Laughter in the Mountains: Enjoying the Last of the Mountain Men - Softcover

Dean, W. Clifford

Softcover

ISBN 10: 146850147X ISBN 13: 9781468501476

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2012

Synopsis

This book is a celebration of life. Its astonishing view is from the perspective of someone living a simple, isolated life in the Rocky Mountains as a "mountain man" Sylvan Ambrose Hart was born in the Oklahoma Territory in 1906. In the 1930's, while still a young man, he walked into the Rocky Mountains and designed a unique life for himself in the wilds - hunting, fishing, trapping, panning gold, crafting his own tools, weapons, shelter, and clothes. For almost fifty years he lived the life of a reclusive mountain man -eventually gaining national fame as "Buckskin Bill, Last of the Mountain Men" In 1973 another young man, studying philosophy in a private college back east, found that he could no longer abide being shackled by the conventional wisdoms of our culture. To the dismay of all who knew and loved him, he dropped out of college and headed for the mountains. He caught a train cross-country to Montana, then hopped a bus southbound skirting the Rocky Mountains. At one point he simply stepped off the bus and walked into the mountains with only a backpack, machete, and knife (no food or gun) determined to learn what the mountains offered to teach -or die trying. After a few months of eating rattlesnakes, ants and field mice, this struggling newcomer to the mountains (the author) discovered the now old and grizzled "mountain man" living not only successfully but quite flamboyantly in the depths of the Rocky Mountain wilderness on the "River of No Return" Buckskin was an extraordinary man. Anyone who ever met him walked away with stories and memories to be cherished for a lifetime. Here are my favorite memories of the Last of the Mountain Men.

About this title

About the Author

The author's first real exposure to mountains came after his freshman year in college when he worked as a hiking instructor for a boys' summer camp in the mountains of North Carolina. The next year he spent ten weeks on the Appalachian Trail writing and studying botany "in the wild" He was hooked. The following year he dropped out of college and headed for the mountains. Catching a train cross-country to Montana, he hopped a bus southbound skirting the Rocky Mountains. At one point he simply stepped off the bus and walked into the mountains with only a backpack, machete, and knife (no gun and no food) to learn what the mountains offered to teach him - or die trying. He spent the next few months eating little other than rattlesnakes, ants, mice, the occasional fish and bird, and whatever wild edible plants he could forage. He spent pitch-black nights dry-camped on mountainsides listening to the howls of coyotes and the shrill shrieks of rutting bull elk. He faced the perils of rivers, mountain trails, brutal weather, and wild animals (including bears and bull moose) utterly alone - and he grew strong. Other than the handful of items in his backpack, he had nothing beyond what he could make, forage, catch, or kill by his own hand. After a few months on his own, he heard about an old mountain man still living on the "River of No Return" in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and sought him out as a mentor. Together they had many unforgettable experiences over the next two years. Upon returning to "civilization" he completed his college degree - a B.S. in Philosophy - and forged a career as an air traffic controller. Now retired, he lives in Florida and practices "laughter along the surf" The author's first real exposure to mountains came after his freshman year in college when he worked as a hiking instructor at a boy's summer camp in the mountains of North Carolina.

About this edition

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 146850147X
• ISBN 13: 9781468501476
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212