Trails & Tales of Yosemite & the Central Sierra [Paperback]

Sharon Giacomazzi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2001

One-of-a-kind guide leads you to more than 60 of the best walks and hikes among the spectacular scenery of Yosemite Park and the surrounding Sierra, an area larger than Maryland and Delaware combined. This comprehensive book features the less traveled trails as well as some popular classics. This guide takes you to the best Sequoia groves, hidden waterfalls, most gorgeous canyons, and wildflower blooms, most rewarding peaks to climb and other superb adventures. Whether you're an avid hiker or casual walker, you'll find the trails coming to live as Sharon Giacomazzi interweaves them with their historical context. She spins enthralling tales of native peoples, early explorers, Gold Rush mining, pioneer lumbering, early railroads, John Muri's adventures and more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sharon Giacomazzi is a Sierra hiker who happens to be an avid history buff and a born storyteller. Sharon's love affair with the Sierra Nevada began early, as soon as she learned to walk. She grew up on a large ranch in the foothills below Kings Canyon National Park. When Sharon wasn't asleep or in school, she wandered the hills, wild and free, on foot or horseback. Mountain life got into her blood and stayed, even during years away at college and in the city earning a living as a teacher. The urban setting always made Sharon feel like an alien, a stranger trapped in a strange land. Finally, in 1980, after 22 years of teaching, she decided to go home to the mountains where her spirit could be nurtured by the Sierra's natural rhythms and cycles. Sharon bought property close to Yosemite and connected with her sense of place and her spiritual home. After building her house, she created ways to eke out a modest living, then began walking, and she hasn't stopped.

In the past 21 years, Sharon has trekked more than 7000 Sierra miles in and around Yosemite National Park. She has been an outings leader for several environmental organizations and community colleges, as well as a leader of her own history hikes. She has read and re-read scores of history books about the Sierra, finding they tremendously enriched her hiking experiences. Treading a trail is certainly rewarding, but Sharon found it a bit one dimensional. Knowing each place's background and nuances takes the hike to another level of intimacy that is very gratifying. Sharon started writing about the trails and tales of Yosemite and the Central Sierra in 1992. Like walking, once she got going she couldn't stop. Since then, her articles have appeared regularly in the Yosemite Highway Herald newspaper and Sierra Heritage and California Explorer magazines. Much to her amazement and delight, she encountered many people eager for something more than just a hiking guide to get them from point A to B. They wanted some "meat with their potatoes," as one reader chose to put it. Sharon loves to hike and write about her adventures. Like John Muir, she too feels blessed when she can entice someone to get out there and mingle with the rest of the food chain and "taste the tonic of wilderness."

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bored Feet Pubns (September 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939431254
• ISBN-13: 978-0939431250
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,119,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Tales than Trails., July 7, 2007

By 

Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trails & Tales of Yosemite & the Central Sierra (Paperback)

Sharon Giacomazzi is one of an elite class of authors who can seemlessly blend local history and hiking into a well written guidebook. Although the title features Yosemite prominently, this book also covers Hwy 49, the wonderful road through Gold Country, Alpine County, the Eastern Sierra and White Mountains. Each section of the book includes a broad survey of the region, followed by "chapters" of a few pages highlighting a particular locale and one or more hiking opportunites nearby.

The "tales" part of the book is the obvious strength. Readers will be treated to various theories about the lost treasure of Ophir Mountain, the many changes to the Sierra Railroad, and the desparate shootout at Convict Lake. Giacomazzi offers readers several opportunites to explore historic townsites like Bodie and Hornitos. Readers will also learn about the discovery of the Sierra "Big Trees" (Sequoia's) and the preservation of that site in today's Calveras Big Trees State Park. Of course, the history of Yosemite, beginning with the Mariposa Battalion and running through the present day, is also ably covered by the author.

The hike selection in this book is excellent. All are dayhikes and most are between 1 and 10 miles; the obvious exception is the 17 mile round trip hike to Half Dome. What impressed me most about the book, however, were the number of out of the way hikes that Giacomazzi listed. She does not list the ever popular Mariposa Grove of Sequoias within Yosemite, but she does describe Nelder Grove, a quiet grove just a few miles from the park border. Indeed, for the most part this guide will quickly get walkers to places of relative solitude even on a summer weekend. Of course, a few classics of the Park, Mt. Dana and the aforementioned Half Dome, are included.

On the whole this is an excellent guide. Hiking descriptions are sometimes brief but based on my experience, they are accurate. The history is sure to enliven any visit to Yosemite. The black and white photos that accompany the text are nice and the sketch trail maps are decent. (In the case of some of the longer hikes, I would recommend supplementing these with a good topo map. In the park, the best choices are the Tom Harrison Maps.) Get the book and enjoy. It is one of the best publications among many good ones from Bored Feet Press.

(Readers interested in similar history/hiking books should look to Jerry and Gisela Rohde's wonderful book, Redwood National and State Parks: Tales, Trails and Auto Tours.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hiker's Hiking Book, May 23, 2002

By 

Dana Hall (Aromas, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trails & Tales of Yosemite & the Central Sierra (Paperback)

I have had the pleasure of walking many of the same trails that Sharon writes about in this book. The maps and directions are most excellent--if a description says 3/10 of a mile, then that's what it is. There is nothing quite so frustrating as having a wonderful day of walking planned only to be thwarted by crappy directions to the trail head. The historical focus is like icing on the cake-each of these walks are very enjoyable by themselves but when you have a greater knowledge of place and time, the whole experience is greatly enhanced.
So, even if you've tried other hiking books and been disappointed, don't pass this one by. There is something for everyone here. Highly Recommended and a great read even if you don't get out much!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seeing the Sierra's via Foot or Armchair, March 3, 2002

By 

C. Harrison (Mariposa, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trails & Tales of Yosemite & the Central Sierra (Paperback)

Sharon has had agoraphobia for 20 or more years, and yet she has conquered her fears by hiking around 10,000 miles on foot with a friend or two intoe for companionship. She has shared her research and emotions along with the visual descriptions of each of these hikes in her first book. It is a book that will inform and delight every reader, even if you never take that first step upon the worn trail.
She includes facinating tidbits that have been well researched, and provides pictures long buried in private and government archives. Sharon has also tried to inform the reader about the ecological issues surrounding the hikers' intrusion into the delicate terrain of the Sierras. Each chapter is complete, and will leave the reader enthralled and excited for the next "trip"--even without leaving the comforts of one's armchair.
Whether one follows the maps on where to begin one's personal experience by hiking the trail or just reading to enjoy the trip vicariously, this book will be a wellcomed addition to everyone's bookcase who is interested in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Bon Voyage!