This book was derived from letters, articles and local publications written by John Muir, arranged in roughly chronological sequence. They span a period of twenty-nine years of Muir's life. The chapters describing Nevada, San Gabriel and Utah were written in the field, and have great immediacy, describing Muir's first impressions. Muir was a passionate naturalist, a botanist, a poet and profoundly spiritual. This volume has thrilling episodes of adventure and details a region that was once teeming with life and contained seemingly endless forests.