The Mountains of California (Penguin Nature Classics)

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Summary: What inspiration...
Review: As a Birder, I spend a lot of time travelling outdoors.I also have a large collection of Bird and Nature books and spend a great amount of time in them.For pure enjoyment;I found this one of the finest.Muir was as one of America,s greatest partakers in and writers of Nature and Enviroment and was in every way as much a giant as the Sequois and Mountains he wrore about.I read this Classic a short time before I visited Yosemite National Park and having done so,encreased my enjoyment and appreciation immeasurably.
After many years of reading,I have come to the conclusion ,that I tend to like books about people I would liked to have known,or to spend some time with.What an experience it would have been to have known and travelled with Muir. While that is impossible;at least we have his writings and can dream.

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Summary: the world of muir
Review: muir describes the sierras with detail and love. he is one of the few authors who is content just to be in and describe a landscape. and what a description!. he describes the evolution of glaciaral lakes to the hights of mount ritter and the migrations of deer and native peoples. a great book i recoment it to anyone who loves the outdoors.

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Summary: Muir, from Shasta to San Diego, but mostly in the Sierras.
Review: Some say this is Muir's finest work. As the only other Muir book I've read (at this writing) is Travels in Alaska, I cannot comment on this, other than to say that I enjoyed this book a great deal.
From almost any vantage point in California, whether near or on a distant horizon, there are mountains. A fact not lost on Muir, whose sense of wonder and love of life endear him to his readers.
"God's glacial-mills grind slowly, but they have been kept in motion long enough in California to grind sufficient soil for a glorious abundance of life ... In so wild and so beautiful a region [was spent my day], every sight and sound inspiring, leading one far out of himself, yet feeding and building up his individuality."
Muir was the consummate man in nature. Anyone who is indifferent to Muir's writing may simply be indifferent to wonderment itself. I have no doubt that if Muir were placed in a room with the great kings and generals and tycoons and empire builders of history, he would appear singularly as a man among men. Unimpressed with their pomp and bluster over rotting empire, he might soon command more attention than they, and many would be happily listening to Muir in spite of their self importance. Why? He would have the most interesting insights, offered poetically and in a most humble and charming way. ... (in fact Muir was sought out by the great politicians and philosophers of his day).
If you like mountains, if you like California, if you like trees and glacier-fed streams, you will like this book.