When John Muir moved to San Francisco, he immediately left for a week-long visit to Yosemite, a place he had only read about. Seeing it for the first time, Muir noted that "He was overwhelmed by the landscape, scrambling down steep cliff faces to get a closer look at the waterfalls, whooping and howling at the vistas, jumping tirelessly from flower to flower." He climbed a number of mountains, including Cathedral Peak and Mount Dana, and hiked the old Indian trail down Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake. He lived in the cabin for two years and wrote about this period in his book First Summer in the Sierra. Muir wrote few more books about his days in California and also a few about California's nature and wild life including The Mountains of California, Our National Parks, The Yosemite and Picturesque California.

John Muir (1838 1914) also known as "John of the Mountains" and the "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America. His letters, essays, and books describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, have been read by millions. His activism has helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and many other wilderness areas.