A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountain

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A wonderful vision of the Rockies - Rated
I bought this book in a second hand bookshop somewhere in Colorado as we were exploring the Rockies.
This book is wonderful... when I read it, it takes me straight back to the mountains, lets me breathe the air and marvel at the scenery once again. We hiked in many of the places that Isabella Bird visited; although the settlements mentioned are now changed beyond recognition, many of the trails hiked by multitudes of tourists, and the wildlife nowhere near as plentiful as in Isabella's day, the essence of the land remains the same. I cannot believe how adventurous this lady was, travelling alone and seemingly unafraid through what was truly the 'Wild West.' She recounts her adventures calmly as if sleeping on a bed of pine needles halfway up a mountain in the company of a wild 'mountain man' was hardly out of the ordinary for a Victorian clergyman's daughter! Her descriptions of the scenery are so vivid that even sitting on the bus on a dreary Manchester morning, I can see the mountains and lakes in my mind's eye.
If you have ever visited the Rocky Mountains, read this book and it will transport you back there... as well as giving you an amazing insight into the characters that lived in the mountains at the time.