{"product_id":"alta-california-from-san-diego-to-san-francisco-a-journey-on-foot-to-rediscover-the-golden-state-9781640094444","title":"Alta California: From San Diego to San Francisco, a Journey on Foot to Rediscover the Golden State","description":"\u003cb\u003eNational Bestseller: This fascinating account of one man's 650-mile trek from San Diego to San Francisco captures the many layers of California's fiendishly complex history.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"[Makes] you fall, or refall, in love with California . . . wildfires and insane housing prices and all . . . What a journey, you think. What a state.\" --\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1769, an expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá sketched a route that would become, in part, the famous El Camino Real. It laid the foundation for the Golden State we know today, a place that remains as mythical and captivating as any in the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Despite having grown up in California, Nick Neely realized how little he knew about its history. So he set off to learn it bodily, with just a backpack and a tent, trekking through stretches of California both lonely and urban. For twelve weeks, following the journal of expedition missionary Father Juan Crespí, Neely kept pace with the ghosts of the Portolá expedition--nearly 250 years later. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Weaving natural and human history, Alta California relives Neely's adventure, while telling a story of Native cultures and the Spanish missions that soon devastated them, and exploring the evolution of California and its landscape. The result is a collage of historical and contemporary California, of lyricism and pedestrian serendipity, and of the biggest issues facing California today--water, agriculture, oil and gas, immigration, and development--all of it one step at a time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNick Neely\u003c\/b\u003e grew up south of San Francisco, in the oak and chaparral on the bay side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. He holds an MA in Literature and the Environment from the University of Nevada, Reno, and MFAs in nonfiction and poetry from Hunter College and Columbia University. He is the author of two books, \u003ci\u003eAlta California\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCoast Range\u003c\/i\u003e. His nonfiction has appeared in magazines such as \u003ci\u003eOrion\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAudubon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMother Jones\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHigh Country News\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKenyon Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Threepenny Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Georgia Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eEcotone\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a recipient of PEN\/Northwest's Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency, a UC Berkeley-11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship, and the 2015 John Burroughs Nature Essay Award. He lives in Hailey, Idaho, with his wife, the painter Sarah Bird.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Counterpoint LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50623187321106,"sku":"9781640094444","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_6de0157a-3586-4203-86c7-4934070f0fb3.jpg?v=1732594062","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/alta-california-from-san-diego-to-san-francisco-a-journey-on-foot-to-rediscover-the-golden-state-9781640094444","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}