Steep Trails

Written by John Muir

Narrated by LibriVox Community

A collection of Muir's previously unpublished essays, released shortly after his death. "This volume will meet, in every way, the high expectations of Muir's readers. The recital of his experiences during a stormy night on the summit of Mount Shasta will take rank among the most thrilling of his records of adventure. His observations on the dead towns of Nevada, and on the Indians gathering their harvest of pine nuts, recall a phase of Western life that has left few traces in American literature. ... The landscapes that Muir saw ... will live in good part only in his writings, for fire, axe, plough, and gunpowder have made away with the supposedly boundless forest wildernesses and their teeming life." (From the Editor's note to the 1918 first edition)

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

John Muir

John Muir (1838-1914) was a Scottish-born American naturalist, writer, and advocate of US forest conservation. As early as 1876 Muir urged the federal government to adopt a forest conservation policy. In 1890, due in large part to Muir's efforts, an act of Congress created Yosemite National Park. In 1892 Muir and a number of his supporters founded the Sierra Club, an organization devoted to protecting the environment. Muir was instrumental in establishing Sequoia National Park, the Petrified Forest, Muir Woods National Monument, and Grand Canyon National Park. John Muir died in 1914, at the age of seventy-six. His writings continue to serve as sources of inspiration for naturalists and conservationists the world over and remain important works in the body of literature on America's natural history.