Afloat & Afoot is a celebration of John Burroughs, a Catskills native famous for his writings on the natural world that surrounds us all. This first-ever audio edition of his work includes two of the writer’s most entertaining and compelling essays: “Pepacton: A Summer Voyage” and “The Heart of the Southern Catskills.”

“Pepacton” recounts Burroughs’ 50-mile voyage in a home-made boat down the East Branch of the Delaware River from Arkville to Hancock in 1879. Much of the river is now submerged within the Pepacton Reservoir, part of the New York City water system.

“Heart . . .” describes his attempts in 1885 to surmount formidable Slide Mountain, the highest peak in the Catskills (4200 feet), now part of what is known as The Burroughs Range.

About John Burroughs:

In the early 20th century, Burroughs rivaled Mark Twain in popularity. He was a naturalist who wrote nature essays for America’s top magazines, a thinker and literary critic who drew his readers toward a worldview that valued simplicity and harmony with the environment.

Born on a hardscrabble farm in Roxbury, NY, Burroughs was a Catskill Mountain boy who wrote of the things he knew and loved: birds, fish, hiking, and canoeing. Friend and advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt, Burroughs was a major influence on America’s earliest conservation movement and an apostle of simple living close to the natural world.

Afloat & Afoot was produced by Silver Hollow audio, in partnership with John Burroughs’ Woodchuck Lodge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving John Burroughs’ historic cabin and to promoting the ideas and legacy of John Burroughs through events and activities that encourage people to live, work and prosper in harmony with nature. Audio includes expert commentary by Catskills historians Bill Birns and Diane Galusha.

Rolland G. Smith

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