Adventuring in the
California Desert: The Sierra Club Travel Guide to the Great Basin, Mojave, and
Colorado Desert Regions of California, by Lynne Foster. $12.95 paperback,
448 pp., 10 black and white photographs, 11 line drawings,. 10 maps.
Publication date: Nov. 2, 1987. ISBN: 0-87156-721-0.
A basic
tenet of Sierra Club philosophy has been: to know a wild place is to love it
and want to preserve it. At last, the splendor of the California desert is
revealed in a lively, easy to read guidebook. Long overdue, this fascinating
desert guide responds to a deep concern of many in preserving the fragile,
still pristine wildlands of our desert. This guide should inspire further
advocacy of desert protection. Guides to specific desert locations such as
the national monuments, Death Valley and Joshua Tree do exist, but never has
the entire 25-million-acre California desert been treated as an integral whole.
Adventuring in the California Desert achieves this goal. With crucial
protective legislation (Senator Cranston's S. 7 and H.R. 371) now before
Congress, Californians should be informed. It is important to learn why the
deserts are unique, astounding, worth visiting, and worth protecting.
Adventuring in the California Desert explains why, and thoroughly describes how
to visit the desert. |
The devotion which
desert activist Lynne Foster attaches to the description, suggestion, and
guidance of the desert is evident in every page. Lynne Foster's goal - which
the book clearly achieves - is to show people how to use the fragile desert
without abusing it. The book is divided into two main sections: the first
section gives general descriptions of desert features. Specific chapters
devoted to the development of the desert geology and the plant and animal life
reveal the essence of the desert. A practical survival chapter explains ways to
avoid the hazards of desert travel, including proper gear for foot or vehicle
travel. The core of the new book is its second and longest portion, which
divides the California desert into nine "recognizable geographic regions," from
Inyo-Mono in the northwest to Colorado desert in the southeast. These are
individually described and then subdivided into a total of 38 distinct
sections, with numerous trips discussed for each. The "trips" delineated are of
three kinds: vehicle tours, hikes, and destinations. The degree of difficulty
for hikes and backpacks is carefully noted. For each trip, subheadings such
as "about the area," "facilities," "to get there," "getting your bearings,"
"about the hike," focus on pertinent information. Elevations plus topo maps and
relevant county road map references are given. Appendices list
desert |
plants,
accommodations, campgrounds, visitor centers and museums, chambers of commerce,
and public land offices in the desert. There is a glossary and an extensive
bibliography of recommended reading. Black and white photos and a few fine line
drawings grace the text; one would have wished for more illustrations. A
clear exposition and a passionate conviction of the unique value of the
California desert make this book a must for all who wish to travel in
California's deserts. It may well be a must, too, for all who want a better
understanding of why we need to protect the deserts now, through the California
Desert Protection Act(S. 7andH.R. 371). Adventuring in the California Desert
is a new tool in the hands of conservationists who are working to preserve a
vital part of the world's natural environment. As Lynne Foster says: "The
primary purpose of this book is to help people get to know and enjoy the desert
responsibly . . . to become intimate with wildlands in a nondisruptive way . .
. What we're talking about is low-impact recreation - recreation that uses the
desert without consuming it." The San Francisco Bay Chapter Bookstore in
Oakland, as well as the Sierra Club Store in San Francisco, carry this valuable
new addition to Sierra Club publications.
- Vicky Hoover |