cover image Sky's Witness: A Year in the Wind River Range

Sky's Witness: A Year in the Wind River Range

C. L. Rawlins. Henry Holt & Company, $23.95 (326pp) ISBN 978-0-8050-1597-3

Poet Rawlins ( A Ceremony on Bare Ground ) monitors air pollution for the Forest Service in the Wyoming wilderness, with a partner collecting samples of snow, rain and lakewater at elevations above 10,000 feet. Transport is by snowmobile or pack animal (horse, llama) to a campsite, then by touring skis, snowshoes or shank's mare to the collection point. Equipment includes float tubes and a small rubber boat. Rawlins gives an exhilarating account of his journey through this rugged landscape, reminding us that the range of conditions--snow, rain, wind, fog and their sudden shifts--calls for constant vigilance. In these isolated places where nearly every collection trip is an adventure among elk, foxes and other wildlife, Rawlins takes note of caddis flies and columbine as indicator species. A rewarding book for lovers of the outdoors. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Jan.)