Dena M. Mercer

CAMPFIRES REMEMBERED

Memoirs of a Mountain Lady

by Dena M. Mercer

Almost twenty summer seasons in the High Sierra has given Dena Mercer plenty to write about

in her new book, Campfires Remembered, Memoirs of a Mountain Lady. From herding cows to

replacing the bottom log on an old backcountry cabin, riding through lightening storms and setting up

unique camp showers, Campfires Remembered is an autobiographical account of Sierra times that few

ever experience. Accompanied by over thirty mountain-time photos, these stories will take you from

your living room to a wilderness world that has changed little in the last one hundred years.

Teaching special needs and at-risk students during the Fall and Winter months, Dena had a

yearning for adventure of a different kind. So, she and her daughter, Lori, packed up their horses,

mules, and McNab dog and left their rural San Joaquin Valley home in Exeter, California, to move to

the High Sierra to cowboy and pack mules in the summer. Making the wilderness a home for nearly

twenty seasons, these two thrived in a backcountry that offered common sense simplicity, solitude, and

challenge.

Dena, a fifth generation native of Ventura, California, found a passion away from her beloved

beach community and made the John Muir Wilderness, North Fork of the Kings River District, her

summer home and a place to raise her daughter, Lori. Together, they gathered and herded cows for high

country ranchers, worked with the United States Forest Service, Fish and Game, and Fish and Wildlife,

and traveled with friends and co-workers on and off trail in a granite dominated mountain wilderness.

Every day was an adventure there, creating a foundation for these high country tales, Campfires

Remembered. Moving full circle, Dena moved back to her native Ventura a few years ago, trading high

mountain life for sailing adventures off our coastline.

While an active member of Backcountry Horsemen of California, High Sierra Unit, Dena served as

editor of that unit's newsletter and wrote articles that were published monthly. She also wrote an

educational book on successfully integrating special needs students into regular education curriculum.

Campfires Remembered is her first work of memoir story writing.

Packing in the High Sierra is in full swing right now, delayed this year by late season snow. This book

is a great read while traveling the Sierra trails or while relaxing in your backyard hammock.

Campfires Remembered is available online at CampfiresRemembered.com, Barnes and Noble, and

Amazon.