No comments about Fish Lake & Capitol Reef, Utah Trail Map.

No comments about Exploring Dinosaur National Monument (Exploring Series).

1 comments about Real Matter.

1. This book is a funny, gentle, and brainy exploration of nature writers and their subject. Though Robertson is clearly very knowledgeable, this book is not a guided tour. It is a search. Which is not to say the author has no particular point of view. Robertson IS preaching here a bit about the importance of nature, and all "real matter" in our lives, among other things. What makes this book so special is that with a twinkle in his eye he preaches from the pews as well as from the pulpit.

No comments about Utah, Magnificent Wilderness.

2 comments about 100 Utah Waterfalls.

1. If your heading to Utah I would recommend this book, the writer of this book has black and white photo's of each waterfall he listed in his book, near the middle of the book he does have 16 pages of color photo's of waterfalls.
   As far as the detail on how to get to the falls, he does a pretty good job on giving that- only complaint is he has no maps whatsoever in the book.
   At the end of the book, the writer gives his top ten list of the waterfalls in Utah- which I did like, although in order to find the waterfalls in his top ten list's you have to search through the index page.



2. This is a great book, the only complaint is that all of the pics arent in color, but overall a very use full guide.

No comments about Glen Canyon National Recreation Area & Capitol Reef National Park, Utah Trail Map.

2 comments about Disaster At The Colorado: Beale's Wagon Road and the First Emigrant Party.

1. This book is beginning to attract quite a bit of attention from historians, history buffs, and general readers alike. While there are a multitude of books recounting the history of the California, Santa Fe, Mormon and other historic trails, surprisingly little has been done on a little known Trail that originated in Ft. Smith, Ark., traversed southern Oklahoma, crossed the northern tip of Texas into New Mexico and Arizona and ended at the Colorado River crossing on the California-Arizona border. I predict it is the first of a flurry of studies looking at an amazing story this is largely untold.
   In 1857 the War Department, eager to find an alternative route to the main California Trail that was considered risky given the mounting pressure to subdue Mormons in Utah, and the lengthy Southern Route that ran through Apache territory, commissioned a survey that resulted in the Beale Wagon Road. It was to be the first federally funded interstate road to traverse the rugged southwest desert, canyons, and rocky terrain obtained from Mexico at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a retired Navy Lieutenant, was chosed to survey and construct a road that was to attract emigrant wagon trains and save an estimated 200 miles and thirteen days of travel. Not only was the mission unique but also his crew of 50 men traveled with a most unusual contingent of pack animals: 22 camels from the Middle East were used to carry the supplies and equipment for the expedition.
   The book traces the history of the Beale Road in general terms and specifically recounts the experiences of the first emigrant wagon train to attempt the crossing in 1858. The story of what came to be known as the Rose-Baley wagon train, comprised of a group of Missouri and Iowa emigrants that met in Albuquerque, is an exciting and tragic account of an effort to arrive in California and the "land of plenty." To say the attempt was a disaster is perhaps charitable. The road was not as passable as the civic leaders in Albuquerque stated; water was much more scarce as originally thought; the so-called experienced guide was lacking in knowledge and directional aptitude; the peaceful Hualapais Indians were more hostile than advertised; and the reception encountered at the Colorado River crossing, instigated by the Mojave Indians, was deadly.
   In a highly readable, narrative style Baley recounts the story and reviews its aftermath and legacy not only for the Rose-Baley emigrant party but also for the Mojave's and Beale's Wagon Road. There is an index, bibliography, appendix, extensive endnotes, and helpful maps and photos. This is a major contribution about the first emigrants attempt to traverse what was then known as the 35th paralled. Most now know it as old Route 66 and I-40. Highly recommended.



2. This carefully researched and well written book will be appreciated by anyone with an interest in the history of the American west, the desert Southwest, the old emigrant trails, or historic Route 66. Beale's Wagon Road, which followed the route that was later to become the famous Route 66 across the Southwest (generally followed now by Interstate 40), was actually a faster and safer route to California than the much more popular Gila Trail to the south through Apache territory --- but it was avoided by most emigrant parties after news spread of the tragedy that befell the first party that attempted to follow it. Although almost forgotten now, the disaster was so notorious at the time that it wasn't until the opening of a railroad along the route, followed by the development of the automobile, that this historic road became widely used.

   That ill-fated journey by the Rose-Baley wagon party is the subject of this book, along with useful background information on the Hualapai and Mojave Indians, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Sitgreaves, Whipple, Aubry, and Beale surveying expeditions across northern Arizona in the 1850s. This is a pioneering work on an important but largely forgotten event in the history of the westward migration in the 19th century, and it is surely the definitive work on the subject to this point.

2 comments about True Secrets of Salt Lake City and The Great Salt Lake Revealed!.

1. I bought a copy of this book primarily as a challenge. I've lived in Utah all my life and thought there's nothing a guidebook can teach me. Boy was I wrong! I learned something and I had fun reading it.
   Something I think that's nice too is they put pictures of a lot of things they talk about. This is a really cool book.



2. I'm originally from Salt Lake and half the things in this book I didn't know about. After reading it, I made plans to visit some of them (like the sculpture in the middle of the dessert and the Joseph Smith Sphynx). I brought my family along and we all had a blast playing "tourist" seeing all these cool things right near home.
   
   If you're planning a trip to Salt Lake City, get this book along with a traditional "where should I stay and eat" travel guide. You'll use that to book the mundane stuff and this to discover what to explore.
   
   Just like the other True Secrets of books they have a great map on their website ([...]) with all the addresses of things found in the book.

No comments about Contested Empire: Peter Skene Ogden and the Snake River Expeditions.

5 comments about Belknap's Waterproof Canyonlands River Guide-All New Color Edition.

1. This guide has detailed, mile by mile account of the most popular river runs of the Canyonland region. It is an excellent map with notations and topographic contour lines. Locations of the major features of the river, rapids, archaeological sites, etc. are shown. Must have if you are planning to float these rivers.



2. I just took the 1969 edition of this very handy book with me on an 8-day motorized trip down the canyon. Another rafter had this 1991 version, which is even better. I was able to tell where we were at all times -- to know what rapids were ahead, to know how far we'd traveled that day, and to know the names of the side canyons as they passed, among other things. The book's explanation of the Canyon's geology is the most understandable I have seen. Best of all, the book is waterproof, so it was completely accessible throughout the trip.



3. There are better maps for the Grand Canyon. This maps doesn't have camps marked on it and no rapid descriptions and limited side hike info.



4. This is what you want under the bungies as you paddle down the flat water portions of the Green or the Colorado. I am not a white water guy, but seems like I would want rapid diagrams if I were to do the Westwater or the Cataract, and this book provides none.



5. I found this to be a great mile-by-mile breakdown of the Green River. I hope that future editions list camping areas. If you're in the Moab area, Tex's Riverways sells them for $20.