Desert Solitaire

This chapter is devoted to Abbey’s hike up Tukuhnikivats Mountain in late August, when it becomes “irresistible” not to do so.

This is a leisurely if challenging trek, in contrast to the life-threatening journeys alluded to in recent chapters. Abbey is never in any real danger, though of course he experiences hunger and thirst and even some fatigue, as he normally does on all his adventures.

In loving detail, Abbey describes the trees, the birds, the cooling air as he ascends the mountain and reaches icy snowmelt pools. At the top of the mountain, he comes to a snowfield, and selects a large flat rock to use as a sled for sliding most of the way back down. At a certain point, he tumbles off and ahead of his rock, which poses some danger, as the rock could hit him, but he regains his purchase and never seems to be truly afraid. He notes with some irony that it took him half the day to climb the mountain but less than half an hour to descend it.