The Deadliest Shortcut by Lee Bergthold

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Deadliest Shortcut by Lee Bergthold Thomas J. Lyon, emeritus Lee Bergthold, The Deadliest Shortcut. Palmdale, CA: Center for Wilderness Studies, 2021. 453 pp. Paper, $21.95. It seems likely that Lee Bergthold is not a familiar figure to readers of Western American Literature, but he has written four books describing immense stretches of the western landscape, from 282 feet below sea level at Badwater to the summit of Mount Whitney; from Battle Mountain, Nevada, to Death Valley, California; from Death Valley southward to the Salton Sea; and finally, in the present book, from the Utah–Nevada border back to Battle Mountain. All of this is done on foot, with a large backpack, alongside a few select companions male and female, similarly equipped. The motivation for some of these treks was to point out and hike alternative routes for the ill-fated Donner party of 1846–47, who themselves took the “deadliest shortcut” infamously sponsored by Lansford Hastings. As is well known, the Donner party thus came late in the year to the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevadas, attempted to cross that range, and became hopelessly stuck by several big snowstorms. Bergthold’s four hikes were potentially life-threatening. Chief among the many dangers was the lack of good water sources. Bergthold arranged matters with friends who had four-wheel-drive trucks, and who knew, generally, where to meet the hikers and supply them with fresh water. In the enormous valleys of Nevada, it was often difficult for Bergthold to locate, say, a couple of plastic one-gallon bottles. The hikes were from two weeks to thirty-five days long. The author meets the difficulties with intelligence but doesn’t present himself as a specimen of heroism. A veteran of the Korean War, he is today somewhere in his eighties and seems well acquainted with his own lacks. He is a leader, however, and his companions gravitate to his integrity. I believe that upon finishing The Deadliest Shortcut, you will seek out the other three books: There Must Have Been an Angel, The Night of the Triangle, and To Walk Away from Battle Mountain. [End Page 437] Thomas J. Lyon, emeritus Utah State University Copyright © 2023 Western Literature Association ...