John Muir (1838-1914) wrote about nature sensuously and erotically. Born in Scotland and raised by a harsh Calvinist father in rural Wisconsin, John was sadistic to animals and suffered childhood trauma which was almost lethal. As an adult he was a leader of environmental protection, founded the Sierra Club, and is responsible for Yosemite National Park and the growth of America's national park system. The author brings to bear empathic counter-transference considerations from the development of his own erotization of nature in his effort to understand Muir. The irony of national parks is their success—nature has been humanized. Where Muir's intention was to protect the wilderness, the parks now cater to millions of people who abuse, contaminate, and destroy it.