A Way Across the Mountain: Joseph Walker's 1833 Trans-Sierran Passage and the Myth of Yosemite's Discovery

Synopsis

A Place Among Giants: Joe Walker And His Legacy Of Exploration And Discovery -- Presuppositions And Proclamations : Leading Walker Across The Sierra -- Background : Joseph Walker And His Places And Times -- Excursion 1. The Tripwires And Pitfalls Of Romanticization -- Following Walker : Setting Pace, Setting Dates -- Excursion 2. The Matter Of Maximum Sustainable Pace -- Following Walker To The Lakes And Into Bloody Battle -- Following Walker To The Highly Alkaline, Pumice-lined Lake -- Excursion 3. Pathfinders And Their Contributions -- Following Walker From The Pumice-lined Lake To The Sierran Front -- To The Sierran Front : The Implausibility Of Routes Previously Proposed -- Following Walker To The Top Of The Sierra -- Excursion 4. Joe Walker And Zenas Leonard, Creatures Of The Little Ice Age -- Seeking And Descending The Pacific Slope : A Chronologic Summary -- Imagining Yosemite : Arguments Against A Path Past The Iconic Rock Colossus -- Seeking And Descending The Pacific Slope : Criteria And Constraints -- Following Walker From The Top To The Base Of The Mountain Brink -- Following Walker From The Base Of The Brink To The Mountain-foothills Border -- Following Walker From The Mountain-foothills Border To The Most Remarkable Watercourse -- On Toward Monterey -- Plausibility Of A Passage Through The Truckee-american Sierra : Eliminating The Dark-horse Route -- Lore's Origins : A Myth To Match The Mountains -- The Outland And The Outlandish : Barriers To Geographic Understanding -- Excursion 5. Where Is There From Here? -- An Outland Of The Modern Mind -- Summary And Conclusions. By Scott Stine. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.