5 comments about Flyfisher's Guide to Utah.

1. This book has it all. It actually gives useful information in an easy to understand format. I have been a fly fisher for several years and this is by far the best book I have seen on fly fishing in Utah. The book tells me how to get there, when to go and what flies to use when I arrive. Several people have told me this is their fly fishing 'Bible'. Entertaining stories and excerpts about Utah add flavor for when you are not fishing (heaven forbid).



2. This is the great Utah fly fishing reference (currently updated 2007) book. It has a lot of information on the streams and lakes in the state, like GPS locations, Fly Hatch Charts, Maps, Fish ID pictures and locations positions in DeLorme's Utah Gazetteer. It has a lot of other information in specific regions on larger cities, such as Lodging, Campgrounds, Restaurants, Vets, Hospitals, Fly Shops, Auto Rentals and Repairs, and the Chamber of Commerce. There is a huge section on the Green River. A great Resource and a MUST have for the fly fisherman/women who want to fish Utah.



3. This is the best informational guide ever! If you are a Fly Angler wanting solid, reliable information this is the book to have in your gear bag. Those of you new to the great sport of Fly Fishing, this is the book to read, study and assist in planning your next trip. Well done James.



4. Lived in Utah 20 years but never knew where a lot of these places were or at least how to access them. Highly recommended for anyone getting started fishing in Utah or who has just moved here.



5. Coming from California on a fall vacation, the book was very helpful for planning where to start fly fishing in Utah . It was also very informative in the types of flys that are consistent in the various areas and what to start with. Upon arrival in Heber City, we still checked in with the local fly shop to get the most current information as the book gives you the most collective information to start with however conditions are constantly changing.
   
   Highly recommended for planning you trip!

No comments about Arches National Park (True Books).

No comments about Utah Trails Central Region.

5 comments about Canyoneering.

1. ET huh? Yeah I know exactly what you mean! Just did that hike suggested in the guide book this weekend. This book serves as a list of hikes to do, but you better have a topo map and some good orienteering skills to match. He listed maps used for the hike but omitted the map which showed the latter third of the end of the canyon. We are lucky we realised this or we would have been trying to exit in the wrong spot. Not only does he use times to find confusing, he gets mileage wrong when he does give it! He said it was about 16 miles for the total trip. We used a topo program to count the mileage afterwards. It was at least 24 miles! Be careful when using this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



2. We used Allen's books many times. The information is wrong way too often regarding exit and entrance points in canyons. It seems that nobody reviews guidebooks before publishing. The worst trio we discovered so far are: Steve Allen, Michael Kelsey and Vivian Lougheed. Hiker beware!



3. More maps would be nice. I would have to agree about the using the minutes (ie 70 minutes) for beta. On the other hand one should always take the maps anyway.
   
   Opposite of Kelsey, difficulties seem to be over exagerated, rather than underexagerated. It would be nic if all authors used the same terminology for diffiuclt and easy, but this will likely never happen.
   
   Steve seems to skip over some fantastic stuff, in favor of some more mundane stuff on some hikes, but all you have to do is do some side trips. To get the most out of this (or any) book, leave the paint by numbers route description on occasion and do some exploring on you own.
   
   I would still highly recommend the book. It's a great source of info.



4. Keep in mind that this book describes the San Rafael Swell. This is a remote, undeveloped part of the world. If you use a guidebook, such as Steve's, that doesn't include all the GPS points and topo maps, then maybe you'll realize that you are going to need more than a guide book to do this stuff safely. And that, my friends, is the genioius of Steve's book. It will get you started, but you need to invest some time with maps etc before the trip to do it safely.
   
   Route descriptions for this part of the world should be in units of time rather than units of length. Not all 5 mile roads in the San Rafael are created equal.
   
   We've hiked 5 or 6 routes in Steve's book. With proper pre-trip planning, we've always been safe and never seriously lost (we've just experienced temporary navigational inconveniences, so far!)
   
   Mike.



5. Don't pay a ridiculous collectors price. A corrected, new and better edition is in the works, and the profit will go the the author/publisher.

No comments about Utah State Parks: A Complete Recreational Guide (State Parks).

4 comments about Canyoneering 2 (Canyoneering).

1. The guide is a good one. I have hiked the Long and Gravel Canyon area for over 20 years with friends and family. It can be amazingly fun but also amazingly dangerous country. My main feeling about guide books like the one Steve has written is negative, however. I am used to hiking in areas with only a topo map and a compass, as this provides much more of a wilderness experience. Hikes with a guide book destroy this aspect. Also, the land is very delicate in these riparian areas, and cannot tolerate large influxes of hikers without destruction of the resource. As guide books like this proliferate, the influx of hikers will more certainly destroy the wilderness experience as well as the physical viability of the resource much more surely than mining or cattle ranching could ever do. This in view of the fact that hikers seek out the best part of a limited resource and tend to overuse it. Mr. Allen makes a point of his love for the canyon country and yet ironically may be responsible for more degredation of the resource than almost anyone else because of the publication of books like this. I am not anti-hiker. In fact I am a member of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. But please, Mr. Allen, let us hikers "roam free", and leave us some unspoiled territory!!



2. The last review on this book felt that Allens book would cause the public to swarm the remote Utah regions and spoil this PUBLIC land for him. While he contends that the land is fragile and that anyone else besides him will destroy it, Allen emphasis time and again in his books the Low-impact camping tecniques essential to this land. This book describes in detail many fablous and beautiful hikes. Some of the most beautiful and marvelous scenery in the world is located in the bad, no-man lands of Utah. These series of books instruct help and guide readers through these wonders. We should be thankful there is a guide so that we aren't ruining the land by rescuing inexperianced hikers that didn't know what they were getting into. These guides are a must for anyone interested in exploration and enjoying the wonder of nature first hand. They correctly and accuratly depict water sources, milage and countless other invaulable things. Thankyou Steve Allen for all of the hard work and the sacrifice that you made to bring us these books. And to the previous reader, I am so very sorry that you feel the lands are to be used by you and only you. Get over yourself.

   Sincerley, Justin Rammell




3. This is an excellent book for the more hardcore backpackers out there. The loops described are a lot of fun, and provide access to spectacular views plus a chance to explore true wilderness. As for bringing too many people... after going on several of the hikes, I must admit we were hard pressed to find footprints less than a year or two old along the tracks, if any at all. Enjoy!



4. This book has a lot of good information in it.
   
   The two problems with the book are that with the exception of the hike, Escalante South, the rest of the loops cross well-used roads. What is the point of carrying a pack for a week while crossing well-used roads, especially if the author fails to explain that nearly all points on the loop can easily be reached by dayhikes?
   
   A second dislike is that the author also takes you some less interesting sections of some canyons in expense of some of the really great sections of the same canyon or nearby ones.
   
   If you want to use this book to it's fullest potential, make sure to get off the paint-by-numbers route and explore some on your own. Make sure to go over the maps and realize that the areas in the book don't usually get that far from the roads.

No comments about Utah Off the Beaten Path, 5th (Off the Beaten Path Series).

5 comments about Utah's Favorite Hiking Trails.

1. Who knew there were so many great hikes local to the Wasatch Front? And it gets better than that, this book has a hike for every season and every day of the year. From easy to difficult, senic to exercisic, you'll never get bored in Utah again. This book offers some of the tradional hikes Utah is know for plus many hidden treasures. At first I was a bit overwhelmed and didn't know where to start. There were so many interesting sites I wanted to do them all. Having done quite a few now I can't wait to do more. And you'll never get tired of the views, you can do your favorites hikes again and again, try one in summer and in winter. The book als has great descriptions of the plants and animals native to the area. So take it along and lean about your suroundings in a quite medow or under a shade tree. A must for the hiking enthusiest!



2. great descriptions of the hike, recommendations on best seasons, really good maps, wonderful colour photographs, comprehensive driving directions and easy USGS quad map referenes - could it even be better than the incredible California Hiking? I bought Canyoneering the San Rafael Swell as well, and am sending it back because this book covers what I need in a much easier to read style - and is less likely to get me killed en route while rock climbing without a belay. Highly recommended.



3. I've used this book extensively for climbing Utah trails. Though the book contains rich content, I would have expected it to include more information about alternative routes. For example, it only includes information on one (the longest) route up Mt. Nebo.
   
   Secondly, the maps are inaccurate. I'm a seasoned climber and found the maps for Nebo and Kings Peak to not be accurate and not drawn to scale. We ended up getting lost on Kings as a result of using his maps.
   
   Overall, the book is pretty good and perhaps the best available on the market. However, the map accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.



4. This book is a fabulous review of Utah's excellent hiking opportunities. It is informative and stimulating!



5. I haven't been to Utah to verify how accurate the trail maps are but the descriptions seem very detailed. It has many very nice color photos and ratings on how much he personally enjoyed the trail. It also has elevation gain and loss on the trail, time, and mileage.

5 comments about All My Rivers Are Gone: A Journey of Discovery Through Glen Canyon.

1. Katie Lee has given us a wonderful glimpse at a lost treasure. Her discriptions of the river and side canyons tell of her love of this lost world. My 2nd greatgrandfather went through Glen Canyon in 1872 with the second Powell Expedition and Katie has given me some feeling as to What he saw and the places he visited. I never understood what a treasure Glen Canyon was to Us till I read her book. Thank You Katie Lee



2. Katie Lee has led a remarkable life. But while she may be a fine story teller for a live audience, she is a poor writer. I found it a slow book to flog myself through- despite an enormous interest in the subject. Too bad she couldn't have put her ego aside and sat down with a professional writer. I can think of several women writers of the west that would have been a boon to the project. I look forward to the Katie Lee biography from one of them.



3. Katie Lee has written a beautiful & powerful love story & funeral song to a place some considered the most beautiful on earth, now drowned under Lake Powell. The book is largely exerpts from Katie's river journals from 40+yrs ago & has an immediacy that left me feeling like I was in Glen Canyon with her. She mentions that she shared early drafts of a fiction version with Ed Abbey, who told her to just write her own story. That she couldn't make up anything better than her own experiences. Ed Abbey was right. I devoured the book in one emotional sitting, then spent the rest of the day wandering aimlessly with dreams & visions of lost desert canyons in my mind.



4. This is one of the best and most special books I have read. Katie Lee really gives you the experience of Glen Canyon--it's beauty, wildness, and uniqueness. I fell in love with the place through her words, and felt her loss deeply when the damn dam was built. This act (the building of the dam) was truly a dark time in our history. I thank Katie Lee for sharing her thoughts and feelings and cheer her for her openness in those closed times.



5. A 1950's folk singer and wild woman's memoir of her love affair with the Colorado River and Glen Canyon before the Glen Canyon Dam flooded her canyon. She tells of floating the river and exploring intimate side canyons on small personal trips.

1 comments about Arches: The Story Behind the Scenery.

1. The Story Behind The Scenery books are very interesting. They have pictures of whatever park they are about such as Arches: The Story Behind The Scenery. A must read for anyone planning to visit one of our great parks.