Walking Up & Down in the World: Memories of a Mountain Rambler by Smoke Blanchard (review)

Reviews 143 view that “All human activities are part of a universal scheme, and the wise person always knows the relationship of himself and his behavior to this uni­ versal pattern of nature. The traditional tales and songs helped people learn about the world and their place in it. . . Thus, the entire volume comes to us out of a genuine respect and affection for the materials which it contains. In sum, Spirit Mountain is in most respects an excellent book, full of information and of new material. One wishes that all the stories and songs translated here were as excellent as are the best, but unfortunately that is not the case. Perhaps a fourth of the stories or songs presented are fragmentary or seem to be, perhaps, summaries of longer pieces. This is not the fault of the translators, but a reflection of the increasing difficulty of obtaining full versions of traditional materials. Because one purpose of this volume is to make avail­ able a range of Yuman material in both Indian and English versions, frag­ mentary or summarized material is certainly worth publishing, if only for its linguistic value. But it is not of as great interest to the general reader, and so its inclusion does make the volume more specialized than its editors would like. Nonetheless, the best of this material—particularly some delightful Coy­ ote tales—isvery good indeed, and the care with which the editors have assem­ bled the entire volume—introductions, photographs, drawings, music, etc.— displays these stories and songs very effectively. One especially nice touch for a collection of transcriptions from an oral tradition: photographs of many of the original tellers and singers. WAYNE UDE Mankato State University Walking Up & Down in the World: Memories of a Mountain Rambler. By Smoke Blanchard. (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1985. 299 pages, $15.95) One of the trekkers encountered in Smoke Blanchard’s autobiographical book states that “I came to see the mountains, and I saw the people; they are taller than the mountains.” The reader of Walking Up & Down the World is apt to feel the same way. The people about whom Blanchard writes are “taller” than the mountains they inhabit, and Blanchard himself looms as large as any of the breed who have given themselves to the mountain environment. The people of his stories are both the known and the unknown of the climbing community. Although his preferences are few, he seems to have an affinity for the latter. He comments, “Perhaps I am more able to identify with the underdog barking quietly on the lowest echelons of climbing heroes or standing mutely in some sagebrush outback.” He writes of “mild mountaineer­ ing,” a rather deceptive phrase, which he interprets to be a kind of climbing that allows its practitioners safe passage yet adequate challenge and excite­ ment. There is an excellent chapter on Norman Clyde chronicling a past time 144 Western American Literature and a passing way of life. A trip to Alaska with Jake Breitenbach in a wreck of a Buick to join an expedition on McKinley reflects the love of adventure and climbing that knows no distinction of age. Rowell, Chouinard, Tenzing Norgay and many others appear briefly as their lives and Blanchard’s come briefly together on some mountain trail. The unexpected death of Su, Blanch­ ard’s wife, in a mountain-related accident, and his subsequent grief is touched with the irony of mortality. The one constant in the many subjects that Blanchard treats is the out­ doors. From that point he goes every direction—to an exciting, midnight climb of Illumination Rock on Mount Hood in the middle of winter, to a pilgrimage to a Buddhist shrine, to avoiding leeches while guiding a trek to Mount Everest. Blanchard is equally at home in the storms on the big mountains of Alaska and Canada as on the rock faces in the Palisades. He offers sound advice on equipment, on ecology, on guiding, and on any number of other adventurous experiences. The book is both instructional and entertaining, and having missed Blanchard on the mountain, it is good to join him in “Walking Up and Down in the World.” LEON L. PETERSON...