1 comments about Into The Wilderness Dream.

1. The editors cover all the bases in this chronological history of pre-Lewis and Clark western exploration. Beginning with Cabeza de Vaca's perilous journey across the southern U.S. in 1528 and culminating with the horrific massacre narrative of John Jewitt's shipmates and his eventual capture by the Nootka Indians off Vancouver Island in 1803, this book is teeming with adventure and excitement of early day exploration. The reader is lured into narrative excerpts from the de Soto and Coronado expeditions, personal accounts of Sir Francis Drake, Pierre Radisson, Father Louis Hennepin, the La Verendryes, Jonathan Carver, David Thompson, Alexander Mackenzie and many more. These men sacrificed countless nerve-racking and frightening hours of survival in the unknown wilderness from Indian hostilities, weather, shortages of food, water, etc. The book not only opens new territories in real life exploration, it also opens endless new worlds of reading possibilities for armchair exploration enthusiasts.

No comments about The Guide To An Auto Tour Of Arches National Park.

1 comments about Log of the Panthon.

1. Astounding, entertaining, often amusing account of an adventure's first recreational descent of the Green and Colorado rivers, through the tumultuous Lodore, Cataract, and Grand canyons, in a 15-1/2 foot wooden boat, in 1896. This "log," or journal was kept contemporaneously in handwritten notes (some of which are reproduced) as the journey progressed from one series of rapids and trepidations to the next. Informatively edited and elucidatingly annotated by the formidable team of Carmony and Brown, the book is illustrated with historical photos, and includes an impressive bibliography. This is "must" reading for anyone who works or plays on these rivers, and ought to be in the dry bag of every river tourist.

1 comments about Canyonlands: 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 Canyonlands: The Story Behind The Scenery. A must read for anyone planning to visit one of our great parks.

1 comments about Westwater Lost and Found.

1. This book is written by a rafting guide who was captivated by Westwater Canyon, on the Colorado River, close to the Colorado border. This canyon has a treacherous section called Skull rapids, where my own cousin drowned in a rafting accident. The author, after guiding for 5 years, took his mother on a trip through Westwater Canyon, and lost her when their raft overturned (yes, she drowned). At that point his relationship with the canyon became more complicated. During an exodus from the area after that accident, he continued to be obcessed with the subject, and continued working on his book about it. This is not just a book on rafting the canyon. It starts with the early history of the region, from Native Americans, to the little town of Westwater that sprung up as a railroad town. In addition to the history of pioneer rafters, it covers farmers, outlaws, miners, cattlemen and sheepmen. As a native of the eastern Colorado, western Utah region this story takes place in, and a local history buff, I would give this book a good rating on all counts. Having also lost a relative in Westwater canyon, my bond with the author may be stronger than the normal reader.

No comments about Route For The Overland Stage: James H. Simpson's 1859 Trail Across the Great Basin.

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.

No comments about Cedar Mesa Hikes: SE Utah.

No comments about Roadside History of Utah (Roadside History Series) (Roadside History Series).

1 comments about Hiking and Climbing in the Great Basin National Park : A Guide to Nevada's Wheeler Peak, Mt. Moriah and the Snake Range.

1. I'm planning a trip out to the park this fall for some hiking and climbing, and I'm glad I got my hands on this guide. The route descriptions are mostly hikes or easy scrambles up to the peaks and through the bristlecone groves. The book's got a good deal background info and history on the park, detailed route descriptions with variations, gear recommendations, amenities and park regulations all packed into a convenient and light book. The maps are simple but useful for getting a good overview of the terrain, basically drawings showing the lines of the ridges, trails, roads, bristlecone groves and glaciers. For good maps stick with the USGS 7.5 minute quads. Most route descriptions also include black and white pictures of the route from a good vantage point.
   
   A couple words of warning: distances and elevations are all metric, and some of the info, particularly on amentities, may be somewhat outdated, having been printed in 1988.
   
   UPDATE: Yes, my trip went very well and I had a great time out at Great Basin. If you use this guidebook be forewarned: The authors' descriptions include many extremely rugged and scary off trail routes described as easy or moderate, but which are moderate only for people in excellent physical shape and having a good amount of real-world wilderness routefinding experience.