3 comments about North Cascades Crest: Notes and Images from America's Alps.

1. This book is a wonderful marriage of clear prose and stunning photographs. Few people know about the highest and most rugged corner of the Cascades, but Martin conveys its grandeur and beauty.I expected climbing stories and natural history, but a chapter on beatniks? It's a quirky book but it all hangs together. Worth it for the photography alone.



2. This book really captures the grandeur of the North Cascades (Washington's end of the range). While Martin's text is occasionally a little tough to plod through (seven of the eight chapters are written in a journal format, which drags once in a while), his mesmerizing photographs make up for this minor shortcoming. The vivid photographs show us the breathtaking beauty of these still wild mountains, the beauty that has captivated and still captivates people as diverse as Fred Beckey (the legendary climber who claims hundreds of first ascents in the range) and Pulitzer Prize-winning Zen poet Gary Snyder (whom Martin once took a hike with).

   Martin takes us up some of the major peaks, from gentle Ruth Mountain to gorgeous Mt. Shuksan and from massive Glacier Peak to the rugged ridges of the Pickets. In between, he devotes a chapter (the best in the book) to poets Kenneth Rexroth, Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, and Allen Ginsburg (one of the only major Beat poets not to cultivate a life-long relationship with the Cascades). There's also a chapter on mountain wildlife.

   All in all a great book not to be missed.




3. Great photography and clear prose. The book left me wanting a little more, though. You can breeze through this in a couple hours! The subject matter covered is diverse and uniformly interesting. Again, I just wish there could have been a little more.

No comments about Mysteries And Adventures Along the Atlantic Coast (Snow Centennial Editions).

2 comments about Cheyenne Rose (Magic Attic Club).

1. I like this book because it is a catching book and I learnt alot from it.



2. When Rose learns about terrible flooding out west, she is determined to start a community-wide food drive to help the people there, many who have lost everything. But the adults discourage her, saying she needs to start small. Hoping for inspiration, Rose decides to visit her neighbor Ellie's magic attic, and is taken back in time to a Cheyenne village of the mid-1800s. Rose, who is Cheyenne, learns firsthand about the lives of her ancestors, and finds the courage to make a difference, helping a lost pioneer girl reunite with her family.
   
   Young readers who have read and enjoyed other books in the Magic Attic Club series, as well as girls who like time travel stories, are sure to enjoy this book. It's a sweet story with a good message for young readers, and the short length will appeal to more reluctant readers. It also teaches a bit about life for the Cheyenne Indians during the time of westward expansion.

3 comments about Crossing Arizona: A Solo Hike Through the Sky Islands and Deserts of the Arizona Trail.

1. Like most tourists, Chris Townsend loves modern conveniences that make his life easier but detests similar amenities when they clash with what he considers should be an untouched wilderness experience.

   He lives in Scotland, and thus came to Arizona with the typical Brit attitude of "Look at how you colonials managed to muck everything up since we left." He's full of complaints about Americans who don't appreciate the wilderness, ignoring the fact that even the worst of Americans aren't as bad as the "horrible families" of Britain who consider it sporting to steal cars for a lark and then burn them out of pure meanness.

   These writers are boring, and Townsend's rants paint him as an insufferable toff. Sadly, he doesn't seem to appreciate the desert or forests in the same manner as writers such as Joseph Wood Krutch or even Zane Grey. He doesn't appreciate that we live in a messy modern world, with only a few gems of wilderness left.

   For example: Townsend cites efforts in the 1960s to dam the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon itself, and the noble efforts to stop it. Excellent. He ignores the alternative that was built with the connivance of the people who stopped the dam -- one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the nation which spews its pollution over tens of thousands of square miles of the Southwest. He also thinks Lake Powell should be drained. Maybe it's time to tear down the Forth Bridge as "unnatural."

   His arrogant rants are the equivalent of a Yankee tourist recommending Hadrian's Wall be torn down to restore the natural landscape. Of course, much of it HAS been torn down -- a look at any farmer's barns within a few miles of the wall shows how those Roman building stones were re-used. Anyone who's hiked off a trail knows there's no "untouched" landscape left. And, if you're going to stick to the trail -- this book is about hiking The Arizona Trail -- then you're in man-made country.

   Like all too many wilderness advocates, Townsend fails to appreciate the natural world for what now exists. It's like building a replica of a wooden ship; no matter how authentic you make it, it isn't the original. In some cases, it's better than the original. Likewise, the Arizona of today is not the Arizona of a century ago, nor five centuries ago. In some ways, it's better.

   Britain is filled with almost 60 million people like Townsend; all whinges, moans and complaints but never the initiative to do anything. Anyone with energy and ambition emigrates, which is why Australia is such a dynamic place. Those who stay home find fault with everything, and particularly with anyone who had the energy to leave.

   In brief, the book is the first of its kind so it's the finest yet available. Anyone who plans to do any extensive hiking in Arizona should read it. It contains enough Arizona details to be valuable, enough hiking information to be useful, enough rants to please the beads and Birkenstocks crowd, but far from enough cactus hugging to satisfy a desert rat.

   But then, how many readers are likely to be desert rats? Buy it, it's more interesting than those which haven't been published. It's not the type of book to take on a desert hike, but it's a good read before such a walk. Someday, an even better book may be written about The Arizona Trail, but if you plan on waiting that long the trail may be paved by then.




2. The magnitude of what Chris Townsend`has accomplished by solo hiking the Arizona Trail in 43 days is difficult to comprehend, especially by those who never venture out of the city. As a hiker of over 600 miles of this very new trail, I can appreciate Chris' descriptions of the mountains and deserts through which one passes on travelling from Mexico tto Utah along its very remote course. Chris' writing has steadily improved through the multiple books that he has written and the recounting of this adventure is his best to date. He shares his wilderness philosophy and vision and stresses the importance of preserving what remains of the wild lands as a place for us all to reconnect to our more primal needs for space and solitude and communing with Nature. This is not a mile by mile Trail guide but it provides the flavor of the terrain that one encounters along the Trail. I have used this as one of my resources to guide me along my adventure.



3. I bought this book in Arizona. I traveled there from the east coast to do some desert day hikes. I have not backpacked much since my college days about thirty years ago, when I probably logged about 1000 miles.
   
   I enjoyed this book because the love Townsend has with the wild, and the connection he makes with the natural world in which he has immersed himself. If one does not appreciate that connection this book probably is not for them. The rhythm of the days, the logistics of the trip, and survival in an unforgiving environment are also of interest.

5 comments about National Geographic Birders Journal.

1. I have used this book for years. It has become my life list. As I see the birds, I color in the line drawings and fill in the details of the sighting. I highly recommend this journal



2. This journal is a gray-scale (black and white) version of the popular and very useful NGS field guide. Nothing new is added except blank lines for brief field notes - which replace the descriptive text adjacent to the colored illustration as found in the field guide. Most - but not all - of the birds currently listed by the AOU are represented.

   However, as a "fully illustrated" journal in which to record one's first sightings, it functions only marginally better than the check-boxes in a field guide index - again, by providing something more than a margin in which to record notes.

   ...

   Also compare the Audubon Society's entry into the field. This pretty journal, in the style of a diary, would serve quite appropriately as a gift for a young woman or teenage girl just beginning the birding experience. Very few of the 1000+ birds in the AOU Checklist for our region are represented, however.

   Each of these journals serves the purpose of providing space for keeping track of the birds one has identified in the field, but each will appeal to a select audience. The NGS Birder's Journal doesn't go beyond the basic requirement of providing space.

   Life-List Illustrated and the Audubon Journal bring a desirable esthetic element to the process.




3. Now available in an updated and expanded second edition, Mel Baughman's The Birder's Journal is a consumable volume for the personal use and notations of North American birdwatchers. Though it has very basic information on over 60 North American bird families, the bulk of this thick compendium consists of accurate, detailed black-and-white sketches of over 850 bird species, next to allotted writing space where the birdwatcher can make his or her own notes about when, how, and where that species of bird was successfully observed. The Birder's Journal is a perfect aid to keep track of the all the different feathered friends one has seen, and an excellent gift selection for any North American birdwatcher.



4. As a black and white companion to the National Geographic bird book it is great. This note book gives you room to write and draw on the species of birds. One can use this book as a "life list" and record your sightings, locations, etc., into this. It is amazing to sit down with this book years later and review your past findings. This book goes along exactly with the bird book and I usually keep both with me at all times for recording and identifying.........



5. This was the best gift I've given my retired father in years. Not only is he a bird watcher, he has discovered that he's quiet the artist, as well. I recommend it for any amature or professional bird watcher.

5 comments about The Death of Ben Linder; The Story of a North American in Sandinista Nicaragua.

1. If you are one of the many people who risked their lives when they traveled to Central America during the 1980's this book is for you! If you missed that experience but want to know what would motivate someone to risk their lives for peace and social justice by going to Nicaragua and participating in the revolution then, this book is for you!

   During the 1980's U.S. foreign policy in Central America was driven by an obsessive effort to overthrow the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The Sandinistas had overthrown a dictator and were developing a society that put people before profits. They set up free health care, carried out a massive literacy campaign, and gave land to small farmers.

   This threat of "a good example" was countered by the U.S. which created a mercenary army (the Contras) who set out to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Tactics included killing teachers, destroying health clinics, and forcing the Sandinistas to spend more and more of their resources on the military.

   Ben Linder was an engineer from Portland who put his life on the line to support the people of Nicaragua. Ben was also a clown and often put on his red nose and clown make-up to juggle and unicycle in poor neighborhoods, where children had never seen a clown. He worked in a small rural village in Northern Nicaragua, maybe 30 miles from my communities sister city of Telpaneca, near the Honduran border. Like the Fresnan's who built a school in Telpaneca during the Contra War, Ben was working on a hydroelectric project trying in a positive way to support the revolution. THE DEATH OF BEN LINDER, THE STORY OF A NORTH AMERICAN IN SANDINISTA NICARAGUA is an insightful book that reminds us why people are willing to put their lives on the line for a cause they believe in. It shows the tragic results of U.S. foreign policy that seeks to make the world safe for corporations seeking to maximize profits.




2. The book is, predictably, awash in Left Wing garbage. I would not waste my time with it if I were you. Linder simply made the choice to align himself with the wrong people, namely, Red Danny Ortega's Communist punks. Ortega was in bed with the USSR, and why anyone would support Ortega's regime is beyond comprehension. President Reagan came along just in the nick of time. Too bad Linder got in the way, but sometimes we make bad choices that are very costly.



3. Anyone who wishes to understand the current administration's policies needs to read this book. At the time of Linder's assassination, the first George Bush declared his death okay because he was "on the other side". Pat Robertson blessed and funded his killers. The US State Dept. interviewed and released them. Their US controller in Honduras, Negroponte, remains big in the Bush administration and just got the CIA head, Goss, replaced after a personal conflict.
   
   I was in Nicaragua at the time with WItness for Peace working as a photo lab technician and translator. I received the first photographs of Ben's body and tried to recover something from the very poor focussing. I also served as translator as a US journalist from a major New York newspaper did an in depth article on Linder. I am very grateful for this book. We must never forget those times, nor Ben, a courageous, unarmed wtieness for peace and justice and progress. Never forget. Learn the truth. ACT.



4. This book contains page after page of detailed accounts of attacks by the U.S.-bought-and-paid-for FDN-Contras, which can ONLY be described as terrorism: military assaults on agricultural co-ops (with loss of men, women & children and burning of health centers and private homes); assassinations and kidnapping of health workers and teachers (mostly women), as they walk from village to village in the Segovia Mountains; public-transport buses hitting land mines; and dynamiting of food caches and fuel caches. I would like to hear a Reagan fan dispute the veracity of these accounts!
   
   So the U.S. is currently locked into its own "War On Terrorism", while the new "Sec. Def." of the U.S., Robert Gates, played a major role in sponsorship of terrorism, as he was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra affair.
   
   Ben Linder and his great internacionalist cohorts, especially Don Macleay (a genius) and Mira Brown, are real heroes.
   
   And how many times in the U.S. press do you read that Ortega "has renounced his Marxist-Leninst" past? Well, the Sandinistas always advocated a mixed economy and did indeed hold a fair election in 1984. Which is why such an individual as Reagan ever gained popoularity- because of the lies that are spread about.
   
   So, I highly recommend this book as a great source for knowing what it was like to be on the ground in the Segovia Mtns. during Reagan's War.



5. This book doesn't try very hard to hide its leftist agenda, but even if that's what you're looking for, this book is poorly written and an uninteresting read. I got the feeling that a family member or an ex-girlfriend commissioned it. This book sells itself as a persona-based history of that period in Nicaragua. It's weak on facts and gave me the feeling that Linder was too. Maybe it was poorly researched or maybe he really was just clowning around. Depressing on all fronts. Don't bother.

2 comments about Yosemite: The Embattled Wilderness.

1. Alfred Runte, a renowned environmental historian, argues in this volume that no other national park more dramatically reflects the United States' alleged failures to reconcile nature protection with the demands of a visiting public. The volume does not trace the entire history of Yosemite National Park, but instead focuses on the environmental aspects of the park's history. The book, gratefully, does not repeat familiar themes like the Hetch Hetchy Dam controversy. The author notes in the introduction that he wants to break new ground.
   
   Yosemite, being the first land set aside for preservation by the U.S. government, has become the longest-running evidence of the tension between preservation and use and the symbol of the National Park idea at its finest and worst (7). One of its less-than-stellar moments came in 1868, only four years after its designation, when the House of Representatives passed legislation that would have given two Yosemite Valley squatters clear title two their land claims. Luckily, the bill did not carry in the Senate and the park was spared a move that would have greatly undermined the original Yosemite grant. In this presentation of early park history, Runte retreads territory established in his previous volume, National Parks: The American Experience, arguing that Yosemite is the real birthplace of the national park idea because it had been established, publicized, challenged and upheld before Congress designated Yellowstone in 1872.
   
   Much of the volume discusses in detail how the major foundation of the national park experiment is a contradiction. For example, individuals, such as the 1868 Yosemite squatters, could profit by promoting development in parks; they simply could not acquire the attractions themselves (27). The presence of development in Yosemite Valley, in effect, broadcast that no natural resource was distinctive enough to merit unswerving protection (219). Runte's narrative argues that the doctrine of visitor accommodation is too firmly entrenched in park management. Administration of natural resources, which has always taken a backseat to tourism, has been reformed in Yosemite usually only after heavy public outcry or scandal. The author makes a compelling case that the NPS, throughout its history, has shown it is too prone to making quick, emotional decisions instead of educated decisions made on the basis of sound scientific research.
   
   Runte presents problems of park service management and also offers a few possible solutions. He advocates public transportation in national parks, something that Yosemite management instituted in the Eastern third of Yosemite Valley in the 1970s because of traffic gridlock and lack of adequate parking space and what Zion National Park embraced in 2000 to control congestion in its most popular stretch of road, Zion Canyon. He also encourages non-profit foundations taking over park concessions, arguing that such a move would be more compatible with preservation, education and cooperation (223).
   
   Runte's narrative, while insightful, is somewhat dated. A second edition would be a welcome addition to a story that uses Yosemite as a lens to show the bigger picture, that NPS management needs to encourage scientifically based resource management to ensure the national parks are preserved for the enjoyment of posterity.



2. This book provides a history of Yosemite National Park with a particular focus - Runte's ongoing complaints about activities in the park that can be done elsewhere. These would include `resort" activities in Yosemite Valley such as swimming pools or bike and raft rentals, skiing at Badger Pass, or golfing at Wawona. He takes a strongly preservationist position, and emphasizes protection of wildlife.
   
   I'm sympathetic to all those positions but in Runte's hands it all comes across as elitist. Unlike Joseph Sax's "Mountains without Handrails," Runte does not try to make the principled argument about why camping is good while swimming pools are bad; instead, he simply asserts this repeatedly.
   
   This material in his narrative is valuable, and you'll learn a lot about this park even if you already know quite a bit. If you like your RV, this book will annoy you; if you're a backpacker, you'll agree with most of his complaints. The overall argument would have been more persuasive if he'd provided a stronger foundation for his value judgments.

No comments about NEXT EXIT MAGIC KINGDOM: FLORIDA ACCIDENTALLY.

No comments about Tourism: Between Place and Performance.

No comments about Whitewater River Map: Cheat River Canyon.