Books about Foothills from Amazon.com

Near Sacramento, numerous trails access the Central Valley's wildlife-filled wetlands and traverse riverside forests and grasslands In the Coast Range and Sierra foothills, trails lead to scenic waterfalls, wildflower-studded meadows, and high mountain lakes. Longtime Sacramento resident and intrepid hiker Steve Evans has selected the 43 "must-do" hikes in Top Trails Sacramento, the only guidebook specifically targeting the region's outdoor enthusiasts. Most trips are within two hours of the city. Whether you're looking for a scenic stroll, a full-day adventure, or even a spectacular alpine peak-bagging trip, you'll find it here.

• Trails ranging from 1 to 10 miles and sea level to 9000 feet.
• Elevation profiles, detailed maps, driving directions, and "don't get lost" trail milestones.
• At-a-glance information shows which trips have the best opportunities for camping, running, biking, and which are child-friendly.

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Price: $10.06 [Notify me when price goes down.]

California is home to some of the most spectacular backcountry in the United States, from the rugged granite peaks of John Muir's beloved Sierra Nevada, to the more gentle mountains of the Coast Ranges, to the intriguing desert lands of the south, to the serene rivers and lakes of the Marble Mountains and Trinity Alps. For over 40 years, Wilderness Press has published high-quality, easy-to-follow, and accurate outdoor guidebooks, and this newest edition of Backpacking California--with many new trips and completely revamped for the popular Backpacking series--is a collection of more than 70 of the most intriguing backpacking adventures in our home territory of California.

With contributions from more than a dozen venerable Wilderness Press authors, this book describes routes that range from one night to one week. Backpacking novices as well as "old hand" California hikers will find expert-crafted trips in the Coast Ranges, the Sierra, the Cascades, and the Warner Mountains, including portions of the Pacific Crest Trail, the John Muir Trail, and the High Sierra Trail. Expanded coverage in this edition includes trips in Big Sur, Anza-Borrego, Death Valley, and the White Mountains. Several trips have been described in print nowhere else.

• Each trip includes a trail map and essential logistical information for trip planning.
• Useful backpacking tips and backcountry advice written by the expert authors appear throughout the book.

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Price: $14.49 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Field guides often provide little ecological information, or context, for understanding the plants they identify This book, with its engaging text and attractive illustrations, for the first time provides an ecological framework for the plants and their environments in the coast and foothill regions of Southern California, an area that boasts an extremely rich flora. It will introduce a wide audience--from general readers and students to natural history and outdoor enthusiasts--to Southern California's plant communities, their ecological dynamics, and the key plants that grow in them.
Coastal beach and dune habitats, coastal and interior sage scrub, chaparral, woodlands, grasslands, riparian woodlands, and wetlands all contribute unique plant assemblages to Southern California. In addition to discussing each of these areas in depth, this book also emphasizes ecological factors such as drought, seasonal temperatures, and fire that determine which plants can thrive in each community. It covers such important topics as non-native invasive plants and other issues involved with preserving biodiversity in the ecologically rich yet heavily populated and increasingly threatened area. * 327 color photographs provide overviews of each plant community and highlight key plant species

* Describes more than 300 plant species
* Covers the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, western Riverside, San Bernardino, and the Channel Islands
* Includes a list of public areas and parks for viewing Southern California's plant communities.
Price: $11.37 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Oral tales establish relationships between storytellers and their listeners Yet most printed collections of folktales contain only stories, stripped of the human contexts in which they are told. If storytellers are mentioned at all, they are rarely consulted about what meanings they see in their tales. In this innovative book, Indian-American anthropologist Kirin Narayan reproduces twenty-one folktales narrated in a mountain dialect by a middle-aged Indian village woman, Urmila Devi Sood, or "Urmilaji." The tales are set within the larger story of Kirin Narayan's research in the Himalayan foothill region of Kangra, and of her growing friendship with Urmilaji Sood. In turn, Urmilaji Sood supplements her tales with interpretations of the wisdom that she discerns in their plots. At a moment when the mass-media is flooding through rural India, Urmilaji Sood asserts the value of her tales which have been told and retold across generations. As she says, "Television can't teach you these things."
These tales serve as both moral instruction and as beguiling entertainment. The first set of tales, focussing on women's domestic rituals, lays out guidelines for female devotion and virtue. Here are tales of a pious washerwoman who brings the dead to life, a female weevil observing fasts for a better rebirth, a barren woman who adopts a frog and lights ritual oil lamps, and a queen who remains with her husband through twelve arduous years of affliction. The women performing these rituals and listening to the accompanying stories are thought to bring good fortune to their marriages, and long life to their relatives. The second set of tales, associated with passing the time around the fire through long winter nights, are magical adventure tales. Urmilaji Sood tells of a matchmaker who marries a princess off to a lion, God splitting a boy claimed by two families into two selves, a prince's journey to the land of the demons, and a girl transformed into a bird by her stepmother.
In an increasingly interconnected world, anthropologists' authority to depict and theorize about distant people's lives is under fire. Kirin Narayan seeks solutions to this crisis in anthropology by locating the exchange of knowledge in a respectful, affectionate collaboration. Through the medium of oral narratives, Urmilaji Sood describes her own life and lives around her, and through the medium of ethnography Kirin Narayan shows how broader conclusions emerge from specific, spirited interactions. Set evocatively amid the changing seasons in a Himalayan foothill village, this pathbreaking book draws a moving portrait of an accomplished woman storyteller. Mondays on the Dark Night of the Moon offers a window into the joys and sorrows of women's changing lives in rural India, and reveals the significance of oral storytelling in nurturing human ties..
Price: $14.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In the spring, California's rolling hills, green valleys, and coastal slopes are colored with wildflowers treasured by both residents and visitors to the state. First published more than forty years ago, this popular guidebook has helped thousands of amateur and intermediate wildflower enthusiasts learn the names of the flowers located in some of the state's loveliest and most accessible areas--from below the yellow pine belt in the Sierra Nevada westward to the coast. Thoroughly revised and updated throughout, it is now easier to use and more accurate--the perfect guide to take along on outdoor excursions in California and surrounding regions.
* Includes 244 new color photographs and 102 detailed drawings
* Now describes more than 400 wildflowers emphasizing the species most likely to be encountered in the state today
* Plant descriptions now include more detail, helpful identifying tips, and locales where flowers are likely to be seen.
Price: $4.36 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In the Foothills of Medicine shares one doctor’s intriguing true story from the front lines of medicine. Dr. Robert McKersie writes vividly and passionately about the patients whom he saw, touched, and thought about during his intense inner city internship in family medicine and medical treks to remote villages in Nepal.

The book shelves are lined with memoirs, personal accounts, and narratives by young doctors, residents, and graduating medical students. In the Foothills of Medicine, written candidly in clear and simple prose that goes beyond the usual account of the experiences of becoming a physician, ranks far above the best. The power of the idealism explodes from the pages without once mentioning it. The sense of social responsibility and humanitarianism, the value conflicts, and the awareness of medicine’s imperfections are stated forthrightly. Most importantly, it is not only the story of a young doctor engrossed in his vocation, but a young man finding himself as a person.
—Edward J. Eckenfels, Emeritus Professor, Rush University Medical Center

McKersie has produced a marvelous memoir, fusing his journey to become a physician and his encounter with humanity in inner city Chicago and, yes, Nepal! Along the way, he rejects society s failure to provide vital health services, offering an alternative vision of solidarity and caring. The result: a thrilling and imaginative narrative, giving voice to an emerging physician leader.
—Dr. Quentin Young, Co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, Former President of the American Public Health Association

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Price: $9.78 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This portable field guide to the historic architecture of western North Carolina covers 1,200 historic buildings in 25 counties in the foothills and mountains. It introduces readers to the region's rich and diverse architectural heritage—from the log farmstead to the opulent mountain retreat, and from ancient earthen mounds of the Cherokee to twentieth-century hydroelectric dams and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Featuring more than 370 photographs and 36 maps, the guide is written for travelers and residents alike. It offers concise entries on notable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities, emphasizing buildings that are visible from the road and indicating sites that are open to the public.

A project of the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office of the Division of Archives and History and its western office in Asheville, the book reflects more than twenty-five years of fieldwork and research in the agency's statewide architectural survey and National Register of Historic Places programs. A previous volume covers eastern North Carolina and a future volume will cover the piedmont region..
Price: $17.12 [Notify me when price goes down.]

California’s Sierra Nevada Foothills, Central Valley, and the Delta share much of the same natural history. It has long been overlooked by most authors who write about California’s attractions, and is experienced by many visitors as a place of endless roads and valley towns seen along the way to the glamorous coast or majestic mountains. Although this vast area is no longer an isolated outback region, there still exist places today where wildlife thrive and the presence of the Native Americans can be seen and felt. Right here in our own backyard there are spike rushes and water ferns, crayfish and bobcats. Look around and you will find milk thistle and the black-crowned night heron, turkey tail mushrooms and arboreal salamanders. This book attempts to answer, at least in part, the universal question of what is this place? Filled with jaw-dropping illustrations that seem ready to crawl right off the page, and detailed descriptions of the plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms that inhabit the region, this isn’t just an identification guide: it’s a book that will fill you with awe and make you all the smarter..
Price: $7.61 [Notify me when price goes down.]