Description:
To some, perhaps, the Northern Rockies are a destination, a goal, an interesting sector on a map--but Michael McCoy takes them personally, and therein lies the warmth and soul of his Northern Rockies travelogue. He even feels strongly about the boundaries of the area, making a strong case for the geocultural approach, where a region is bound by ecosystems rather than state lines. "IdaWyoMont" is where he says he lives, and the land he includes in his Northern Rockies narrative extends from Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park to Montana's Glacier National Park to McCall, Idaho, following the mountain ranges (like the Bitterroots, White Clouds, and Sawtooths) and straddling the states. McCoy talks knowledgeably and engagingly about the land (the magma and thermal mantle plumes responsible for Yellowstone's Central Plateau, for example), the history of human habitation, and the other life forms (coyotes, trumpeter swans, and prickly pear cactus, to name three) that reside there. McCoy's history of the land is filled with intimate tales of individuals and their experiences, like the story of Uncle Jack Davis, who killed a Montana barroom brawler in the late 1800s then turned over a new leaf, setting up house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, becoming vegetarian, and letting deer eat from his hand. But the heart of the book lies in the tour itineraries through these lands that McCoy loves and knows so well. Filled with places to see and a wide range of routes to explore by car and by foot, McCoy's opus is part practical guide, with pages of places to stay and eat, and part lyrical panegyric to the Northern Rockies. Reading McCoy's Journey is a pleasure--educational, entertaining, and inspiring you to go out and experience it for yourself. --Stephanie Gold
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