Synopses & Reviews
“Lets get lost together . . . ”
Lost in My Own Backyard brings acclaimed author Tim Cahill together with one of his—and Americas—favorite destinations: Yellowstone, the worlds first national park. Cahill has been “puttering around in the park” for a quarter of a century, slowly covering its vast scope and exploring its remote backwoods. So does this mean that he knows what hes doing? Hardly. “I live fifty miles from the park,” says Cahill, “but proximity does not guarantee competence. Ive spent entire afternoons not knowing exactly where I was, which is to say, I was lost in my own backyard.”
Cahill stumbles from glacier to geyser, encounters wildlife (some of it, like bisons, weighing in the neighborhood of a ton), muses on the microbiology of thermal pools, gets spooked in the mysterious Hoodoos, sees moonbows arcing across waterfalls at midnight, and generally has a fine old time walking several hundred miles while contemplating the concept and value of wilderness. Mostly, Cahill says, “I have resisted the urge to commit philosophy. This is difficult to do when youre alone, twenty miles from the nearest road, and youve just found a grizzly bear track the size of a pizza.”
Divided into three parts—“The Trails,” which offers a variety of favorite day hikes; “In the Backcountry,” which explores three great backcountry trails very much off the beaten track; and “A Selected Yellowstone Bookshelf,” an annotated bibliography of his favorite books on the park—this is a hilarious, informative, and perfect guide for Yellowstone veterans and first-timers alike. Lost in My Own Backyard is adventure writing at its very best.
Synopsis
Cahill stumbles from glacier to geyser; encounters wildlife; muses on the microbiology of thermal pools; sees moonbows arching across waterfalls at midnight and more all while contemplating the concept and value of wilderness in Yellowstone National Park.
About the Author
TIM CAHILL is the author of eight books, including Road Fever, Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, and A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg. He is a founding editor of Outside magazine and writes frequently for National Geographic Adventure and other national publications. He lives in Montana.