My First Summer in the Sierra

Drawn from the journals John Muir kept in 1869, this luminous account follows him through a single season in California’s Sierra Nevada, where he accompanied a flock of sheep into the high country above Yosemite. Day by day he records the granite domes, waterfalls, meadows, and animals he met, along with the sense of wonder that turned him into America’s most passionate advocate for wild places. More than a travel diary, the book distills Muir’s conviction that mountains are sacred and that people are restored by contact with untouched nature. Published in 1911, it helped inspire the national parks movement. This free PDF and EPUB edition invites readers to walk the range alongside him.