I was a typically smug ten-year-old, and my world view was based on simplistic assumptions. The wild meadows and streams would always be here, along with the peaks and the sky. That the wilderness around me could ever have roads, mines, ski lifts, condos, fast-food stands, or “no trespassing” signs never entered my young mind. It seemed only natural that the words my father read described exactly what was here now and that Muir’s adventures on foot were an anticipation of my own.
