[pct-l] Starr's guide to the JMT

[Douglas Tow]

Good afternoon!

In a memorial to Peter Starr following his death in the Minarets, his
father, Walter Starr, Sr. commissioned Ansel Adams to produce a book of
photographs.  The result was "Sierra Nevada - The John Muir Trail," a truly
monumental collection produced in a limited edition of 500 in 1938, and
privately distributed.  Adams took the book to Washington in concert with
the effort to make Kings Canyon a National Wilderness Area, and presented
the book to Harold Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior under FDR.

The effort in lobbying Congress was successful, and (I think) Kings Canyon
was the first National Park designated as a Wilderness Area, a fortunate
thing because developers wanted to commercialize it ala Yosemite and the
Grand Canyon.

FDR was shown the Ickes' copy of the book, and was so captivated that he
(FDR) refused to return it.

While the Ansel Adams book is now in reproduction, the original 1938 volume
is a stunning masterpiece, comprised only of a short foreword, and 50
titled photographs tipped in.

Doug