Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada (High Sierra Classics Series) - Softcover

King, Clarence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0939666863 ISBN 13: 9780939666867

Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy, 1997

Synopsis

This is a reprint of the 1872 edition of Clarence King’s classic work, which some have described as the first real literature of the Sierra. It is adventure writing at its best. King’s mountain climbing descriptions are spine-tingling (and more than a little exaggerated) but they still provide strong impressions and colorful descriptions of the Sierra Nevada following the gold rush.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

A bona fide classic, originally published in 1872, Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada is still exciting reading. It describes the perils and pleasures experienced by Clarence King (1842-1901) while conducting the first geological survey of California in the 1860s. His language was equal to the marvels he found, and here with unfading brilliance are his accounts of scaling such mountains as Tyndall, Shasta, and Whitney. The chapters on the Yosemite Valley and surrounding High Sierras were written while he was surveying the boundaries of a newly designated national park. There are also delightful vignettes of western characters, including a Sierra artist and a family of Pike County hog farmers. King, who in 1879 became the first director of the United States Geological Survey, will always be remembered for Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, which was praised by Wallace Stegner, Van Wyck Brooks, and Henry Seidel Canby as a watermark of frontier literature.

About the Author:

Clarence King (born 1842) of Rhode Island rode horseback across the continent in 1863. In California, he was hired to work on Whitney's geological survey of the state, beginning the adventures recorded in this book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yosemite Conservancy
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0939666863
• ISBN 13: 9780939666867
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312