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On Mount Hood: A Biography Of Oregon's Perilous Peak (2011)

by Jon Bell(Favorite Author)

3.59 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1570616922 (ISBN13: 9781570616921)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Sasquatch Books

review 1: For those of us lucky enough to call Oregon home, Mt. Hood shapes our lives both to the good and the bad. On the plus side, Mt. Hood helps feed us, provides us with the best drinking water in the country, and provides more accessible hiking, camping, skiing, fishing, and climbing opportunities than anyone could expect. To the bad, Mt. Hood keeps us under clouds and rain (on the west side) and bone-dry (to the east) and, on occasion, kills one of us.And so we love Mt. Hood for reasons far more complex than George Mallory's famous explanation for climbing Mt. Everest, "Because it's there."Jon Bell's "On Mt. Hood" is his love letter to the mountain. Don't be afraid - this is not some touchy-feely New Age paean to Mother Gaia. Bell writes with a journalist's insight on all fac... moreets of the mountain, from its geology to its history to the people who love it. "On Mt. Hood" would do for the enjoyment of Mt. Hood was Chris MacDougall ("Born to Run") did for barefoot running . . . that is, if millions of people didn't already love Mt. Hood.While Bell gets into the hard science of Mt. Hood's formation, volcanic nature, glaciers, earthquakes, and water runoff, he treads lightly and never gets bogged down into scientific arcana. This is not a PhD treatise, but rather a well-informed love letter.While Bell is a Mt. Hood fanatic, he respects the mountain's lethal power. Some of the book's best passages involve lethal climbing mishaps, including the blizzard that killed several local high school students in the 1980s and the world-famous rescue helicopter crash that had a 'copter rolling over soldiers on a rescue mission on live TV. By the end of the book we see Bell and his wife refuse to cross a seemingly-passable but raging stream that crosses their path on the Timberline Trail, and we instantly agree with their decision. But despite the killing power of the mountain, Bell makes it clear why so many of us need to trek back up the mountain so regularly.In this relatively short book, Bell will have you second-guessing any decision you've made that has kept you off the mountain. If you have always thought about taking a trip here and decided against it, please read this book and update your vacation plans. Highly recommended.
review 2: This book by Jon Bell gives us the perspective of a journalist and one who appreciates the outdoors. Like so many people who have settled in the area around Portland (Oregon), Bell has an affinity for this mountain that dominates the landscape and the dreams of the people in the region. It has that attraction for those who want to climb it and an awe for those who know they can't. Bell brings that sense of attraction and awe, as well as a solid (if brief) history of the mountain and its role in the region -- both past and present.Whether in anticipation of your own climb of this magnificent mountain, seeking the opportunity to learn more about the mountain and its influence on the region, or remaining an armchair traveller, this book is highly recommended. It is a pleasant and comfortable -- and, at times, very personal -- reflection of a mountain. less

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