John Muir: Sketching in the Sierra A Sierra sketch by John Muir.
In 1911, when John Muir was 73, he published what I believe is
his most engaging book, My First Summer in the Sierra. This
spring marks the 100th anniversary of its publication. Muir kept
a journal as he hiked, often tying it to his belt to keep
company with his dried bread and tea. For this book he relied on
those journals to tell the story of the summer of 1869. Though a
wonderful storyteller, Muir often agonized over his writing; My
First Summer in the Sierra reveals none of his struggle and
reads as if he had simply reprinted the journal itself. All of
his journals have been digitized by the University of the
Pacific, and you can read the journal that is the basis for the
book at Yosemite Year Book. Muir also used his journals as
sketchbooks. Many of his entries fill a page; others only a
corner, surrounded by notes. He always used a pencil. Drawing in
the Sierra is difficult because of their grandeur -- which is
the problem I faced last spr