A01=Bruce Barcott
americana
Author_Bruce Barcott
backpacking
backpacking washington
Category=WNW
climbing
climbing books
earth
environment
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
extreme sports
geology
hikes with kids oregon
hiking books
hiking books washington
memoir books
mount rainier
mountain climbing
mountaineering
mountains
mt rainier
national park adventure guide
national parks book
natural history
nature
nature books
nature essays
nature writing
oregon backpacking
outdoors
pacific crest trail
pacific northwest
pacific northwest camping
pacific northwest map
pacific northwest travel guide
sport
sports
sports books
travel book
travel books
travel bucket list
travel gifts
travel memoir
travel writing
trekking the national parks
volcanoes
washington
washington hiking
wilderness
wildlife
Product details
- ISBN 9781570615214
- Weight: 335g
- Dimensions: 140 x 213mm
- Publication Date: 10 Apr 2007
- Publisher: Blue Star Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
“With distinctive wit and uncommon intelligence,” a Seattle writer offers a “provocative, highly original” profile of Mount Rainier—capturing the majestic beauty and deadly allure of one of the largest active volcanoes in the U.S. (Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air)
Mount Rainier is one of the largest and most dangerous volcanoes in the country, both an awesome natural monument and a formidable presence of peril. In The Measure of a Mountain, Seattle writer Bruce Barcott sets out to grasp the spirit of Rainier through an exploratory, meandering, and deeply personal journey along its massive flanks. From forest to precipice, thinning air to fractured glaciers, he explores not only the physique of Rainier but the psychology and meaning of all mountains—and the deep connection that exists between humans and landscape.
What he finds is a complex of moss-bearded hemlocks and old-growth firs, high meadows that blossom according to a precise natural timeclock, sheets of crumbling pumice, fractured glaciers, and unsteady magma. Rainier’s snow fields bristle with bug life, and its marmots chew rocks to keep their teeth from overgrowing. The mountain rumbles with seismic twitches and jerks, seeing one-hundred-thirty earthquakes annually . . . Rainier is an obsession, a temple that attracts its own passionate acolytes—from scientists and priests to rangers, and mountain guides—as well as a monument to death. Referred to by locals as simply “the mountain,” it is the single largest feature of the Pacific Northwest landscape—provided it isn’t hidden in clouds. Visible or not, though, Rainer’s presence is undeniable.
Filled with adventure, poignant personal reflections, and fascinating mountain lore told by Indian chiefs, professional guides, priests, and scientists, The Measure of a Mountain is one man’s stirring quest to reconcile with a dazzling creation of nature, at once alluring and sometimes deadly.
Mount Rainier is one of the largest and most dangerous volcanoes in the country, both an awesome natural monument and a formidable presence of peril. In The Measure of a Mountain, Seattle writer Bruce Barcott sets out to grasp the spirit of Rainier through an exploratory, meandering, and deeply personal journey along its massive flanks. From forest to precipice, thinning air to fractured glaciers, he explores not only the physique of Rainier but the psychology and meaning of all mountains—and the deep connection that exists between humans and landscape.
What he finds is a complex of moss-bearded hemlocks and old-growth firs, high meadows that blossom according to a precise natural timeclock, sheets of crumbling pumice, fractured glaciers, and unsteady magma. Rainier’s snow fields bristle with bug life, and its marmots chew rocks to keep their teeth from overgrowing. The mountain rumbles with seismic twitches and jerks, seeing one-hundred-thirty earthquakes annually . . . Rainier is an obsession, a temple that attracts its own passionate acolytes—from scientists and priests to rangers, and mountain guides—as well as a monument to death. Referred to by locals as simply “the mountain,” it is the single largest feature of the Pacific Northwest landscape—provided it isn’t hidden in clouds. Visible or not, though, Rainer’s presence is undeniable.
Filled with adventure, poignant personal reflections, and fascinating mountain lore told by Indian chiefs, professional guides, priests, and scientists, The Measure of a Mountain is one man’s stirring quest to reconcile with a dazzling creation of nature, at once alluring and sometimes deadly.
Bruce Barcott contributes major articles on environmental and adventure topics to Outside magazine. He is a former staff writer at the Seattle Weekly and has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, Men’s Journal, Harper’s, and Slate, among other publications. He has written a number of books, including The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier (1997) and The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird (2008).
