Muir Ramble Route:

Walking from San Francisco to Yosemite in the Footsteps of John Muir

A Guide for hiking from San Francisco to Yosemite by Peter and Donna Thomas With an account of the original 1868 trip by John Muir

( from the book's dust jacket )

Muir Ramble Route: Walking from San Francisco to Yosemite In the Footsteps of John Muir - A guide for hiking from San Francisco to Yosemite by Peter and Donna Thomas With an account of the original 1868 trip by John Muir
by Peter and Donna Thomas
2010
Poetic Matrix Press, Madera, CA

This book is really three books in one. It is a guidebook for a walking/cycling route across California that follows John Muir's footsteps from San Francisco to Yosemite via the Pacheco Pass.

It is an adventure book, telling the story of Peter and Donna Thomas' 2006 ramble across California to discover that route.

And finally it is a history book, presenting in its entirety and for the first time, the complete story of John Muir's first trip to Yosemite. That trip was taken in 1868, the year before Muir's 'First Summer in the Sierra,' and it has never been published before, existing in obscurity, in Muir's various writings, until it was reconstructed by Peter and Donna in preparation for their walk to Yosemite in his footsteps.

"John Muir was one of the greatest walkers of modern times, and through walking he came to know nature's beauty and diversity. Here, collated conveniently for the first time, is his first encounter with a California still unspoiled by industrial farming, freeways, and oil wells. It should make any reader's feet itch with excitement."
- Donald Worster, Hall Distinguished Professor of American History, University of Kansas

"Here, for the first time and meticulously researched by Donna and Peter Thomas, is the story of Muir's personal journey from San Francisco through the foothills into Yosemite National Park, as well as the route undertaken by the celebrated Thomases who followed in Muir's footsteps. Enjoy your own path-filled wanderings on your way to Yosemite and bask in the glory of God's Wildness."
- Bonnie J. Gisel, author Nature's Beloved Son: Rediscovering John Muir's Botanical Legacy

"In this book, Peter & Donna Thomas have reinvented John Muir's first journey to Yosemite. Along the way they have discovered many places where California's natural world remains relatively unspoiled, but they also trace Muir's route through our contemporary urban sprawl and industrial agriculture. By juxtaposing Muir's original journals with their re-created trail, Peter and Donna lead us along that delicate edge between the landscape of our dreams and the possibilities of a world restored."
- Tom Killion, California Landscape Printmaker