Treks for the Mind Reading Group

 Treks for the Mind Book Club will meet on the first Monday of the month, every other month (odd numbered months). The group meets at the BYLT office: 12183 Auburn Rd, Grass Valley. See below for directions.

For more information or to sign up for Treks for the Mind, contact Melony Vance at melony@bylt.org or call 530 272-5994 x200.

Suggested Reading List: (3 years worth of reading and discussion!)

Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (May 2012)

The Practice of the Wild by Gary Snyder (July 2012)

Animal Dialogues by Craig Childs (September 2012)

Wild Trees by Richard Preston (November 2012)

Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Cactus Eaters by Dan White

Wilderness Essays by John Muir

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

PCT Readers - Sierra Club

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson  (November 2013)

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey 

Ninemile Wolves by Rick Bass

Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams  (January 2013)

Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner

Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

Field Notes by Barry Lopez  (May 2013)

Tree by David Suzuki

Eating Stone by Ellen Meloy  (September 2013)

Nature Noir by Jordan Fisher Smith (March 2013)

Beyond the Hundredth Meridian by Wallace Stegner

Last Season by Eric Blehm

Legacy of Luna by Julia Butterfly

Fire Season by Phillop Connors

Directions to the North Star House:

From South of Grass Valley:  Travel northbound on Hwy 49, take West Hwy 20/ Empire St. exit (toward Marysville). Turn left at the signal, go over the overpass in the right lane, then take the immediate right exit to Mill Street. At the stop sign turn right onto McCourtney Road and merge into the left lane. Pass the fairgrounds and opposite Gate #3 turn left onto Auburn Road and proceed for 0.6 mile. Just after you pass an old metal barn on the right side, look to the left side of the road for a driveway with a big green and orange iron gate. This is the entrance to the North Star House property. There is a Bear Yuba Land Trust sign there. Go through the gates and then make a sharp right, then drive to a fork in the road and take the middle fork bearing left.  Park in front of the BYLT office (old Gardner's Cottage).

From Grass Valley and North:  Travel southbound on Hwy 49/ Westbound Hwy 20. Take the McCourtney Road/Hwy 20 West exit. Stay right, and take the immediate right exit to Mill Street. At the stop sign turn right onto McCourtney Road and merge into the left lane. Pass the fairgrounds and opposite Gate #3 turn left onto Auburn Road and proceed for 0.6 mile. Just after you pass an old metal barn on the right side, look to the left side of the road for a driveway with a big green and orange iron gate. This is the entrance to the North Star House property. There is a Bear Yuba Land Trust sign there. Go through the gates and then make a sharp right, then drive to a fork in the road and take the middle fork bearing left.  Park in front of the BYLT office (old Gardner's Cottage).

On the grounds of the North Star House:  Go through the gate, take the immediate hairpin right (ignore the Growers Market signs) onto a tree-shaded lane along a rock wall. At the end of that lane, turn left and drive straight up to the white cottage with a wrap-around porch. Parking is on the left side of the house with extra space behind the house.