Eine literarische Wanderung durch die amerikanischen Gebirge - ein Grundstein des Nature Writing

»Die Berge Kaliforniens« sind ein Grundstein des Nature Writing, zu dessen bedeutendsten Vertretern neben R. W. Emerson und H. D. Thoreau zweifelsohne John Muir zählt. Durch einen Unfall kurzzeitig erblindet, fürchtete er, die Schönheit der Welt nie wieder erblicken zu können. Nach seiner Genesung befasste er sich mit den Auswirkungen der Kolonisierung auf die Natur und entwickelte eine Vielzahl ökologischer Ideen. So wurde er zum 'Vater der Nationalparks'; auf ihn sind unter anderem...

John Muir's 'The Mountains of California' is a seminal work that explores the beauty and importance of the Sierra Nevada range in California. Muir's poetic writing style vividly portrays the rugged landscapes, diverse flora, and majestic peaks of the region, offering readers a deep appreciation for the natural world. Published in 1894, the book not only serves as a travelogue but also as a call to preserve these pristine mountain environments. Muir's reverence for nature and his advocacy for conservation are evident throughout the text, making it a timeless piece of environmental literature....

When the well-known naturalist and environmentalist, John Muir finally settled in San Francisco, he immediately left for a week-long visit to Yosemite, a place he had only read about. He was overwhelmed with what he saw and he led a successful movement to establish this large national park encompassing not just the valley, but surrounding mountains and forests as well-paving the way for the United States national park system. It was because of Muir that many National Parks were left untouched, such as Yosemite Valley National Park. In 1903 Muir took one of the most significant camping...

The Story of My Boyhood and Youthreveals the beginnings of the forming of Muir's special relation towards nature. He considered the encounters with nature as quite an adventure and at first, paid special attention to bird life. John Muir understood that to discover truth, he must turn to what he believed were the most accurate sources. In his autobiographical account, The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, he writes that during his childhood, his father made him read the Bible every day. Muir eventually memorized three-quarters of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament. In his...

The Mountains of California is John Muir's tribute to the beauties of the Sierra, in the book form. When he came to California and finally settled in San Francisco, John Muir immediately left for a visit to Yosemite, a place he had only read about. Seeing it for the first time, Muir noted that "He was overwhelmed by the landscape, scrambling down steep cliff faces to get a closer look at the waterfalls, whooping and howling at the vistas, jumping tirelessly from flower to flower." He climbed a number of mountains, including Cathedral Peak and Mount Dana, and hiked the old Indian trail down...

When he came to California and finally settled in San Francisco, John Muir immediately left for a visit to Yosemite, a place he had only read about. Seeing it for the first time, Muir noted that "He was overwhelmed by the landscape, scrambling down steep cliff faces to get a closer look at the waterfalls, whooping and howling at the vistas, jumping tirelessly from flower to flower." He climbed a number of mountains, including Cathedral Peak and Mount Dana, and hiked the old Indian trail down Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake. He lived in the cabin for two years, and wrote about this period in his...

The Story of My Boyhood and Youth reveals the beginnings of the forming of Muir's special relation towards nature. He considered the encounters with nature as quite an adventure and at first, paid special attention to bird life. John Muir understood that to discover truth, he must turn to what he believed were the most accurate sources. In his autobiographical account, The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, he writes that during his childhood, his father made him read the Bible every day. Muir eventually memorized three-quarters of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament. In his...

"JOHN MUIR, Earth-planet, Universe."-These words are written on the inside cover of the notebook from which the contents of this volume have been taken. They reflect the mood in which the late author and explorer undertook his thousand-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico. No less does this refreshingly cosmopolitan address, which might have startled any finder of the book, reveal the temper and the comprehensiveness of Mr. Muir's mind. He never was and never could be a parochial student of nature. In September 1867, Muir undertook a walk of about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Kentucky to Florida,...

John Muir made four trips to Alaska, as far as Unalaska and Barrow. Muir, Mr. Young and a group of Native American Guides first traveled to Alaska in 1879 and were the first Euro-Americans to explore Glacier Bay. Muir Glacier was later named after him. He traveled into British Columbia a third of the way up the Stikine River, likening its Grand Canyon to "a Yosemite that was a hundred miles long". Muir recorded over 300 glaciers along the river's course. He returned for further explorations in southeast Alaska in 1880 and in 1881 was with the party that landed on Wrangel Island on the USS...

During his numerous travels across the North America John Muir left behind a several travel books and travel reports. In September 1867, Muir undertook a walk of about 1,000 miles from Indiana to Florida, which he recounted in his book A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. He had no specific route chosen, except to go by the "wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find. Upon coming to California Muir immediately left for a visit to Yosemite, a place he had only read about. His hiking journeys through the mountains, valleys,forests andglaciersof Sierra are vividly described in books My...