The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier

The Measure of a Mountain is a mountain climber's book in the same way that Edward Abbey's books are for the desert explorer, it is about the relationship with The Mountain not the climb. Bruce Barcott writes in a way that captures howy we in the Northwest engage with Mt. Rainier. There is something about it that draws us back, renews us, and then pushes us away. The Measure of a Mountain captures this like no other book, video, or film I have ever seen or read does.I often say that a climb of Mt. Rainier starts when you decide to make the ascent and includes the training, preparation, and psychological fitness that precedes a climb. This is the story of his preparation. Part of this time before the climb is getting to know yourself and understanding the challenge you have taken on. Mr. Barcott does this by analyzing, studying, presenting, and hiking around Mt. Rainier. The Mountain is none to kind to him in the process, anyone who has been to its flanks more than a time or two will truly understand. I love the end of the fourth chapter where he says "At Mowich Lake, four days into the journey, I quit the mountain. The inexorable moist had crept into the cells of my sleeping bag.....I retired for the winter, beaten." I had been there too.This is the book to read when preparing for Mt. Rainier, not so you can self-arrest or tie a good figure-8 but so you can understand what you are doing. A must-read for anyone who approaches the grand lady of the Northwest.

I thought i had read every book on Rainier until I saw this at the bookstore at Longmire. I was there to finally summit her . I like the author have been pretty much obsessed with the mountain since i can remember. And also like the author had spent many night on the Wonderland trail. Any yes often in miseries attic. This is the perfect combination of his personal story weaved in with the history of the National park plus climbing history. This guy can write! Onne of my all time favorites.

Southeast of Mr. Ranier is what is now named William O. Douglas National Forest. Reading this memoir makes you feel as if you were hiking along with Douglas. You know the paths, the terrain, the flora and fauna, and the unpredictable weather. He began to hike to overcome a childhood infirmity, but continued after he found compaionable serenity hiking, fishing, and camping this part of the Cascades. As an adult, he took a break from his responsibilities as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and returned as often as he could to these beloved mountains.

...no maps, no pictures. How can the story of a mountain be told without identifying information. Where, in the world, is it? Tell us about the glacier flows, neighboring mountains, oceans, etc etc but nothing to guide the reader. I don't want to have to 'google' while I'm reading to get a feel for area landmarks. The only map is a tiny graphic-like thing with difficult to read labeling that is off the page. No photos - there are postage stamp size grey shadowy non-descript pictures of something, at each chapter, but no labels. It is an interesting story, but I was very distracting by the lack of graphic helps for me as I read.

Enough science to be interesting but not overwhelming, this is an excellent book for anyone living within sight of "the mountain". Lots of anecdotes, current and historical, to keep the pages turning. Personally, I loved it (read it twice) and have gifted it to others.

I enjoyed reading this book and learning much about the various aspects about this grand mountain. Author shares personal stories of backpacking along trails on the lower portions of Rainier.

A great read about Rainier but the author would sometimes go off on miscellaneous tangents. Having climbed Rainier we seemed to have had drastically different summiting experiences.

An extreme fear of heights became obvious when my dad and I rode the double ferris-wheel at a county fair. While he strained forward, gleefully enjoying the ride and the view, I desperately clutched the canvas safety strap that loosely encircled my ten-year-old tummy, mouth a rigid white line. Back on Mother Earth, my dad said, "I guess you don't like heights?"I spent the next fifty years avoiding anything higher than two stories. I've never had much interest in mountains and I've never understood people who climb them, but eventually authors Claire Dederer and C.J. Box led me to Bruce Barcott. I started reading The Measure Of A Mountain as I was coming down a mountain myself: pneumonia & major surgery. It was the perfect book to lift low spirits out of an even lower sickness funk. Beautifully crafted sentences, smooth transitions, and a serious narrative sprinkled with enough wry irony to make me laugh out loud so often, my husband became intrigued. He'd read snippets when he found the book unattended and began to ask, "Are you done yet? Did he (Bruce) ever climb that damn mountain?" Even a chapter on bugs was interesting enough to keep me reading long past midnight, and didn't give me nightmares. The Measure Of A Mountain did give me a fresh perspective on mountains, and a new respect for people who need to climb them.

Bruce's self effacing description of his abilities made me feel like a hero. Some of the detail is great. My only quip is that he didn't mention much in the way of diversity of wildlife within the park. He did make me feel that I'd like to climb Mt Rainier.