quickest way out of town. “Where do you want to go?” he was asked, to which Muir replied, “Anywhere that is wild.” Although Muir was a prolific writer, he never published a complete account of this journey, so the story was lost to time. Peter and Donna Thomas—avid hikers themselves— rediscovered Muir’s 1868 route across California, which took Muir through the Santa Clara Valley, across the great Central Valley, up the Sierra Nevada and down to the incomparable Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. Using Muir’s own words culled from his articles and letters, the Thomases compiled a new first-person narrative, called Anywhere That Is Wild: John Muir’s First Walk to Yosemite. It tells of a journey, as experienced by John Muir, across a wild California that today is only a memory.
In his groundbreaking book, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv coined the term “Nature Deficit Disorder” to describe the alienation from nature that most of us experience in our modern lifestyles. The cure is to spend time outdoors—US national parks hosted a record 331 million visitors in 2016, five million in Yosemite alone*—yet accessing nature is increasingly challenging, due to the loss of open spaces and the pull of technology. We cannot be John Muir, but we can see the world as he saw it, and discover wild spaces that offer the solace and connection he found.
In Anywhere That Is Wild, John Muir’s enthusiasm for nature is infectious. This lovely gift edition celebrates Muir’s first California adventure in a way that will inspire readers to step out their own front doors to seek anywhere that is wild.
Three Questions from Peter & Donna Thomas:
1) Who is John Muir?
John Muir is the father of the worldwide conservation movement, and the man who influenced President Theodore Roosevelt to make Yosemite a national park.
2) When did Muir first come to California?
He arrived at the end of March, 1868, and began his walk around April 1. This story takes place after his 1867 thousand-mile walk to the gulf and before his 1869 first summer in the Sierra.
3) What is important about this book?
Anywhere that is Wild tells the story, in Muir’s jubilant and friendly voice, of his 1868 trip across California to Yosemite. Until we compiled this text from various articles and letters Muir wrote, this period in Muir’s life—and this story—remained virtually unknown to the general public.
About the Editors:
Peter and Donna Thomas grew up next to open spaces in California and spent much of their childhoods outdoors. In 2005, while planning to walk from their home in Santa Cruz to Yosemite, they rediscovered the route of John Muir’s only documented walk to Yosemite, which he took in 1868 from San Francisco. The next year they walked the 310-mile route. Their guidebook, The Muir Ramble Route, provides directions for others to do the same. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Muir’s walk, the Thomases will be rewalking portions of their Muir Ramble Route in conjunction with the publication of Anywhere That is Wild: John Muir\'s First Walk to Yosemite.
Yosemite Conservancy’s Mission
Yosemite Conservancy inspires people to support projects and programs that preserve Yosemite and enrich the visitor experience.
*Source of visitation statistics: NPS Statistics
Source: Yosemite Conservancy
