Do you want to develop the superpower of seeing decades, even centuries, into the future?
Then start hiking the High Sierra.
Thats the inescapable conclusion of a surprising new memoir from Californias greatest living science fiction writer, Kim Stanley Robinson, about how he has structured his life around backpacking in his states great mountain range.
The High Sierra: A Love Story is as sprawling and full of ups and downs as the Sierra Nevada itself, those majestic mountains defending more than 250 miles of Californias eastern flank. The 550-page memoir offers fast-paced and highly readable explorations of Sierra history, people, geography, geology and how the ranges rocks can shift your mind.
I knew that this granite world, holding me in its cupped hands as I lay on it, glowing luminously in the moonlight, was a magic place, he writes of one of his regular Sierra trips, which began when he was a UC San Diego student in 1973 and continue today from his home in Davis. To hike into the ranges highest places was to enter an open immense space unlike anything in my life below: an escape, a trudge up and into a higher realm. It was mind-boggling. It was as if I could choose to visit heaven.
But the book is most powerful for demonstrating how a mountain range, and its history, can inspire visions of the future. Robinsons science fiction novels and stories are acclaimed for their political and environmental plausibility, their scientific grounding, their literary polish and their optimism (even in describing future planetary catastrophes).
Reading his memoir, then, feels a bit like hearing a magicians secrets. The mountain range, as a world apart, has a lot in common with future worlds, and how they change with the climate.
The emotional sustenance and inspiration Robinson finds in his Sierra walks clearly informed the characters in his Three Californias trilogy of novels (about three different futures of Orange County, where he grew up). Those characters are repaired and changed by their own travel to Sierra settings, from Dragon Pass to Dusy Basin.
The clearest connection between Robinson the hiker and Robinson the writer is through climate change, a focus of his 2020 masterpiece, The Ministry for the Future, about the leader of an imagined U.N. agency that is supposed to represent future generations and an ecoterrorist who survives a heat wave in India that kills 20 million people.
His 2013 novel Shaman, which imagines how people live in an ice age, owes a debt to his snowshoeing trips in the range during winters. His 2007 novel, Sixty Days and Counting, about a president battling environmental catastrophe (including a deep freeze in Washington), imagines characters visiting the Sierras high meadows after they have been desiccated by climate change. His account of an attempted settlement on the moon in 2015s Aurora is inspired by Sierra landscapes, as are some of the scenes in the 2012 novel 2312, when human society has colonized other planets in the solar system.
In the memoir, he also cops to lifting accounts of walks in his famous Mars trilogy novels chronicling the settlement of the Red Planet over 200 years from notes hed taken in the Sierra.
In describing the Martian landscape as if it were the High Sierra, I was really fudging it, because only by terraforming Mars could I make that cold poisonous planet into a place anything like the Sierra, Robinson confesses. Reviewers who wrote things like, It almost seems as if Robinson has been to Mars, always made me laugh.
In The High Sierra, Robinson writes about the changing of the Sierra climate, the melting of its glaciers and the way the Arizona monsoon season has changed the summer climate of the mountain range. At one moment in the book, this utopian writer confesses to despair.
Higher temperatures are here already, and the Sierra glaciers will soon be gone. The high country will dry out. Back home, I found myself stricken by this realization. Of course people die; I myself will die, but not the Sierras! Not the Sierras. It was too much to bear. Anguish filled my mind like smoke. Later, a friend recounts the resilience of the Sierra, and Robinson, reassured, learns to see the mountains future with fearful joy.
Robinson, 70, expresses impatience with todays cultural and political arguments around the preservation of land and nature. He is especially critical of the now fashionable idea among progressives that the concept of wilderness and policies to preserve untouched spaces like national parks are just imperialist or colonial attempts to erase indigenous cultures.
The bad timing of this attack on wilderness is not a coincidence; it both displaces our historical culpability, and it shrinks our present responsibility, he writes. Pushing back against this current perspective, Robinson argues for the long view and for expanding those areas designated as wilderness.
The preservation of the Sierra and especially the unbroken wilderness from Tioga to the far south of the range is the sort of achievement that must be emulated, at a global scale, he writes. Near the books conclusion, he embraces movements for leaving a big portion of the Earths surface free of human impacts including the late biologist E.O. Wilsons proposal to leave half the Earth empty of human beings. Its the only way, argues Robinson, to save animals and plants and our own human descendants, who otherwise might be given a world wrecked by our ecocide.
Someday, Californias great futurist-novelist imagines, the Sierra could be a crucial link in the habitat corridors that eventually will stretch from the Yukon to Tierra del Fuego, as part of a worldwide network of protected land that will help to keep innumerable species from extinction this is beautiful.
Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zcalo Public Square.
Continue reading here:
Want to know California's future? You can see it in the Sierra - San Francisco Chronicle
- Best Sci-Fi Board Games In 2024 - TheGamer - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Elon Musk's 'Multiplanetary' Civilization Doesn't Offer Real Hope - The Federalist - November 26th, 2023 [November 26th, 2023]
- NASA's Perseverance rover successfully completes its oxygen ... - East Coast Daily (English) - September 9th, 2023 [September 9th, 2023]
- 18 Board Games That Everyone Needs To Play - Kotaku Australia - September 9th, 2023 [September 9th, 2023]
- The 15 Best Transformers Ripoffs - MovieWeb - September 9th, 2023 [September 9th, 2023]
- Godzilla Stomps Onto Television With 'Monarch' Trailer - ScreenCrush - September 9th, 2023 [September 9th, 2023]
- How to terraform Mars, without nukes, on a budget - Freethink - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Experience the future of sci-fi strategy gaming: 'Space Gears ... - msnNOW - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Terraforming Mars - Apps on Google Play - March 31st, 2023 [March 31st, 2023]
- The Definitive Guide To Terraforming - Universe Today - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- How Terraforming Works | HowStuffWorks - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- Could we really terraform Mars? | Space - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- How Do We Terraform Mars? - Universe Today - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- How to save the planet in less than two hours | Mint - Mint - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Floats 'Nuke Mars' Idea Again | Space - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Farting spaceships and the terraforming of Mars - Sify - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Dubai Future Forum begins with focus on society and space - The National - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Breakthrough - Surviving Mars Wiki - Paradox Wikis - October 6th, 2022 [October 6th, 2022]
- Why is there no Planet B? (commentary) - Mongabay.com - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- The Fallout Of Warworld Across The DC Universe, Today (Spoilers) - Bleeding Cool News - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- How to Teach Someone a Board Game (and Even Have Fun Doing It) - The New York Times - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- X-Men Monday #172 - Steve Foxe Reflects on 'X-Men '92: House of XCII' AIPT - AIPT - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Lord Martin Rees: 'Long term, humans won't exist they'll evolve into something digital' - The Telegraph - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Book review: 'How the World Really Works' | Community | bgdailynews.com - Bowling Green Daily News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Why Did Ferns Persist When All Other Plants Perished? - The Scientist - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Cardboard Cinema: LOTR, American Psycho, The World Series Of Board Games, And Zine Quest - /Film - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Marvel Reveals the Moment Before the X-Men Suffer a Planetary Mutant Massacre (Exclusive) - ComicBook.com - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- How humans may populate the universe in the billions of years ahead - The Spectator - July 17th, 2022 [July 17th, 2022]
- Terraforming of Venus - Wikipedia - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Colonize the Red Planet with the Terraforming Mars board game, now 45% off - Space.com - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- The Untold Truth Of General Zod - Looper - June 15th, 2022 [June 15th, 2022]
- Terraformers Early Access Review One of the Finest Martian Games on Earth - The Workprint - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Bitcoin Mining In The 22nd Century - Bitcoin Magazine - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Sins Of The Black Flamingo Thank FOC It's Saturday, 4th of June 2022 - Bleeding Cool News - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Free to grab: Far Cry 4 and more games with Amazon Prime Gaming - guru3d.com - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- The best Memorial Day sales we can find on gadgets, games, and tech gear [Updated] - Ars Technica - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- Free to grab: Bioshock: The Collection at Epic Games Store - guru3d.com - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- Early Memorial Day deal: get 33% off the Terraforming Mars board game - Space.com - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Todays best deals: iPad Air, recommended board games, and gaming mice - Ars Technica - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- Why Is Board Gaming So White And Male? I'm Trying To Figure That Out - Kotaku Australia - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- Five Stories in Which Aliens Attempt to Reshape the Earth - Tor.com - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- Android app deals of the day: Terraforming Mars, Green Project, Fenix 2 for Twitter, more - 9to5Toys - May 13th, 2022 [May 13th, 2022]
- Get the Terraforming Mars video game for free right now from Epic Games - Space.com - May 13th, 2022 [May 13th, 2022]
- 11 best solo board games that can be enjoyed by one-player - The Independent - May 13th, 2022 [May 13th, 2022]
- Terraforming Mars is free on the Epic Games Store - Destructoid - May 6th, 2022 [May 6th, 2022]
- Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodhunt: What Are The Best Features Of Nosferatu Prowler? - The West News - May 6th, 2022 [May 6th, 2022]
- Games Inbox: Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 performance worries - Metro.co.uk - May 6th, 2022 [May 6th, 2022]
- Bleach Brave Souls: What Are The Best Beginner Tips? - The West News - May 6th, 2022 [May 6th, 2022]
- Terraforming Mars will be free on the Epic Games Store next week - For The Win - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Bugsnax: How To Find The Trip Shot? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Rogue Legacy 2: How To Find All The Lilies Of the Valley? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Final Fantasy 14: How To Find The Radiant Twine? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Globle Game Answer Today May 3, 2022 - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- PUBG: How To Use Emotes On PC And Mobile Phones? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodhunt: What Are The Best Tips To Be A Vampire? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Skyrim: How To Find The Quarried Stone? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Dungeons & Dragons: What Are The Best Tiefling Bloodlines? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Skyrim: How To Find The Daedric Horse? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Heardle Answer For Today May 3 Tuesday - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Skyrim: How To Be A Part Of The Thieves Guild? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Could space-going billionaires be the vanguard of a cosmic revolution? - The Guardian - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Animal Crossing New Horizons: How To Get Ruby? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Globle Game Answer Today April 29, 2022 - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Powerball Winning Numbers of April 30, 2022 - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Animal Crossing: What Is New Horizons May Day? - The West News - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- 10 best solo board games that can be enjoyed by one-player - The Independent - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- What is the temperature on Mars? | Space - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- Per Aspera expands ocean terraforming with Blue Mars expansion - PC Gamer - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- Teburu could be the future of board games that gamers actually want - TechRadar - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- 'X-Men Red': on terraforming, climate change, and collective will - AIPT - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- The UAEs plan to terraform Mars could also transform its own desert nation - The Independent - April 6th, 2022 [April 6th, 2022]
- Why is board gaming so white and male? I'm trying to figure that out - The Conversation - March 31st, 2022 [March 31st, 2022]
- Terraform a planet in this survival game that looks like Subnautica on Mars - PC Gamer - March 29th, 2022 [March 29th, 2022]
- All The Ways Living On Mars Could Kill You - 2oceansvibe News - March 29th, 2022 [March 29th, 2022]
- 10 Things You Didnt Know About The Sega Genesis Dragon Ball Z Game - Verve Times - March 18th, 2022 [March 18th, 2022]
- Moon Knight Faces His Greatest Test... The Truth - Marvel.com - March 17th, 2022 [March 17th, 2022]
- Curious Kids: could we change other planets in the Solar System so we could live on them? - The Conversation UK - February 24th, 2022 [February 24th, 2022]
- Curious Kids: Could we change other planets in the solar system so we could live on them? - The Indian Express - February 19th, 2022 [February 19th, 2022]
- Ada Palmer and the Weird Hand of Progress - WIRED - February 11th, 2022 [February 11th, 2022]
- The Live A Live Remake Gives Us Hope That These Japan-Only Square Enix Classics Will Make it West - PlayStation LifeStyle - February 11th, 2022 [February 11th, 2022]