My First Summer in the Sierra

John Muir

My First Summer in the Sierra — In the summer of 1869, Scottish-American naturalist and author John Muir spent the months of June through September in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California accompanying a group of shepherds while they led a flock of sheep to the high country to graze. During that time, Muir took every opportunity to explore the Yosemite area extensively—hiking, camping, writing, and sketching. Muir’s diary entries describing the land, flora, and fauna he encountered became the basis for the book My First Summer in the Sierra, first published in 1911. Muir’s journal entries from that summer reveal his growing wonder and awe at the Yosemite landscape, as well as his endless curiosity for the natural world. On a grand scale, he trekked into remote areas for sometimes days at a time. He climbed Cathedral Peak and Mount Dana and trekked through Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake. On a more modest scale, Muir observed the flora and fauna that surrounded him with the keen enthusiasm of a naturalist. He described in detail the area’s trees, shrubs, flowers, mountain meadows, glacial features, and animals. In the years after that summer, Muir devoted himself to protecting wild landscapes. In 1892, he co-founded the Sierra Club and became its first president. His writing and advocacy contributed to the protection of Yosemite and Sequoia. He also advocated for Kings Canyon, which became a national park in 1940, after his death. My First Summer in the Sierra remains among John Muir’s most popular works. Its inspired, lyrical descriptions of an iconic wilderness draw on journals from a time when he was developing as a naturalist and conservation advocate. They give the book an influential place in nature writing and the history of wilderness preservation.

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