Early Days in the Range of Light: Encounters with Legendary Mountaineers Hardcover – September 29, 2009

Very good communication, fast shipment, highly recommended!

Daniel Arnold, a mountaineer and rock climbing instructor from Southern California, revisits significant first ascents by Sierra mountaineers, from Brewer's ascent of Mount Brewer in 1864 to the roped ascent of Thunderbolt in 1931.In addition to giving us insights into the lives and characters of the early mountaineers, Arnold also retraces their routes, leaving aside modern equipment and attempting to experience the mountains as they did. On the early climbs, he travels alone, without sleeping bag, tent, rain gear, stove, or maps. He uses only the description of the first ascent as a guide. Climbing a dangerous snow slope approaching Michael Minaret, with a thin layer of soft powder over old ice, Arnold curses Michael's lack of an ice axe and his own slavish insistence on following suit.Arnold gives insightful and sympathetic portraits of many of the early mountaineers, including Brewer, King, Brown, Muir and Clyde. His stories of Brown and Clyde are particularly moving, much more so than the typical "He carried a 100 pound pack and an anvil!" anecdotes that one is used to hearing. He describes Clyde's happy and passionate 1915 marriage to Winnie Bolster, who tragically contracted tuberculosis only a year later and died in 1919. Clyde never recovered. Arnold considers whether he would retreat to the mountains, as Clyde did, if his own marriage and climbing partnership were to founder.Arnold's approach of weaving the stories of the mountaineers with his recreations of their ascents is an effective one. While it is impossible to truly see the mountains through their eyes, by removing our modern gear and maps and GPS units and Spots, Arnold gets close. After spending a frigid night curled on the ground in a shirt, emulating Muir's ascent of Mt. Ritter, Arnold gains a much better understanding of Muir's prose, " How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountain! To behold this alone is worth the pains of an excursion a thousand times over."Highly recommended for anyone who loves the Sierra, or who would like to explain their love to puzzled spouses and families.

I have been fascinated with the original mountaineers of the Sierras for many years and have spent a lot of time reading about them. Daniel Arnold brought these legends together and connected their relationships with the mountains and each other with such detail and poetry I was in heaven. The fact that he followed in their footsteps made it all the more fascinating! I admire the appreciation Arnold has for that era of the original bad asses and the incredible awe of the Sierras. You don't have to be a mountaineer to get wrapped up in this book. It is truly an amazing read for anyone!! Thank you for all your efforts putting this together, Mr. Arnold.

If you climb and love the Sierras then this book (as well as Norman Clyde: Legendary Mountaineer of California's Sierra Nevada by Robert C. Pavlik) are must reads. Daniel Arnold really does a great job in his research and writing, but more importantly (and uniquely) he actually duplicates each of the first ascents he writes about. Daniel Arnold personally makes each of these climbs copying the same styles + using the same gear, etc as those who made the first climbs. Then Arnold weaves his experiences in with the historical stories. It is unique and beautifully done. A really good book and an incredible effort by Daniel Arnold. Thanks Daniel, your work is appreciated.

I listened to the author at a Sierra Club meeting and was intrigued by his plan to retrace the first ascents of the High Peaks of the Sierras. I thought that the book was well written both from a reaearch point of view and from the way the author put the climbs into their hitorical perspectives and personalized the ascents by giving biographocal details on the summiteers.I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in climbing and also to anyone who is researching vacation time in the Sierras.

This is one of my all-time favorite books about hiking and adventure, especially in the Sierra. The book is heavily researched and the writing is lyrical. It's packed with historical tidbits but never dry and the author is clearly a talented mountaineer in his own right. Whenever people ask me for book recommendations, this is tops on my list.

This is a fantastic read. Daniel Arnold obviously has a passion for the history of Sierra Nevada mountaineering and is a brilliant writer as well. Didn't want the book to end. One of the best books you will ever read about mountaineering or the Sierra Nevada.

If you love the Sierras or just like to read adventure stories, this book will entertain and inform you. I enjoyed reading about the author's attempts to duplicate the climbs of some of the most famous mountain climbers in Sierra Mountain history. Reading about the exploits of men like John Muir and Norman Clyde was fascinating. I read this book in between trips to the Sierra and it inspired me to try to get to the top of some of the peaks he writes about.