Salt to Summit: A Vagabond Journey from Death Valley to Mount Whitney

Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere, and California's Mount Whitney is the highest point in the Lower 48, making logical and extreme endpoints for outdoor writer, climber, and philosopher Arnold (Early Days in the Range of Light) to connect%E2%80%94and chronicle%E2%80%94on foot. But his meandering journey from the "deepest pile of nothing" to the "glorious pile of weathered and levered granite" is completely off the beaten path: it follows a "no-trails mandate," leading through remote canyons, across vast playas, and over brilliantly-colored peaks. Arnold's whimsy and determination turn the journey into part meditation, part history lesson, all told in evocative language. Along the way, he encounters remnants and reminders of miners, prospectors, pioneers, misfits, tourists, authors, and Native Americans. Of course, long walks are slow-paced by their nature, so the book's momentum occasionally sags; Arnold's memory for detail is both impressive and exhausting, and the inherent repetition of his days creates a sense of beautiful numbness. In the end, the tale suffers from a slight lack of drama and suspense, but then "That's the trouble with the desert when you have a destination. You'll see where you're headed for a good long while before you get there." Photos. (June)