TRAILS OF A WILDERNESS WANDERER Author:ANDY RUSSELL THE WILDERNESS WEST! NO MAN ALIVE CAN GIVE THE FEEL OF IT BETTER THAN ANDY RUSSELL, WHO WROTE THE MEMORABLE "GRIZZLY COUNTRY." HE WAS BORN IN THE SHADOW OF THE ROCKIES AND LIVES THERE TODAY, RUNNING A WORKING RANCH IN THE MOUNTAINOUS WILDS OF ALBERTA. IN THIS BOOK HE LOOKS BACK ON HIS LIFE AS A COWBOY, BRONCBUSTER, TRAPPER, GUIDE, OUTFITTER, RAN... more »CHER AND WILDERNESS PHOTOGRAPHER. HE SHARES HIS ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES. HE RECALLS THE COLORFUL CHARACTERS HE HAS KNOWN-FROM RECLUSE TRAPPERS AND ECCENTRIC BRITISH REMITTANCE MEN TO CITY-BRED EAST COAST "SPORTS" HE HAS GUIDED (HE IS TOO KIND TO SAY NURSED) ON MANY A PACK TRIP. HE KNOWS HIS RUGGED COUNTRY TRAIL BY TRAIL, SEASON BY SEASON. HE EVOKES ITS WILDLIFE (VARIOUS AND FASCINATING),ITS LANDSCAPE (BREATHTAKING), ITS WEATHER (ONERY), ITS PROFOUND EFFECTS ON MAN AND BEAST. HE HAS THE KNACK OF MAKING US FEEL WE ARE ON THAT LAND IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THE CENTURY AND TODAY.
HERE ARE THE PUNGENT GLIMPSES OF A BOYHOOD ON A FRONTIER RANCH, OF SCHOOLDAYS IN THE HILLS, AND OF THE AUTHORS POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION IN THE BRONC CORRALS, ALONG THE LONELY TRAPLINES, AND ON PACKHORSE TRAILS INTO MOUNTAIN VASTNESSES. ANDY RUSSELL HAS THE WEST IN HIS BONES AND IN HIS VOICE, AND AS HE TALKS WE GET THE TASTE AND SENSE OF "SHEER RAW COUNTRY, OF HORSES, DUST, AND LEATHER", OF LIFE IN A "HORSE HEAVEN" THAT WE'LL NEVER SEE AGAIN. HIS BOOK IS A NATURE BOOK, A WILDERNESS BOOK, A PERSONAL BOOK OF ADVENTURE. ANDY RUSSELL LOOKS AT THE LAND NOW, "A SHRINKING WILDERNESS WHERE JET TRAILS TELL A STORY OF THEIR OWN ACROSS THE BLUE BOWL OF THE SKY" AND HIS BOOK BECOMES A PLEA TO SAVE THAT WILDERNESS WHILE WE STILL-PERHAPS-CAN.« less