Of Men and Mountains [B0417]

1981 PB Seattle Book Club reprint of 1950 Harper original, in very good condition. The Supreme Court Justice tells of his adventures while exploring the mountains of Washington State, at first for therapeutic reasons and later for recreation. In such country Douglas has noted, "Men can find deep solitude and under conditions of grandeur that are startling, he can come to know both himself and God."

From Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "This is one of the best books I have ever read. Judge Douglas describes his early life growing up in the Yakima Valley and Cascade Mountain Range in Washington State. His descriptions of nature are highly detailed and amazing. The book expresses his love and appreciation for nature, the outdoors, the people he meets, and surely shaped his thinking, judgment, and wisdom later as a Supreme Court Justice. There is so much information in the book, it's like taking a college course in nature and wildlife."; "William Douglas is mainly known for his work as a Supreme Court Justice from the late thirties to 1975, but he is also remembered for his passion for the outdoors. This book is about his adventures in the mountains - from his time as a boy in Yakima taking a train to Naches and then hiking into the Cascades - to his summer breaks from the Supreme Court where his Goose Prairie Home was base camp to mountaineering adventures. Many chapters speak of a bygone era where backpacking misadventures could be rescued by stumbling into a sheepherder's camp, when the only way to get from the highway to Bumping Lake was to cross country ski. I enjoyed reading about a boy's makeshift backpack in the early 1900s to the best ways to make sourdough bread in camp. But the mountains, lakes and rivers themselves persevere through the eras. When Douglas writes of hiking the Goat Rocks, swimming in Bumping Lake, climbing Mt Adams, hiking past Dewey Lake to the American River, camping in the Blankenship meadows, I am reminded of my own adventures in those same magnificent areas. A great read."