Sky's Witness: A Year In The Wind River Range

Sky's Witness: A Year In The Wind River Range
ISBN-10
1466882417
ISBN-13
9781466882416
Category
Travel
Pages
326
Language
English
Published
2014-09-30
Publisher
Henry Holt and Company
Author
C. L. Rawlins

Description

Thoreau joked that he was a "self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms," never dreaming that such a need might exist. But such is the author's work and that of his various helpers, from ski bums to shortstops. They travel the alpine wilderness at all seasons by touring skis , snowshoes, pack llamas, float-tubes, and a tiny but dependable rat. The remove mountain beauty, "where thoughts stretch for miles and days," would be enough, but C.L. Rawlins is after something more. He's a backcountry hydrologist, collecting rain, snow, and the water of high lakes to measure air pollution. Alongside Rawlins we discover the natural history of the central Rockies, the flowering of plants, and the ways of mountain animals. We learn how the Shoshoni lived in this harsh country before the arrival of settlers. We see also the effect of twentieth-century living on a wilderness that feels pristine but bears the chemical trace of distant smokestacks and freeways. With a style that roams between natural observation and personal essay, Rawlins's Sky's Witness gives access not only to the wilderness but to the ways in which we know ourselves.

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