This was one of the best descriptions of California I have ever read. I have definitely heard of John Muir before, but I have never read his work. This reading made me appreciate the beauty of California even more than I already do. Muir opens up talking about the Central Valley, describing the mountain ranges on each side, with an immense flat valley in the middle. The accuracy of which he describes this setting is incredible: "with a level floor more than 400 miles long, and from 35 to 60 miles wide." (Muir 298) He then goes on to explain the Sierra [being] about 500 miles long, 70 miles wide, and from 7,000 to nearly 15,000 feet high."(Muir 299) These measurements make me wonder how the measured this in the 1890's.
He then begin to describe Yosemite, and as someone who has been there a few times, his writing makes me feel like I am right back there. He describes the sheer faced rocks "mountainous in size"(Muir 300), creating something like an immense hall of the parks below. I found this description to be very interesting because I feel the same way when I am standing in Yosemite, it almost feels like you are in a huge building with an open roof, since you are completely surrounded by the sheer faced rocks.
Muir then goes through each season, explaining how the weather, plants, and animals change on the mountains throughout the year. He also talks about the volcanoes on the west coast, and the work that they have done to shape the mountains. He finishes by explaining something very interesting that I have never thought about before, and that is how the glacial period shaped all of. the landscape that we see around us. He talks about how all land was a mile below ice, and very slowly, over a very long period of time, these little pieces of snow all compacted together shaped all of the mountains, the lakes, the soil, and everything else we see around us. "Nature chose for a tool not the earthquake or lightning to rend and split asunder, not the stormy torrent or eroding rain, but the tender snow-flowers noiselessly falling through unnumbered centuries, the offspring of the sun and sea."(Muir 306) I found this to be absolutely amazing, especially the way he explains it all. "Strong only by force of numbers, they carried away entire mountains, particle by particle, block by block, and cast them into the sea; sculpted, fashioned, modeled all the range, and developed it's predestined beauty." (Muir 306). This reading has really changed the way I look at the landscape of the world, and California in particular, and the way Muir described it was truly beautiful, I really enjoyed the reading of The Mountains of California.
I agree that this was one of the better writings of California and so beautifully written. That is so cool that you have been to Yosemite! I have never been, so to read about in detail, and then you mentioning how accurate of a description he writes, makes me want to go there to appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how he mentioned volcanoes on the West coast, because as “Californians”, we don’t really think about volcanoes being here.
Hey Anthony, I enjoyed reading your notes on this piece by Muir. I hadn't ever read any of his writing before this either. I went to John Muir Elementary school and I can remember taking a field trip to his house in Martinez one year, but I don't really think I understood who he was until I was older. I am someone who really appreciates mountains, and I am a lover of Yosemite also. I thought it was cool how you brought up the question of how they obtained those measurements in the 1890's, I had never thought about that but that may be something to research!
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