"When we try to pick anything out by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."
This was a quote by John Muir who was an American naturalist, author, and supporter of the preservation of the wilderness. John Muir has written several essays, letters, and novels of his travels. Many of these works have to do with the Sierra Nevada area. The Sierra Nevada is the central area in California east of Sacramento and San Francisco. When I learned this about him I became very interested due to the fact most of my family lives just outside this area and I travel there on an annual basis. Whenever I drive through this area I always bask in the grandeur of the mountains and can really see why Muir found this area so moving. He found this area so important it drove him to create the Sierra Club. This organization is one of the largest, oldest, and most influential environmental organizations in the United States. Some refer to him as the "Father of National Parks" for all of his work in preservation. The above quote stuck out to me because it really defines why I feel that Muir traveled as much as he did. He felt that everything was linked together on our planet and wanted to have a little taste of all he could and do everything in his power to preserve the beauty that connects everything on our planet.
John Muir also founded the hiking trail known as the "John Muir Trail", the video below gives a short documentary on some students who took on this trail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_2GASM1XS0
