1 comments about A Field Guide to Historic the Dalles.

1. The Dalles has been the center of commerce for over 10,000 years. Native Americans converged in this area for centuries to trade. Lewis and Clark camped at "Rock Fort", the Hudson's Bay Company established a post there in 1829, a Methodist Mission was begun in 1838, and the US Government built a US Mint in The Dalles in 1861. This town has a rich and diverse history to explore. The book will guide you to the most significant homes and structures and treat you to a glimpse of the past through the eyes of the present. Come explore history!

No comments about The Oregon Trail Revisited.

No comments about Oregon Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series).

2 comments about Portland Map Book (GM Johnson Metro Map Books).

1. Basically, it's a map of Portland, in book form. It's similar to a Thomas Guide, but slimmer. As I recall, it was easy to read and use. It did help me make my way around Portland when I visited for a few days. Not much else to say about it. It does the job.



2. I have used two , three of these great books. So much easier to use than Thomas. My family steals mine from my car. Need a new one, mine is shredded.

2 comments about Backcountry Ski! Oregon: Classic Descents for Skiers & Snowboarders, Including Southwest Washington.

1. What makes Van Tilburg's latest guidebook so good has a lot to do with why Van Tilburg was the perfect person to write it. He's not only an expert skier and snowboarder, but he's also an expert mountaineer, canyoneer, and wilderness medicine physician. When he guides you on these classic descents, you are in good hands. He not only shows you the best places to go, but makes sure you have the information to stay safe and get home in one piece. Let's face it -- if we were experts we wouldn't need a guidebook. If we need a guidebook, we need one written by someone with experience and good sense. Van Tilburg is a good man to follow.



2. Backcountry ski oregon is a nice guide. The photos are not as good as the ones in oregon descents but it offers a few more routes. Some of the routes are part of ski areas. useful book

1 comments about eat.shop.portland: The Indispensible Guide to Stylishly Unique, Locally Owned Eating and Shopping (eat.shop guides).

1. What a great book! Not your typical guide book - this one features local businesses, and excellent color pictures - I ordered about 10 guide books on Portland, and this is the ONLY one with colorful photographs.... can't wait to move and try out all the places featured!

5 comments about Gem Trails of Oregon.

1. I just made it back from Oregon and a limited visit to several of the many sites listed. The book was copyrighted in 1998 so it's five years old at this writing. I'll take a star off the rating for age. I found several sites listed were now closed. Oregon is growing along with the rest of the west. The author has done a commendable job in detailing locations. If I had two wishes it would be that both the Gem trail guides and the Falcon guides be updated at least every four years. and that the authors include GPS coordinates for the main turn-off and starting collecting point in the site descriptions. If I was traveling a long distance to collect I would call the local rockshops to verify the desired site(s) were still open.



2. I'm afraid I wasn't as impressed as the other reviewers.
   
   I suppose it's inevitable for a book several years old to have some out of date information, so I wasn't too distressed to find sites that are now closed or well picked over. But I found several pages with information that is simply inaccurate and has never been true. For instance, there are no opal beds at Richardson's Ranch only some opal Thundereggs and he mislabels Eagle Rock as Eagle Peak.
   
   In addition, it would be nice if the walking directions were as specific as the driving directions. Before starting a hike, it's nice to know how far you'll be going. I made the mistake of bringing a small child on my back and gave up four miles into an eight and a half mile trail without seeing the landmarks mentioned in the book. Needless to say, I wouldn't have started a possible 17 mile round-trip hike with a toddler in tow if I'd known beforehand how far I would have to go.
   
   The cost of the book would probably be spent more productively in joining a Geology club in the area. Or you could always find your nearest rock shop and ask the people there for ideas.



3. The information in this book is dangerous. It so so poor, out-of-date and just plain wrong you could get yourself in big trouble going to some of the locations. Many of these areas NEVER WERE open to the public OR are in areas it is illegal to pick up anything, ie: National Park Land or trout habitat in streams.
   
   Here is some comments on this book taken from a true rockhound who knows about Oregon:
   Well I am finally fed up with hearing complaints about the book Gem Trails of Oregon by James Mitchell. So I have to stop recommending it to anyone. When I wrote this I had just got back from a week long trip to central Oregon for - you guessed it - rockhounding. I heard three people complain about the inaccuracies and outdated information in Gem Trails, and I prompted none of them. So I am listing all the errors I know of in the 1998 edition (why would anyone revise a book and not even bother to call the phone numbers they list to see if they are still connected? Sheesh!) here. Most of these errors are corrected on my Rock Dig Locations pages and topo maps. Probably the worst thing about the book is that you will waste massive amounts of time at most sites simply because he didn't bother to ASK anybody where the good stuff was. Only the smaller sites and those with big bold signs pointing to the good stuff have adequate directions to the good pits. On all the rest (i.e. McDermitt, Glass Buttes) he found the dug out places and missed the ones where you could fill a bucket with great rock in a half hour.
   
   Many of the same comments apply to The GPS Guide to Western Gem Trails, by David A. Kelty. After buying this worthless book, I compared some of his GPOS waypoints to my own; the results are below. In short, if you ain't been there, don't put a point on a map and say "there it is" and "sites were checked for mineral availability". Yeah right. Just a few of the more egregious errors I found are listed below; there are many more which I won't go into but suffice it to say that your chances are less than 50% of finding the site using that book, for sites I know of in OR/WA/ID.
   
   
   Gem Trails of Oregon
   
   Page 11
   Keenig Creek
   There is no "Keenig Creek" sign on highway 6!
   Oregon Coast
   12
   Clear Creek
   It is against the law to dig in the stream, or in any salmon bearing stream in the state, for that matter. The entire area is posted and patrolled by Stimpson Lumber. They rarely give permits to dig and only then to rock clubs. The Mt. Hood club hasn't gotten a permit for at least 4 years...
   Vernonia Area
   22
   Quartzville Creek
   Site C is a waste of time. Maybe there was something there 20 years ago but not anymore.
   Green Peter Area
   24
   Calapooia River
   Site A is a waste of time. There was never any Holley Blue agate in the Calapooia in this stretch and damn little to no wood .
   Calapooia River
   26
   Richardson's Ranch
   There never were opal, moss agate, polka-dot, or rainbow agate beds on the ranch. There are moss agate and opal thundereggs. Don't go expecting to pick rock up off the ground. It's simply not true. Mitchell must have been talking to a tall tale teller that day. He sure didn't bother to ask the RICHARDSONS.
   Ashwood Area
   28
   Ashwood
   Nobody at the Ashwood PO knows anything. Call Darrell Friend - he's listed in the 541 area code. Thorton (sic) ranch was sold and closed to collectors in the mid-90s. Swanson hasn't allowed collectors since before the first edition was published. Most of the materials listed were never there or were dug out in the 70s. There is no rock shop in Ashwood.
   Ashwood Area
   32
   Eagle Peak
   It's Eagle Rock not Eagle Peak. There is nothing in the quarry at the top that can be dug without dynamite and a trackhoe. Trust me I've been there 3 times.
   Post-Paulina Area
   34
   Maury Mountain
   The Prineville Chamber of Commerce dropped all their claims before the first edition was published. Quant's and Elkins' Rock Shops had many of these claims before the C of C and have the best information on collecting them (besides ME).
   Post-Paulina Area
   38
   Biggs
   Isami Tsubota is well over 90 and almost impossible to get on the phone. He never leaves Biggs so go there and ask at the beater motel past the gas station on the right for him. His house is next door; it's the one with 10 tons of Biggs in the backyard. There is no camping at the motel, and there never was any blue agate there.
   Biggs Area
   68
   Graveyard Point Directions are wrong. There are NO bridges across the canal. This is the worst area to collect at Graveyard.
   Owyhee Mountains
   97 Pictures The picture labeled Succor Creek picture jasper is of Owyhee picture jasper which is held under private claim. Did you jump Dale's claim Mitchell?
   98
   Pictures
   Snowflake obsidian from Oregon? What are you taking Mitchell?
   
   
   101
   Pictures
   Oregon Jade isn't jasper - it's serpentinite
   
   
   108
   Lassen Creek Where do I start? The directions are impossible to follow, and take the longest possible route anyway. Most of the "sites" are a waste of time or simply do not exist.
   Lakeview Area
   110
   Davis Creek Same as Lassen Creek. These two sites and Crane Creek were my most frustrating experiences ever with this book. I threw away the old edition of the book somewhere around Fender Flat. If you find it, it's yours!
   Lakeview Area
   146
   Owyhee Five minutes at the rock shop in Nyssa could have gotten him the real name of this site - Haystack Rock
   Negro & Haystack Rocks
   
   150
   Succor Creek North Directions stink. These are the worst collecting sites in the area, IMHO.
   Owyhee Mountains
   172
   Crane Creek Directions are flat out wrong. Don't even try getting there with this map. He was definitely more than a little disoriented that day. The picture is of RICHARDSON RANCH EGGS. Duh.
   Lakeview Area



4. This book is only good for getting the names of places to go rockhounding at. Once you get the place names, then you'll have to look elsewhere to get any other useful information. At first I thought this book would end up being a big help, but when it came down to planning trips and actually going to these places I found that this book is just a bunch of, well, lies. About a fifth of the maps are okay. Better than half of the maps are inaccurate to the point of being useless. There are a couple maps (which I found, at least) that appear to be completely fictitious. The entire value of this book lies in its index of mineral types and location names. Not even close to being worth the price.



5. This book is pretty accurate and has a fun selection of rock hunting locations to visit.

1 comments about Driving the Pacific Coast Oregon and Washington.

1. I grew up in Oregon and spent most of my summers on the Oregon Coast. I live in Sourth Carolina now, and when I look at this book, it makes me cry ---every time. I am not an experienced travelor, but I know what beauty is. The Oregon Coast defines beauty for me. This book presents pictures that are breathtakingly beautiful. I remember as a teenager, walking with my girlfriends, lost in the Coastal mist, singing our hearts out. I was too young to appreciate the glorious visions that are there in my beautiful Oregon, just so abundantly available. When I go to the Oregon Coast,now, I just fall apart with emotion. Now more than ever, because my father is buried there, and he loved it SO much. When you look at the pictures of this book, remember my father, in his grave site on the cliffs, overlooking the beautiful sea. What a glorious final resting place. I dedicate this review to you, Dad. Thanks for showing me all the beauties of Oregon and our beautiful Pacific Coast. Barra (Remember our Oregon Coast song? I do!)

No comments about Diary of Asahel Munger & Wife: Travel to the Marcus Whitman Mission May 4, 1839 to September 3, 1839.

2 comments about Camping! Oregon: The Complete Guide to Public Campgrounds for RVs and Tents.

1. Readers would be advised to buy a map of Oregon and explore campsites on their own rather than buy this overpriced book.

   The author at times tries for a latter day version of Travels with Charley, but doesn't pull it off. The editors of this guide allowed too many pictures which are either irrelevent to the reader or are unfocussed.




2. After purchasing our travel trailer, we purchase several camping books for Oregon. This was the best of the bunch, easy to follow by region, `tree' rating, and a good description of what you'll actually experience at the campground. A great reference; and a must for anyone wanting to explore Oregon's campgrounds.