Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf

This volume in the John Muir Library Series chronicles the famed naturalist's walk shortly after the Civil War from Louisville, Kentucky, to Florida and is one of his best-loved books. Originally published in 1916, it is largely comprised of diary entries Muir made during his memorable 1867 trek. This was a pivotal time in Muir's life, when an eye injury that caused temporary blindness forced him to leave his manufacturing job in Indiana and reevaluate the direction of his life. As his sight returned, Muir realized how much he regretted abandoning his true love, botany, and determined to make his now-celebrated thousand-mile "floral pilgrimage." Lyrical chapters celebrate Kentucky's forests and caves, crossing the Cumberland Mountains, traversing the river country of Georgia, crossing Florida swamps and forest, and sojourning at Cedar Keys. These timeless observations of the natural world mingle with a vivid look at the post-Civil War South, encounters with colorful or desperate characters, and an archetypal portrait of a young man in search of himself. The book includes an account of Muir's journey from Florida by way of Cuba and Panama to San Francisco. The narrative reaches its conclusion with an account of his first walk to Yosemite and his stay in nearby Twenty Hill Hollow that signaled the start of his budding career as a young conservationist.Muir, John is the author of 'Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf', published 1992 under ISBN 9780871565914 and ISBN 0871565919.