Mountains of memory : a fire lookout's life in the River of No Return Wilderness / Don Scheese ; foreword by Wayne Franklin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scheese, Don.

Series:

American land and life series

American land & life series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scheese, Don.

Fire lookouts--Idaho--Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness--Biography.

Fire lookouts.

Natural history--Idaho--Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.

Natural history.

Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness (Idaho).

Idaho--Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xxx, 224 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2001]

Summary:

In Mountains of Memory, seasoned wilderness dweller Don Scheese charts a long season of watching for and fighting fires in the largest federal wilderness area in the mainland United States. In the tradition of Edward Abbey and Gary Snyder, Scheese offers readers a meditation on the meaning and value of wilderness at the beginning of the twenty-first century, painting a complex portrait of the natural, institutional, and historical forces that have shaped the great forested landscapes of the American West.

Contents:

1 Settling In 3

2 Working a Lookout 15

3 Visitors 27

4 Independence Day 41

5 Eyes in the Sky: A Brief History of Fire Lookouts 46

6 Some Former Inhabitants 53

7 Running the River 77

8 Midsummer Musings and Field Notes 103

9 Fire on the Mountain, Lightning in the Air 109

10 Society 117

11 Friends 123

12 Pleasing Prospects 130

13 Getting to the Source of Things 135

14 The Bighorn Crags 141

15 The Eagle Bar Fire 157

16 Hunting, the Fundamental Diversion 171

17 The Habit of Walking 178

18 The Fires of Fall 182

19 Worship 185

20 Last Visitors 193

21 Disappearances 201

22 The State of Nature 206.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [215]-220) and index.

ISBN:

0877457832

0877457840

OCLC:

46785376