ÒNo man ever knew more of the High Sierra terrain than Norman Clyde.Ó David R. Brower ÒNot since the time of John Muir had anyone established such a kinship with the Sierra Nevada.Ó Los Angeles Times ÒWherever men gather around blazing campfires on cold nights in the high country and talk of the history of mountaineering, there are certain names that inevitably come into the conversation. . . among Americans, John Muir, Clarence King and Norman Clyde.Ó San Francisco Chronicle Close Ups of the High Sierra is a collection of stories as told by one of CaliforniaÕs great early 20th century mountaineers, Norman Clyde. His rate of first ascents far surpassed those of John Muir, Clarence King and William Brewer, combined. Often called upon to find downed planes and lost climbers, he did so with a tremendous rate of success. For more than half a century many of the new stories in this volume have been filed away in the forgotten solitude and darkness of library collections. ClydeÕs mountain photographs of his famed Sierra Club High Trips attended by such notable Sierrans as Ansel Adams, Cedric Wright, Francis Farquhar, Glen Dawson, and Jules Eichorn remind us of the Golden Age of High Sierra climbing and days long past.