Thursday, April 23, 2015

T: Telescope Peak




Also Treasure Mountain, by Louis L'Amour, because I can!

First, Telescope Peak. Telescope Peak is the peak that stands on the West side of Death Valley, and towers over Badwater (the lowest spot in North America). It is 11,048' high, which puts it 11,331' above the view of it from Badwater (282' below sea level). Straight line between the alkali flats and the summit is 20 miles, so that's a lot of relief!

In spring of a good year (i.e. one when CA has seen some precipitation), the summit of the peak is buried in snow even when the bottom of the Valley is scorching. The trail, 14 miles round trip from the road's end at Mahogany Flat campground doesn't usually become passable without crampons and winter gear until mid-May.

 It's hard to get the color right--the salt at Badwater is white like snow, which is always hard to shoot.
Badwater and Telescope peak. 1998 was a wet year, reflected in the heavy snow cover (and great wildflowers down below).

Now for the book review:

282092 

Title: Treasure Mountain
2068755Author: Louis L'Amour
Publisher: Bantam, 1972. 192 pages
Source:  library (digital)

Summary: Louis L'Amour invented the Sackett family and, eventually, tracked their history through 2 or 3 centuries though most of the books were of course set in the Frontier West period. In this book, Tell and Orrin Sackett are on a quest to find out what happened to their father, who disappeared into the west 20 years before. The quest starts in New Orleans, but ends in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, with (of course) a great deal of struggle and not a few good fights along the way.

Review:
I can't review a book like this as though it were Anna Karinina. L'Amour's westerns were never meant to be great literature, and they aren't. Sometimes they aren't even very well written (though this one seemed more free than most of the kinds of flaws that annoy me), but most are reasonably well plotted and all are delightfully embarrassing to love. 

Recommendation: For anyone who loves Westerns, and hopeless romantics.



Full Disclosure: I checked Treasure Mountain out of my digital library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
 


14 comments:

  1. What a place to visit, looks aawsome. The book does no make me want to read it I'm afraid sounds bad.

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    1. Come on out and photograph our deserts, Bill! (Maybe next spring, since spring is the best time there and you've missed it this year).

      As for L'Amour--good storyteller, but in many ways a poor writer. I enjoy the yarns from time to time partly for nostalgia--I was nuts over those books when in Jr. High (while my friends were reading the most innocent of the Harlequin romances).

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  2. Replies
    1. Yes. We have been fortunate to catch two or three really amazing bloom periods at DV over the years. But 1998 was probably the best, and the contrast from desert to mountain there is amazing. From up on Telescope Peak you also look west to the heart of the Sierra Nevada--to Mt. Whitney and co.

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  3. Great picture, I do like westerns, so it may have been for me in earlier reading. I have given you a shout out from my blog post today https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/

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    1. If you ever loved westerns, catch yourself in the right mood and most of L'Amour will tickle you. I do skip over stuff when he starts to wax philosophical (let's just say his philosophy leaves me cold).

      Thanks for the shout-out--your blog looks like fun.

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  4. Gosh this has brought back some memories... I used to read westerns back in my teens! Loved L'Amour's books! (of course I've moved onto pirates now - but in some ways the action / adventure is very similar!)

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    1. Yes, I think that most of those adventure stories are just riffs on the same theme!

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  5. Hi there - The first picture on your post is just beautiful. The rest reminds me of the Westerns that my husband watches on TV practically all day long. :) BTW, I'm dropping in from a shout out to your blog from Rosie Amber's blog https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.
    @dino0726 from 
    FictionZeal - Impartial, Straighforward Fiction Book Reviews

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    1. Thanks for coming by! Those westerns are sort of a guilty pleasure now, but still kind of fun.

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  6. I didn't even like L'Amour when my reading material was restricted. That is when I found Dune.

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    1. Yeah, I found science fiction and fantasy at about that age, too. Loved it all. Anything that took me far, far from my junior high and let me be a hero :)

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  7. I never read any Louis L'Amour. I've never read any westerns, I don't think. I've got one on my ebook I got ages ago, I must pop that up to the top of the list!

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    1. It's not a literary experience, but it's a cultural experience you really shouldn't miss :)

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