Mountain Sage

Carl Sharsmith came to the spectacular high country of Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows as a young ranger / naturalist, and for sixty-three years the Meadows were his summer home.  With the passing seasons, he gained a permanent place in their history and in the hearts of those who visited them.  On one has ever known as much about this High Sierra region, and probably no one will.


Writer Elizabeth Stone O'Neill chronicles here (the only authorized version) the story of his life: his boyhood in Switzerland, England, Canada, and the United States; his youth working alternately as a logger, a chef, and an advisor to a group of adventurous boys; his return to school to earn a doctorate in Botany from the University of California at Berkeley; and his lifelong commitment to Yosemite.


Mountain Sage is an entertaining and important book for all who love the high places and the creatures that live there.