# The Names of the Stars (Pete Fromm book)



## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

OK. Finished Pete's latest book, "The Names of the Stars." In this book we find Pete as a Father of two young boys going into the Bob Marshall wilderness of western Montana. He goes in on horseback with some either fish and game guys or forest rangers. They carry in containers of Grayling eggs. The eggs will be placed in incubators in the stream. Pete's job is to keep the incubators free of silt and pretty much babysit them to make sure the eggs hatch. He will be staying in a cabin totally alone for a 3 week period. He considered taking his young boys in with him this time but it was determined that it would not be a good idea for various reasons, one being the remoteness and wildness (bears) in the area.

Pete spends the 3 weeks without seeing another human. He does recount his experiences with much of the wildlife (deer, elk, bear, trout, coyote, and even a robin that has a nest at the cabin, etc.). No instances of poaching this go-round.

In the book he remembers back to his time at Indian Creek, his time as a ranger at Lake Meade, his college days, and other reminiscing. He thinks of his family--particularly his boys--and writes about those feelings frequently. He even spends time making his sons moccasins out of hide he brought in with him.

I got the feeling that Fromm had gone from the carefree college student in "Indian Creek" to a more mature individual with real life worries like family. At the end of the book we find out why Fromm is so reflective on life.

Maybe solitude is not all it's cracked up to be for those who seek it religiously. Someone once said something similar to this: Solitude to the soul is like fasting to the body--good for short periods of time, but deadly if too prolonged.


----------



## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Thx for the update on his recent book.

Your comment about solitude hits home for me. For the past 18 months I've been struggling to motivate for many of my trips and I couldn't put my finger on why until recently. I spent most of years from 18 to mid-thirties completely immersed in and loving solo trips. They were exactly what I needed to rejuvenate and feel satisfied.

Now, I have a hard time wanting to leave my wife and home. The insatiable desire to explore the outdoors alone just isn't there anymore, at least not for extended periods like I use to do. I still love day trips alone but I'd much rather overnight with her or a couple close friends in the backcountry.

It was unsettling at first to change so drastically but its a reflection of my changing values and priorities. My wife and I have a good thing going that has taken hard work. I just seem to prefer sharing experiences with her or small group of close friends. Go figure. Makes sense given we are hoping to start a family (later in life).

Life is humbling.


----------

