In a panoramic vision that extends from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the lake encrusted, high granite peaks above the timberline of the southern Sierra Nevada, John Spivey takes the reader on a tour of the California landscape. The tour also includes the topography of our minds as it explores the valleys and peaks, the crags and meanders of the way we are. Spivey draws on his heritage as a descendent of one of the pioneer families of the Kaweah watershed of the Sierra Nevada. The book intertwines family tales of loss, Christian myth, Zen/Taoist stories, and the history of the Yokuts Indians into a potent Pacific Rim brew of what it means to walk the dusty human road.