The Ultimate John Muir Collection: Our National Parks, Stickeen, My First Summer in the Sierra, The Yosemite, Travels in Alaska, & A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf

By: John Muir

Narrated by: Museum Audiobooks cast

The pioneering advocate of wilderness preservation, John Muir (1838-1914) was influential in the creation of many national parks.

The Ultimate John Muir Collection includes:

Book one: Our National Parks, (1901), comprising 10 essays that previously appeared as articles in the Atlantic Monthly. The text is devoted to Yosemite in the heart of the Sierra Nevada.

Book two: Stickeen (1880) is Muir's account of what happened on an Alaskan glacier with a dog named Stickeen. First published in Century Magazine (1897) this compelling story remains on of the author’s most popular works.

Book three: My First Summer in the Sierra is based on a diary Muir kept while tending sheep in Yosemite country and is filled with the author’s awe for the divine and enduring wealth of the natural world. It remains a classic of environmental literature that continues to inspire people.

Book four: The Yosemite, in which Muir chronicled his experiences of the beautiful wilderness in appealingly descriptive prose. It portrays the shifting phases of the year in Yosemite - flood-time with its waterfalls, Indian summer, the brooding fall, and the sublime darkness of storm nights.

Book five: Travels in Alaska describes the beauty of the Alaskan wilderness and its inhabitants as observed during Muir’s travels between 1879 and 1890. In poetic prose he describes the area’s magnificent glaciers and its animals like bears, bald eagles, wolves, and whales.

Book six: A Thousand-Mile Walk To The Gulf. In 1867, Muir left Indiana and walked 1,000 miles to the Gulf Coast, carrying only a compass, a map, a brush, and some soap. Taken from his earliest journals, the text chronicles his impressions of the South in the wake of the Civil War. Studying the flora and fauna along the way, Muir records his journey on foot across Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and his trip to California by boat.

Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks

Enjoyable

Overall I really enjoyed this collection. I would have liked it to have been in chronological order. I am glad I listened to it on Audible.

A life well lived!

John Muir was an incredibly passionate naturalist with fearless faith. His story in his words is remarkable!

Readers were not up to the price Audible exacts

Muir's writings are not for the causal reader. My review reflects more the shortcomings of the readers; apparently they are volunteers. I believe this same title is offered for free at the Librivox site, which I wish I had known before purchasing from Audible. They struggle with words like indefatigable and en masse, as well as pronunciations of plants, flowers, etc.... A shame, as the content of Muir's journals, and his writings, deserve a better, more professional treatment.

Good content poor narration

It's John Muir's books...so it is worth the listen. The Zmyseum cast picked to narrate could have been better. The 1st onrme sounded like he was out of breath. The 2nd one was speed reading (had to slow it down to 0.9). The last one was the best. Got through all 36 hours. Not Nad of you view it as several books. At times, Muir gets laborious in his numerical details. At other times he is a delight in his metaphorical descriptions. Overall, it's worth the time.

Chapter Numbers cheat sheet (you're welcome!)

Unfortunately, all 6 books and all of their chapters are laid out like a single book in this audio collection, with a very non-friendly 75 chapters staring at you, with no descriptions. I went through them all and laid them out here. You're welcome :D

John Muir Ultimate Collection
(*note - chapter numbers between books, I didn't document. They are very short title intros).

Book 1: Our National Parks (1901)
Collection Chapter:
3 - The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West
4 - Yellowstone
5 - Yosemite
6 - Forests of Yosemite
7 - Wild Gardens of Yosemite
8 - Animals of Yosemite
9 - Birds of Yosemite
10 - Fountains & Streaks of Yosemite
11 - Sequoia and General Grant Nat’l Park
12 - The American Forests

Book 2: Stickeen: The Story of a Dog (1909)
Collection Chapter:
14 - entire story

Book 3: My First Summer in the Sierra (1911)
Collection Chapter:
16 - Thru the Foothills with a Flock of Sheep
17 - In Camp on the North Fork of the Merced
18 - A Bread Famine
19 - To the High Mountains
20 - The Yosemite
21 - Mount Hoffman & Lake Tenaya
22 - A Strange Experience
23 - The Mono Trail
24 - Bloody Canon and Mono Lake
25 - The Tuolumne Camp
26 - Back to the Lowlands

Book 4: The Yosemite (1912)
Collection Chapter:
28 - The Approach of the Valley
29 - Winter Storms and Spring Floods
30 - Snow Storms
31 - Snow Banners
32 - The Trees of the Valley
33 - The Forest Trees in General
34 - The Big Trees
35 - The Flowers
36 - The Birds
37 - The South Dome
38 - The Ancient Yosemite Glaciers: How the Valley was Formed
39 - How Best to Spend One’s Yosemite Time
40 - Early History of the Valley
41 - Lamon
42 - Galen Clark
43 - Hetch Hetchy Valley

Book 5: Travels in Alaska (1915)
Part I: The Trip of 1879
Collection Chapter:
45 - Preface
46 - Puget Sound and British Columbia
47 - Alexander Arhipelaco and the Home I Found in Alaska
48 - Wrangell Island and the Alaska Summers
49 - The Stickeen River
50 - A Cruise in the Cassiar
51 - The Cassiar Trail
52 - Glenora Peak
53 - Exploration of the Stickeen Glaciers
54 - A Canoe Voyage to the Northward
55 - The Discovery of Glacier Bay
56 - The Country of the Chilcats
57 - The Return to Fort Wrangell
58 - Alaska Indians

Part II: The Trip of 1880
59 - Sum Dum Bay
60 - From Taku River to Taylor Bay
61 - Glacier Bay

Part III: The Trip of 1890
62 - In Camp Glacier Bay
63 - My Sled-Trip on the Muir Glacier
64 - Auroras

Book 6: A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf (1916)
Collection Chapter:
66 - Introduction
67 - Kentucky Forests and Caves
68 - Crossing the Cumberland Mountains
69 - Through the River Country of Georgia
70 - Camping Among the Tombs
71 - Through Florida Swamps and Forests
72 - Cedar Keys
73 - A Sojourn to Cuba
74 - By a Crooked Route to California
75 - Twenty Hill Hollow

An American Treasure

I found the storytelling in this book to be quite remarkable and a fascinating window into another time.

In an age when we can record everything on our phones, relying solely on your words to describe your feelings, and environment appears to be becoming a lost art. Perhaps it’s just the way our language has evolved over the years, but I couldn’t help but think we’ve lost something in our ability to communicate in the age of Twitter.

After reading this book, you won’t be able to help but wonder how much of our national treasures we have lost to development and how important it is for us to maintain green space for the good of our humanity.

Excellent Writing; Inconsistent Reading Performance

Most readers do a fine job. The reader of “The Yosemite” reads too fast and butchers the pronunciation of ubiquitous words like “Tuolumne”. A simple check of Miriam Webster tells you how to pronounce. Sad annoyance!

How to turn people off from Muir.

Wonderfully descriptive stories of nature from the turn of the 19th century. Unfortunately, there are maybe four narrators and they basically rank from average to poor. Their reading is lazy and spiritless while the mispronunciation of a vast range of words makes you wonder where they found these guys. Our National Parks and Stickeen are tolerable, otherwise I'd look for different versions of the remaining stories.

not the best

the material is not well suited for the narrator, makes it slow and halted. I've heard other people read Muir and the trick seem passion this man lacked vocally. he however did manage to get through all the material in a clear manner which I don't know I ever could. make sure to check the sample and make sure your ready