Salt to Summit

June 11, 2012
Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere, and California's Mount Whitney is the highest point in the Lower 48, making logical and extreme endpoints for outdoor writer, climber, and philosopher Arnold (Early Days in the Range of Light) to connectâand chronicleâon foot. But his meandering journey from the "deepest pile of nothing" to the "glorious pile of weathered and levered granite" is completely off the beaten path: it follows a "no-trails mandate," leading through remote canyons, across vast playas, and over brilliantly-colored peaks. Arnold's whimsy and determination turn the journey into part meditation, part history lesson, all told in evocative language. Along the way, he encounters remnants and reminders of miners, prospectors, pioneers, misfits, tourists, authors, and Native Americans. Of course, long walks are slow-paced by their nature, so the book's momentum occasionally sags; Arnold's memory for detail is both impressive and exhausting, and the inherent repetition of his days creates a sense of beautiful numbness. In the end, the tale suffers from a slight lack of drama and suspense, but then "That's the trouble with the desert when you have a destination. You'll see where you're headed for a good long while before you get there." Photos.

July 1, 2012

Arnold (Early Days in the Range of Light: Encounters with Legendary Mountaineers) is one tough guy--he's not even slightly intimidated by the hazardous extremes of California's deserts and mountains he describes in a travel memoir that also offers up a hearty does of history. Aware of the dangers before him, he relishes the challenge as he sets out from the Badwater Basin in Death Valley, CA, at 282 feet below sea level to the peak of Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet above it, the highest point in the contiguous United States. Interspersed with his own experiences hiking along a route he planned himself are those of travelers who came through this area before him: Mary Arnold, who learned the secret trails of the Shoshone Indians; William Manly, who rescued the last of the forty-niners from the bottom of Death Valley; and even the infamous Charles Manson. A useful appendix of sources will help the reader consult other firsthand accounts. VERDICT Arnold infuses the narrative of his strenuous journey with eloquence. For avid outdoors types and students of California history. (Photographs not seen.)--Olga B. Wise, Austin, TX

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.