Page 1 - 2007 DT 12 Issues

I n T h i s I s s u e

Featured Article
John Muir..........................................1
Special
Kate’s Korner....................................2
Quiz..................................................7
Departments
News & Notes....................................2
January 2007 Programs & Hikes.............................4
Desk Schedule..................................6
Bulletin Board..................................8

San Francisco, March, 1868, and
JOHN MUIR — Naturalist, environmental pioneer, the 30-year old John Muir was about to
founder of the Sierra Club and "just about everything" to our wilderness. visit the love of his life, the Yosemite
Valley. When a rancher offered him
by Chuck Kleber a summer job there, the young Muir

f President Theodore Roosevelt tragedy could not have been greater; jumped at the opportunity. Now he
was the hammer in protecting our Muir faced a world of darkness in- could explore the valley, climb Ca-
Ienvironment, then John Muir was stead of glorying in a world of natural thedral Peak, wander along remote
its soul. The two were friends and, trails and ponder the wonder of it all.
indeed, John Muir was a key figure in Soon afterward, he was operating a
spurring TR's powerful commitment sawmill for fallen timber and built a
to protecting America's wilderness. cabin for himself. Yosemite provided
Muir had a gentle and almost poetic the framework for Muir's study of na-
appreciation of the beauty that sur- ture; not just his surroundings, but the
rounds us—"The air was perfectly why and how of it all. He concluded
delicious, sweet enough for the breath Photo Courtesy National Park Service that Yosemite was formed by glacial
of angels." He was also a fighter with action, contrary to popular belief at
a fierce willingness to battle the ex- the time that it was the aftermath of a
ploiters of nature. great earthquake. Josiah Whitney, head
Born in Scotland in 1838, the of the California Geological Survey,
third of eight children, he loved did his best to discredit Muir, but his
outdoor activities. After the family efforts faded as Muir publicized the
moved to Wisconsin in 1849, Muir's existence of an active glacier below
desire for knowledge, together with Merced Peak. He was a prolific writer
an inventiveness to rival Ben Franklin throughout his life, writing over 300
and Thomas Jefferson, got him into articles and ten books. Even from the
the University of Wisconsin. Despite beginning, his works were noticed and
two and a half years of study, heavy Yosemite Valley published as far away as New York. He
on natural sciences, his craving for became known to influential people
the real outdoors and exploration pre- wonders. But as the months went by, like, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and lead-
vailed. He left. his sight returned. Overwhelmingly ing scientists in various fields.
Muir was mixing a variety of grateful for the miracle, Muir was Muir loved to guide people around
short wilderness trips with work as now more determined than ever to Yosemite's magnificence, but he also
a mechanic when a fateful accident spend his days in savoring his own liked to travel, not just to nearby San
changed his life. He had been planning advice: "Take a course in good water Francisco, but to Alaska and, eventu-
a trip to South America when blinded and air; and in the eternal youth of
in one eye by a file that slipped. The Nature you may renew your own."
other eye shut down as well. The He headed for California. John Muir, continued on p 7.