Wilderness Days

2012
Author:

Sigurd F. Olson

A selection of Sigurd F. Olson’s finest writing on the splendor of the great outdoors, hand-picked by the master himself

In the evocative words of one of America’s best-loved nature writers, Wilderness Days brings together the essence of the magnificent wilderness with which he deeply identifies. Sigurd F. Olson collects from his writings those moments that vividly depict the turn of the seasons in the great woodlands and waters of the legendary Quetico–Superior region overlapping the Ontario–Minnesota border.

With a poet’s lyric voice, a guide’s authority, and a warrior’s commitment to his beloved canoe country wilderness, Sigurd Olson became the ‘Voice of the North’ to a generation of readers.

Douglas Wood, author of Old Turtle and Paddle Whispers

In the evocative words of one of America’s best-loved nature writers, Wilderness Days brings together the essence of the magnificent wilderness with which he so deeply identifies. Sigurd F. Olson collects from his writings those moments that most vividly depict the turn of the seasons in the great woodlands and waters of the legendary Quetico–Superior region overlapping the Ontario–Minnesota border.

Sigurd F. Olson (1899–1982) was one of the most influential environmentalists of the twentieth century. An award-winning conservation activist and best-selling author, he introduced a generation of Americans to the importance of wilderness.

With a poet’s lyric voice, a guide’s authority, and a warrior’s commitment to his beloved canoe country wilderness, Sigurd Olson became the ‘Voice of the North’ to a generation of readers.

Douglas Wood, author of Old Turtle and Paddle Whispers

Sigurd Olson distilled the joy and wonder of his life and preserved them in his books. This is the source of their enduring appeal. They contain the pure essence of all that is consoling in nature.

Paul Gruchow, author of Journal of a Prairie Year and The Necessity of Empty Places

Olson writes passionately about this world without being preachy, and his words are timeless... Whatever becomes of the Boundary Waters and the Quetico, these places hold volumes of history and adventure. To see them through the eyes of a gifted storyteller with a great love for the region leaves one with a lasting impression of how the past is connected with the present.

Maureen Maloney, Duluth Budgeteer News

Contents

Author’s Note
Prologue: My Wilderness World

Spring
The Winds of March
No Place Between
The Loons of Lac la Croix
The Feel of Spring
The Storm
The Sound of Rain
Witching Hours
Silence
Young Ottertail

Summer
The Way of a Canoe
The Portage
Stream of the Past
White Horses
The Falls
Ghost Camps of the North
Painted Rocks
The Ross Light
Campfires

Autumn
Falling Leaf
Wild Rice
Pine Knots
Beaver Cutting
Smoky Gold
Caribou
Hunter’s Moon
Scrub Oak

Winter
Coming of the Snow
Northern Lights
Timber Wolves
The River
Dark House
The Spawning
Trapper’s Cabin
Wilderness Music

Epilogue
Map Section