Des soutes aux ponts de commande, Une vocation maritime retrace l’odyssée authentique d’un homme ayant voué sa vie aux océans.

The marvelous structure and sculpture of the Yosemite Valley kindles the imagination of every visitor to this great natural wonder and causes scientist and layman alike to evince the most intense interest in the origin of this mile-deep trough amid the granite waves of the High Sierra. Each pilgrim to this Mountain-Mecca endeavors to satisfy his mind as to the causes of its carving. Everyone who wanders there wonders and guesses at its genesis; but the revelations of its geomorphogeny are far from being satisfactory or complete. Scientists have come and savants have gone, but few have agreed in their conclusions. The scenic grandeur of the Yosemite has sunk deep in the souls of poets and painters, artists and writers; and to the most practical of men, engineers and miners, do its unique features equally appeal... Before discussing the conflicting theories conjectured about the origin of the Yosemite Valley, it will be proper to present the salient features of its surroundings... This book deals with the origin and stories of the Yosemite Valley.

In early March 1867, Muir was injured while working at a wagon wheels factory: a tool he was using slipped and struck him in the eye. This accident changed the course of his life. He was confined to a darkened room for six weeks, worried he'd lost his sight forever. When he did recover, the world looked completely different and life had taken on a new meaning for him. Muir later said, "This affliction has driven me to the sweet fields. God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons." From that point on, he determined to "be true to myself" and follow his dream of exploring and studying plants. A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf recounts Muir's walk of approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Indiana to Florida. He did not follow a specific route, only going by the "wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find." This journal is the earliest of Muir's writings and autobiographically bridges the period between "The Story of my Boyhood and Youth" and "My First Summer in the Sierra." John Muir (1838-1914) was a Scottish-American author and naturalist, who is traditionally considered to be the "Father of the National Parks". Born in Dunbar (East Lothian), he spent his childhood exploring the area, and that is where his love of nature first bloomed. In 1849, his family emigrated to Portage, Wisconsin for religious reasons. At 22, he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which he never graduated, as he preferred to take a multitude of different classes in the variety of subjects he was interested him, such as chemistry, botany and geology. In 1866, whilst working at an Indianapolis wagon wheel factory, he got into a serious accident and almost lost his sight. When he recovered, he decided to follow his dreams and explore nature. In September 1867, he walked from Kentucky to Florida, later describing the trip in his "A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf." In 1868, he boarded a ship to Cuba, then later on sailed to New York City, from whence he travelled to California. From there, he decided to visit Yosemite, which he had long read about. He was one of the first to infer that the landscape there must have been formed by glaciers, a widely disputed theory at the time. Muir wrote countless essays, books and letters recounting his adventures out in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, which have been read by millions. He played a vital role in the preservation of natural areas, and the creations of Yosemite and Sequoia National Park, amongst many others.

"My First Summer in the Sierra" (1911) takes inspiration from Muir's journals of the months he spent between June and September 1869 as a shepherd in the Sierras. Muir went on to built a cabin along Yosemite Creek, where he lived for two years. He designed it in such a way that a portion of the stream flowed through it, as he wanted to enjoy its music. From French Bar to Mono Lake and the Yosemite Valley, he was awestruck by everything he saw. The antics of the smallest "insect people" amazed him as much as stunted thousand-year old Juniper trees growing with inconceivable tenacity from tiny cracks in the stone. In this novel, he tells of the nature in the Sierra, and of his ascension of Mt. Hoffman and other local peaks. John Muir (1838-1914) was a Scottish-American author and naturalist, who is traditionally considered to be the "Father of the National Parks". Born in Dunbar (East Lothian), he spent his childhood exploring the area, and that is where his love of nature first bloomed. In 1849, his family emigrated to Portage, Wisconsin for religious reasons. At 22, he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which he never graduated, as he preferred to take a multitude of different classes in the variety of subjects he was interested him, such as chemistry, botany and geology. In 1866, whilst working at an Indianapolis wagon wheel factory, he got into a serious accident and almost lost his sight. When he recovered, he decided to follow his dreams and explore nature. In September 1867, he walked from Kentucky to Florida, later describing the trip in his "A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf." In 1868, he boarded a ship to Cuba, then later on sailed to New York City, from whence he travelled to California. From there, he decided to visit Yosemite, which he had long read about. He was one of the first to infer that the landscape there must have been formed by glaciers, a widely disputed theory at the time. Muir wrote countless essays, books and letters recounting his adventures out in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, which have been read by millions. He played a vital role in the preservation of natural areas, and the creations of Yosemite and Sequoia National Park, amongst many others.

Alaska, 1880. Un naturaliste et un chien, Stickeen, affrontent ensemble les dangers d’un glacier en pleine tempête. Ce récit vrai, à la fois tendre et haletant, célèbre l’amitié improbable entre un homme et un animal face à la nature sauvage.

À l'été 1869, John Muir quitte la vallée californienne pour conduire un troupeau de moutons dans les hauteurs sauvages de la sierra Nevada. Ce voyage, plus qu'une simple transhumance, devient une quête spirituelle et naturaliste au sein d'une majestueuse nature. Entre prairies fleuries et glaciers étincelants, cascades rugissantes et forêts millénaires, Muir affronte les dangers de la montagne, notamment les ours, accompagné de son fidèle chien Carlo. Avec émerveillement, il observe la faune et la flore, découvre des paysages sublimes comme la vallée de Yosemite, et médite sur la beauté divine de ce sanctuaire naturel, en communion profonde avec cette « chaîne de lumière ». Nouvelle traduction de Pierre Bondil.

De chutes d'eau en futaies, suivez l'un des pionniers du nature writing sur les sentiers escarpés de Californie, du Nevada, de l'Utah, de l'État de Washington et de l'Arizona. Prêchant la contemplation, l'émerveillement permanent, John Muir sort des sentiers battus, emprunte les chemins de traverse, rampe parmi les ronces du maquis, escalade les falaises. Passionné de géologie, il explique la formation des montagnes et des glaciers. Toujours en quête d'expériences, Muir se baigne dans le lac salé de Salt Lake City, randonne dans le Grand Canyon du Colorado, guette ours et mouflons, observe les tribus indiennes, discute avec des hommes des bois. Dans un style aussi didactique que lyrique, Muir magnifie la beauté des montagnes et des forêts, des cascades et des rivières d'écume, rendant ainsi hommage à ces « terres sauvages », ce wilderness qui revient sans cesse sous sa plume. Ces textes restés longtemps inédits en France nous offrent une plongée fascinante dans l'Ouest américain d'un autre temps.

En 1869, John Muir est engagé une saison pour conduire des moutons en transhumance vers la Yosemite Valley. Au cours du voyage, il note tout ce qu'il voit, bavarde avec les bergers, s'enivre de la vie au grand air, de la liberté merveilleuse des campements, le soir. Et plus il monte, plus la nature devient sauvage, plus il est envahi, bouleversé par la beauté du monde. Ce livre, devenu aux États-Unis un classique, a fait de John Muir une légende.

En 1869, John Muir est engagé une saison pour conduire des moutons en transhumance vers la Yosemite Valley. Au cours du voyage, il note tout ce qu'il voit, bavarde avec les bergers, s'enivre de la vie au grand air, de la liberté merveilleuse des campements, le soir. Et plus il monte, plus la nature devient sauvage, plus il est envahi, bouleversé par la beauté du monde. Ce livre, devenu aux États-Unis un classique, a fait de John Muir une légende.

"13 juin. Encore une de ces magnifiques journées de la Sierra, au cours desquelles on a l'impression de se dissoudre et d'être absorbé, puis envoyé tout palpitant on ne sait trop où. La vie ne semble ni longue ni courte, et nous ne songeons pas plus à gagner du temps ou à nous dépêcher que les arbres et les étoiles. Voilà la véritable liberté, voilà une excellente et pratique sorte d'immortalité." "Marcheur infatigable, géologue éclairé, pionnier de l'écologie" (B. Matthieussent), John Muir mena, en 1869, une transhumance estivale dans les montagnes californiennes. Il publiera quelques années plus tard Un été dans la Sierra, journal de bord et de contemplation relatant son voyage. Nous le suivons ici au commencement de ce parcours, en arpenteur émerveillé d'une nature "sauvage et sacrée".

"13 juin. Encore une de ces magnifiques journées de la Sierra, au cours desquelles on a l'impression de se dissoudre et d'être absorbé, puis envoyé tout palpitant on ne sait trop où. La vie ne semble ni longue ni courte, et nous ne songeons pas plus à gagner du temps ou à nous dépêcher que les arbres et les étoiles. Voilà la véritable liberté, voilà une excellente et pratique sorte d'immortalité." "Marcheur infatigable, géologue éclairé, pionnier de l'écologie" (B. Matthieussent), John Muir mena, en 1869, une transhumance estivale dans les montagnes californiennes. Il publiera quelques années plus tard Un été dans la Sierra, journal de bord et de contemplation relatant son voyage. Nous le suivons ici au commencement de ce parcours, en arpenteur émerveillé d'une nature "sauvage et sacrée".

Mégafeux, tempêtes ultrapuissantes, orages et déluges, grandes avalanches ou tremblements de terre : la nature a ses colères et John Muir les a toujours goûtées, observées, presque recherchées. Grand marcheur et magnifique écrivain, ce pionnier de l'écologie fut, au tournant du XXe siècle, leur interprète le plus fin. Son empathie était totale : il était le feu, l'arbre, il était la bourrasque et la neige, il était l'éclair. Les récits et descriptions réunis dans ce livre, d'une sensualité surprenante et d'un savoir sans faille, témoignent tous de sa curiosité aventureuse et de son absolu amour de la nature. "Il est plus extraordinaire que Thoreau", disait de lui Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Ce texte vibrant est un chant à la gloire de la wilderness, cette nature pas encore totalement dénaturée par les activités humaines. Les forêts profondes aux essences variées, les lacs miroitants, les ruisseaux murmurants et les cascades toniques, les montagnes imposantes participent, avec grâce et mystère, aux paysages américains traversés trop vite par une humanité plus préoccupée par ce que l'économie pourrait en retirer que par la beauté encore sauvage, inutile et gratuite, qu'ils offrent. John Muir, qui connait parfaitement ces lieux de solitude, nous les décrit avec précision et amour, inquiet de leur devenir, alors que retentissent les coups des haches des bûcherons...Comment les protéger d'interventions fatales ? En les sanctuarisant comme parcs naturels nationaux, ouverts néanmoins au tourisme ? Un article inédit en français de John Muir, présenté et commenté par Thierry Paquot.

The only fire for the whole house was the kitchen stove, with a fire box about eighteen inches long and eight inches wide and deep,- scant space for three or four small sticks, around which in hard zero weather all the family of ten shivered, and beneath which in the morning we found our socks and coarse, soggy boots frozen solid. Thus, with perceptive eye for detail, the American naturalist, John Muir, describes life on a pioneer Wisconsin farm in the 1850's. Muir was only eleven years old when his father uprooted the family from a relatively comfortable life in Dunbar, Scotland, to settle in the backwoods of North America.The elder Muir was a religious fundamentalist. What his father taught, John Muir writes, was "grim self denial, in season and out of season, to mortify the flesh, keep our bodies in subjection to Bible laws, and mercilessly punish ourselves for every fault, imagined or committed." Muir's father believed that the Bible was "the only book human beings could possibly require," while John secretly read every volume of poetry and literature he could get his hands on. With no formal schooling after leaving Scotland, John also learned from nature--keenly observing details of the seasons, the life of the farm oxen, and wild animals and birds. John also became an amateur inventor, eking out time from farm chores by getting up at 1 a.m. to whittle intricate wooden clocks by candlelight in the unheated farm house basement.Muir finally made a break for freedom--his decision was to go to Madison, Wisconsin, and enter his clocks in the State Fair, with the hope that somebody might see them and offer him a job in a machine shop! All the baggage he carried the day he left home was a package made up of "two clocks and a small thermometer made of a piece of old washboard, all three tied together with no covering or case of any sort, the whole looking like one very complicated machine." His father's goodbye was to admonish John about the "wicked world" and to warn him sternly that if he should find himself in need of money, none would be forthcoming. John would have to depend on himself.How John Muir made his way from that Wisconsin farm to become the great American naturalist, spokesman for Yosemite and the California redwoods, is the stuff of legend: which makes Muir's autobiographical account of his early boyhood a fascinating read.

Please note: This audiobook has been created using AI voice. In the summer of 1869, ScottishAmerican naturalist and author John Muir spent the months of June through September in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California accompanying a group of shepherds while they led a flock of sheep to the high country to graze. During that time, Muir took every opportunity to explore the Yosemite area extensively-hiking, camping, writing, and sketching. Muir's diary entries describing the land, flora, and fauna he encountered became the basis for the book My First Summer in the Sierra, first published in 1911. Muir's journal entries from that summer reveal his growing wonder and awe at the Yosemite landscape, as well as his endless curiosity for the natural world. On a grand scale, he trekked into remote areas for sometimes days at a time. He climbed Cathedral Peak and Mount Dana and trekked through Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake. On a more modest scale, Muir observed the flora and fauna that surrounded him with the keen enthusiasm of a naturalist. He described in detail the area's trees, shrubs, flowers, mountain meadows, glacial features, and animals. In the years that followed the publication of My First Summer in the Sierra, Muir went on to advocate for the protection and preservation of wild landscapes. In 1892, Muir cofounded the Sierra Club and became the organization's first president. Muir also played an instrumental role in the establishment of several national parks including Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon. My First Summer in the Sierra remains among John Muir's most popular works. The book's inspired and lyrical accounts of an iconic wilderness, written at a time in Muir's life when his character as a naturalist and wilderness advocate was taking form, earns it a prominent, influential place in the annals of nature writing and the history of wilderness preservation.

When John Muir was a student in the University of Wisconsin he was a frequent caller at the house of Dr. Ezra S. Carr. The kindness shown him there, and especially the sympathy which Mrs. Carr, as a botanist and a lover of nature, felt in the young man's interests and aims, led to the formation of a lasting friendship. He regarded Mrs. Carr, indeed, as his "spiritual mother," and his letters to her in later years are the outpourings of a sensitive spirit to one who he felt thoroughly understood and sympathized with him. These letters are therefore peculiarly revealing of their writer's personality. Most of them were written from the Yosemite Valley, and they give a good notion of the life Muir led there, sheep-herding, guiding, and tending a sawmill at intervals to earn his daily bread, but devoting his real self to an ardent scientific study of glacial geology and a joyous and reverent communion with Nature. - Summary from the preface of the book.

In early March 1867, Muir was injured while working at a wagon wheels factory: a tool he was using slipped and struck him in the eye. This accident changed the course of his life. He was confined to a darkened room for six weeks, worried he'd lost his sight forever. When he did recover, the world looked completely different and life had taken on a new meaning for him. Muir later said, "This affliction has driven me to the sweet fields. God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons." From that point on, he determined to "be true to myself" and follow his dream of exploring and studying plants. A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf recounts Muir's walk of approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Indiana to Florida. He did not follow a specific route, only going by the "wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find." This journal is the earliest of Muir's writings and autobiographically bridges the period between "The Story of my Boyhood and Youth" and "My First Summer in the Sierra."

"My First Summer in the Sierra" (1911) takes inspiration from Muir's journals of the months he spent between June and September 1869 as a shepherd in the Sierras. Muir went on to built a cabin along Yosemite Creek, where he lived for two years. He designed it in such a way that a portion of the stream flowed through it, as he wanted to enjoy its music. From French Bar to Mono Lake and the Yosemite Valley, he was awestruck by everything he saw. The antics of the smallest "insect people" amazed him as much as stunted thousand-year old Juniper trees growing with inconceivable tenacity from tiny cracks in the stone. In this novel, he tells of the nature in the Sierra, and of his ascension of Mt. Hoffman and other local peaks.