The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier - Hardcover

Barcott, Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1570610746 ISBN 13: 9781570610745

Publisher: Sasquatch Books, 1997

Synopsis

The writer explores and describes Mount Rainier, the large volcano on the outskirts of Seattle

About this title

Review:

Mount Rainier, North America's biggest volcano, looms over Seattle like an invitation to... adventure? Disaster? Discovery? It's all of the above for Bruce Barcott, a Seattle writer who captures the mountain from multiple angles in this luminous biography that defines Rainier's landscape to be like none other on the continent. By turns witty and introspective, Barcott's trip to the top of the glacier-clad peak is filled with history, scientific observation, and a divided personal attachment that struggles to make sense of the mountain and its effect on the surrounding land and people. The Measure of a Mountain is a literate, entertaining view of a totemic Northwest landmark.

From the Inside Flap:

Mount Rainier is the largest and most dangerous volcano in the country, both an awesome natural monument and a formidable presence of peril. In The Measure of a Mountain, Barcott sets out to grasp the spirit of Rainier through a journey along its massive flanks. From forest to precipice, thinning air to fractured glaciers, he explores not only the physique of Rainier but the psychology and meaning of all mountains, and the deep connection that exists between humans and landscape.

Filled with adventure, poignant personal reflections, and fascinating mountain lore told by Indian chiefs, professional guides, priests, and scientists, this book is one man's stirring quest to reconcile with a dazzling creation of nature, at once alluring and sometimes deadly.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sasquatch Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1570610746
• ISBN 13: 9781570610745
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288