One Winter in the Wilderness

From October 1992 to April 1993, Peek lived in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, 3687 square miles of the ""most isolated wilderness in the lower forty-eight states."" Her husband, a wildlife biologist at the University of Idaho, took his sabbatical at the Taylor Ranch Field Station, owned by the university, and the newly retired Peek went along. In journal form, 55-year-old Peek records her encounters with elk, bobcat, deer, coyote, otter and especially the cougars that best complement her fascination with wildlife. As winter residents, the Peeks are hosts to other transient researchers who are trying to explain nature ""to a world that is more interested in computers than cougars."" Historical flashbacks tell of old-time mountain men living in this isolation; a single hunter killed hundreds of cougars, bringing them nearly to extermination. When modern hunters leave in November, the Peeks are the only humans in 20 miles ""and the real rhythm of the mountains"" begins as the animals descend to the terraces and the river. Life takes on a routine of radioing daily reports to the National Weather Service, managing with five gallons of water each (compared to the American average of 20-80 gallons), and fighting cabin fever. Peek's description of mid-April resurrection of buttercups and dandelions along ice-released creeks is a delight. The journal form gravitates toward scattered repetitions (weather reports, walks with their dog, Lady), whereas readers will want more about the animals and how hunters affect true wilderness. (July)