Forest and Crag: A History of Hiking, Trail Blazing, and Adventure in the Northeast Mountains, Thirtieth Anniversary Edition

by Laura Waterman, Guy Waterman

Overview

Thirty years after its initial publication, this beloved classic is back in print. Superbly researched and written, Forest and Crag is the definitive history of our love affair with the mountains of the Northeastern United States, from the Catskills and the Adirondacks of New York to the Green Mountains of Vermont, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and the mountains of Maine. It's all here in one comprehensive volume: the struggles of early pioneers in America's first frontier wilderness; the first ascent of every major peak in the Northeast; the building of the trail networks, including the Appalachian Trail; the golden era of the summit resort hotels; and the unforeseen consequences of the backpacking boom of the 1970s and 80s. Laura and Guy Waterman spent a decade researching and writing Forest and Crag, and in it they draw together widely scattered sources. What emerges is a compelling story of our ever-evolving relationship with the mountains and wilderness, a story that will fascinate historians, outdoor enthusiasts, and armchair adventurers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438475301
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	03/01/2019
Series:	Excelsior Editions
Edition description:	Anniversar
Pages:	978
Sales rank:	594,725
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 2.20(d)

About the Author

Laura Waterman and Guy Waterman (1932–2000) volunteered for the United States Forest Service and for hiking and conservation organizations, maintaining the Franconia Ridge Loop for almost two decades. They were awarded the American Alpine Club's 2012 David R. Brower Award for outstanding service in mountain conservation, and the Waterman Fund to preserve wildness and service the alpine areas across the Northeast was established in 2000. Laura and Guy wrote numerous articles and books on the outdoors, including The Green Guide to Low-Impact Hiking and Camping, Wilderness Ethics: Preserving the Spirit of Wildness, and Yankee Rock & Ice: A History of Climbing in the Northeastern United States. Laura's memoir, Losing the Garden: The Story of a Marriage, recounts their thirty years of homesteading.

Table of Contents

Figures and Tables ix

Illustrations xiii

Foreword, Rebecca Oreskes xv

Foreword, Tony Goodwin xix

Preface to the Thirtieth Anniversary Edition xxiii

Preface to the E-book Edition xxix

Preface to the Second Edition xxxv

Preface to the First Edition xxxix

Acknowledgments to the Thirtieth Anniversary Edition xlv

Acknowledgments to the First Edition xlvii

Abbreviations li

Introduction: The mountains liii

Part 1 Mountains as "daunting terrible": Before 1830 1

1 Darby Field on Mount Washington 7

2 Ira Allen on Mount Mansfield 15

3 The Belknap-Cutler expedition to Mount Washington 21

4 Alden Partridge: The first regionwide hiker 29

5 The Crawfords of Crawford Notch 37

6 The Monument Line surveyors on Katahdin 49

7 Janus on the heights during the 1820s 57

Part 2 Mountains as sublime: 1830-1870 69

8 The first mountain tourists 79

9 Katahdin: A test for the adventurous 93

10 The Adirondacks at last 101

11 The mountain guides 111

12 The Austin sisters and their legacy 119

13 The elder Hitchcock and Arnold Guyot 125

14 Wintering over on Moosilauke and Washington 131

Part 3 Mountains as places to walk: 1870-1910 145

15 The pleasures of pedestrianism 151

16 Adirondack Murray's Fools 161

17 The younger Hitchcock and Verplanck Colvin 167

18 The first hiking clubs 183

19 The first mountain guidebooks 195

20 The first trail systems 199

21 Three Adirondack trail centers 209

22 Randolph 223

23 Other trail systems 233

24 Trails that failed 243

25 Backcountry camping in the eighties and nineties 255

26 Psychowskas ascendant 261

27 Death in the Mountains 273

28 Trail policy issues 279

29 J Rayner Edmands and Warren Hart: a study in contrast 287

30 The last explorers 297

31 The conservation movement 307

32 The first mountain snowshoers 315

33 Winter pioneering on Mount Marcy 325

34 The first mountain skiers 331

Part 4 Mountains as escape from urban society: 1910-1950 343

35 The Long Trail 351

36 Unification of the White Mountain trails 375

37 The Adirondacks become one hiking center 391

38 Baxter State Park 401

39 Metropolitan trails 409

40 Connecticut's blue-blazed trail system 431

41 The proliferation of hiking clubs 443

42 Backcountry camping in the twenties and thirties 457

43 Trail maintenance comes of age 465

44 Regionwide consciousness 475

45 The Appalachian Trail 485

46 Superhiking 511

47 The Bemis Crew 525

48 Katahdin in winter 531

49 Snowshoes versus skis: The great debate 537

50 Depression, hurricanes, and war 547

Part 5 Mountains as places for recreation: Since 1950 557

51 The backpacking boom 563

52 Environmental ethics and backcountry management 575

53 Backcountry camping in the seventies and eighties 589

54 The clubs cope with change 595

55 Northeastern trail systems mature 603

56 New paths for trail maintenance 611

57 Points of controversy 627

58 Peakbaggers and end-to-enders 639

59 "The school" of winter mountaineering 651

60 The winter recreation boom 661

Epilogue 671

Appendix: Mountains over 4,000 feet in the Northeastern United States, their elevations, and first known ascents 673

Glossary 679

Reference Notes 687

Selected Bibliography 859

Index 863

About the Authors 885

Editorial Reviews

"The Watermans' passion for the subject matter … is evident from their impressive research, their good, clear writing and their frequent flashes of humor." — Adirondack Explorer

"Just like a good map is essential equipment for any backcountry adventure, Forest and Crag is an essential read for anyone who enjoys spending time in or is charged with the stewardship of the Northeast's trails and mountains." — Michael DeBonis, Executive Director, Green Mountain Club

"Forest and Crag stands as the most important history of Northeastern mountain exploration. I marvel at the depth of the Watermans' exhaustive research and the skill in which they synthesized it. Anyone who cares about and writes about mountains laps up these chapters regularly. I reach for this book all the time. The added photographs and prefaces make this new edition from SUNY even better." — Christine Woodside, editor of Appalachia Journal and author of Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books

"No other volume weaves together across landscapes and time both the individual stories and broad themes of the history of hiking in the Northeast. It is not, however, its breadth and depth which makes Forest and Crag unique. Rather, it is the Watermans' gift for storytelling which makes the reader feel that he or she has been invited to pull up a chair and listen, spellbound, to two masters of their craft. In sharing the stories of those who came to the mountains before, the Watermans invite all to join in preserving the future of these iconic landscapes." — Julia Goren, Education Director and Summit Steward Coordinator, Adirondack Mountain Club

"This is a superb, monumental history. The Watermans are adept at the capsule profile, whether of peaks or persons. A gallery of characters unrolls, as diverse as those in a novel by Dickens." — Paul Jamieson, former editor, The Adirondack Reader

"Written with grace, style, and good humor, seasoned with a refreshing sense of wonder, Forest and Crag reads more like a gripping novel than the serious research work it really is." — Magnetic North

"In its quality, comprehensiveness, and regional orientation, Forest and Crag is unprecedented in American letters. It will become a classic in social, intellectual, and environmental history." — Roderick Frazier Nash, author of Wilderness and the American Mind, Fifth Edition

"Forest and Crag presents an incredible gift for today's hikers—the opportunity to take a thoughtful and vigorous ramble into the past, and to explore the Northeastern mountains of yesteryear. What an adventure—and what better way to contemplate how we shape the region's future?" — Peter Crane, Mount Washington Observatory

"Forest and Crag traces the Northeast's human and natural history by following the hiking experience from the early adventurers to the more recent development of an environmental ethic. The Watermans tell this story with clear respect and deep joy for the mountains that shaped the stories of the region's hikers and hiking clubs." — Mary Margaret Sloan, Chief Operating Officer, Positive Tracks

"The Watermans' true genius is their ability to string all the facts together in a narrative so lively that even the footnotes and endnotes are read as eagerly as one would devour dessert at the end of a good meal." — Tony Goodwin, coeditor of High Peaks Trails, 14th Edition

From the Publisher