2002 to celebrate the International Year of Mountains as designated by the United Nations, this beautiful collector’s edition captures, with unprecedented authority, the full scope of our extreme mountain landscapes.

Reviews (1)

Cannot seem to find correct space exploration book...
I found this as the only/automatic (featured?) selection item when searching for "National Geographic space" ; originally, was trying to find a nice overview & history of space exploration book published by National Geographic. Just odd or weird, i think. ... Read more