From ski towns to national parks, fresh fruit to environmental lawsuits, the Sierra Nevada has changed the way Americans live. Whether and where there was gold to be mined redefined land, mineral, and water laws. Where rain falls (and where it doesn't) determines whose fruit grows on trees and whose appears on slot machines. All this emerges from the geology of the range and how it changed history, and in so doing, changed the country. The Mountains That Remade America combines geology with history to show how the particular forces and conditions that created the Sierra Nevada have effected broad outcomes and influenced daily life in the United States in the past and how they continue to do so today. Drawing connections between events in historical geology and contemporary society, Craig H. Jones makes geological science accessible and shows the vast impact this mountain range has had on the American West.

The incredible story of the creation of a continent—our continent— from the acclaimed author of The Last Volcano and Mask of the Sun. The immense scale of geologic time is difficult to comprehend. Our lives—and the entirety of human history—are mere nanoseconds on this timescale. Yet we hugely influenced by the land we live on. From shales and fossil fuels, from lake beds to soil composition, from elevation to fault lines, what could be more relevant that the history of the ground beneath our feet? For most of modern history, geologists could say little more about why mountains grew than the obvious: there were forces acting inside the Earth that caused mountains to rise. But what were those forces? And why did they act in some places of the planet and not at others? When the theory of plate tectonics was proposed, our concept of how the Earth worked experienced a momentous shift. As the Andes continue to rise, the Atlantic Ocean steadily widens, and Honolulu creeps ever closer to Tokyo, this seemingly imperceptible creep of the Earth is revealed in the landscape all around us. But tectonics cannot—and do not—explain everything about the wonders of the North American landscape. What about the Black Hills? Or the walls of chalk that stand amongst the rolling hills of west Kansas? Or the fact that the states of Washington and Oregon are slowly rotating clockwise, and there a diamond mine in Arizona? It all points to the geologic secrets hidden inside the 2-billion-year-old-continental masses. A whopping ten times older than the rocky floors of the ocean, continents hold the clues to the long history of our planet. With a sprightly narrative that vividly brings this science to life, John Dvorak's How the Mountains Grew will fill readers with a newfound appreciation for the wonders of the land we live on.

You will join in a traverse of North America's mighty mountains, feel their lashing winds, bitter cold and blowing snow. In contrast, you may take lessons for water skiing in other places.

Winner of the 2020 National Outdoor Book Award, this book is a hiker's inspirational bucket list embodied in a lavishly illustrated celebration of our nation's one hundred best mountain trails. America's mountain trails lure us to exquisite heights, from the Atlantic Coast in Maine to the Pacific edge in California and the Northwest. These rugged yet seductive pathways call to all who seek both solace and adventure, whether out for a day hike or an extended backpacking expedition. America's Great Mountain Trails introduces readers to one hundred hikes of a lifetime. The book covers some of our nation's most legendary trails and some that are scarcely known, but all can take us on journeys to remarkable places. Between the ancient Appalachians and the Pacific Coast's uplift lie the Rockies, Desert Range, Sierra Nevadas, Cascade Mountains, Olympics, and more. Beyond are the resoundingly wild terrain of Alaska and the islands of Hawaii and Puerto Rico, which ascend like dreamy visions from the sea. Readers get practical details about the length and difficulty of each hike, along with concise directions to each trailhead, tips about the best seasons to go, advice on permit requirements, and a selection of alternate routes. An appendix offers information about what must be done to protect these special places so they'll remain alluring and rewarding to all the generations ahead. With fascinating text and beautiful photography by Tim Palmer, America's Great Mountain Trails is sure to become the definitive reference book to the most outstanding mountain trails in America.

Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains: An Environmental History of the Highest Peaks in Eastern America

Part natural history, part poetry, Mountains of the Heart is full of hidden gems and less traveled parts of the Appalachian Mountains Stretching almost unbroken from Alabama to Belle Isle, Newfoundland, the Appalachians are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. In Mountains of the Heart, renowned author and avid naturalist Scott Weidensaul shows how geology, ecology, climate, evolution, and 500 million years of history have shaped one of the continent's greatest landscapes into an ecosystem of unmatched beauty. This edition celebrates the book's 20th anniversary of publication and includes a new foreword from the author.