5 comments about Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures.

1. Whether or not you live in Utah, this book is an outstanding collection of random weirdness. It's fascinating and at times unbelievable. Sadly, its author died in a tragic car accident about a decade ago, but this book will forever remain a testament to his adventurous and inquisitive life.
   (And sadly, he will never be able to write companion books for Arizona and New Mexico. Oh, what the world has lost!)
   This book is FULL of fascinating stuff: ghost towns, lost mines, treasure lore, and crazy history. It's well organized into sections of the state, has maps, has a ton of entries and a ton of information, and even has a good index (though it doesn't have list any sources or references).
   The stories inside are facinating, ranging from the legend of the Golden Jesus--a three-foot-tall golden crucifix stolen by Hopis from the Spanish in the 1880s--the Lost Josephine Mine of the Henry Mountains, strange mining stories of the San Juan River, and many, many more.
   If the book has any faults, it's that the author takes evident liberties in telling the stories of these towns and mines treasures. He comes across as more of a campfire yarn-spinner than a historian, and though this makes the book very entertaining, it also makes the book questionable as a source for reference material.
   Buy it anyway, though. It's a lot of fun.



2. I first ran across reference to this book at desertislands.org while I was looking up information regarding the Great Basin and Western Utah, specifically the old mining camps/ghost towns in those areas. After reading some of the excerpts from "Some Dreams Die" that were posted on that website, and living in the general vicinity of the overland stage route and pony express trail in Utah, I decided that I really wanted this book. Surprise! I got the book for Christmas and I read through it in two days. Excellent reading material! I plan on re-reading this book several times, as well as travelling to several of the lost townsites or mine camps listed in this book this spring/summer.
   
   The author may have "taken some liberties" or "spun some yarns" while writing, or he may have just written the stories the way he was told them by old-timers that he interviewed. Personally, I believe the latter. Either way, to think that George Thompson - adventurer and desert rat - actually went to each and every one of the areas listed is amazing. Many of the areas that he lists are located in very inhospitable areas like extreme desert or high mountains, and the "roads" to those areas are almost impassable trails, followed by a strenuous hike.
   
   If you buy this book, be prepared to be swept away into a long-lost world which is slowly being erased from the face of the earth. Utah or the Bureau of Land Management (or a combination of both) are slowly and surely trying to erase history by bulldozing what's left of old ghost towns and mine camps to make the areas "safe". It's a shame. Much of the westward growth of the United States was fueled by mining, and this book will introduce you to persons who helped the U.S. grow. You'll experience the hopes and dreams of pioneers and miners as they attempted to scratch out an existence in the harsh western deserts and high mountains, either by farming, ranching, or mining. You'll have your curiosity piqued regarding legendary "lost treasures and caches", and you'll wonder if you could be the "lucky" one to find a long-lost cache or mine where you could "strike it rich".
   
   I cannot vouch for the 100% veracity of everything written in "Some Dreams Die", but from what I know of the area and what I've read from other sources, I'd say that George Thompson wasn't far off the mark. This book is a treasure, and it's hard to come by.
   
   Enjoy!



3. When my father was alive we went out West of the Great Salt Lake and we drove all the roads up through Lucin clear till Promontory Point. It is a wonderful experience to go out to an area that looks desolate but is so rich in history and culture. This book was our main resource while we were out there. It is a most perfect tour guide. From it we got a pretty good idea from where these towns were and what to do. We would look and see the picture of this prospering town of 10,000 and then we would look out on the desert and just 100 years later there was nothing there except mabye an old foundation or part of a building or an amazingly well built bridge. It does kind of play tricks on you. You start almost seeing the towns and the people. They become real to you like a "Ghost Town." To give you an idea, if you've ever been to Wendover, just south of Lucin, it has about 6000 people last time I checked. This will give you an idea of how big some of these towns actually were.This was a great memory of my father and I and I will always cherish it as we went through all these old towns together. I'm giving this four stars as a revenge because I can't justify paying this much money for paper and it sticks in my stomach like a knife that I can't buy this book. There are certain books that you read and you are not the same after you've read them. This book was definately that for me.



4. This book is so well written and obviously a lot of time and research went into it. For Example the part about Pedro and the dry panning of gold in western Utah. When I was very young the dentist, Dr Stains DDS pulled out a tooth that was paining me immensely, He and my Father talked about this sheep herder.He is so detailed in his writing. I can hardly wait for Spring to come, take my GPS I got for Christmas and my new metal detector and go to several places he mentions. For me now, I am Google Earth searching these specific areas. This is a great book!!!! I highly recommend it.



5. I received a copy of this book at Easter when I was very young and it became a stepping stone to new hobby and an appreciation of my home state's history. Full of wonderful information about early settlements in the Beehive State as well as rumored lost treasure near abandoned towns. For nearly a decade after I first read it, Utah Ghost towns became an obsession for me, poring over it over and over, and had to visit as many as possible. You can tell just by reading it that it was a labor of love. I even had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Thompson at his home (which was more like a museum made of all the relics and Photos he had acquired in his life) and only recently learned of his tragic death.
   
   I haven't lived in Utah for over a decade now, and miss the joy I felt at visiting these old towns. Maybe someday I can move back and pick up where I left off with Stephen L. Carr's equally excellent Historical Guide to Utah's Ghost Towns in one hand and Some Dreams Die in the other.

1 comments about Escalante: The Best Kind of Nothing (Desert Places).

1. The photographs and text of this book are special to me. I had visited this area twice, several years ago, on photography trips. The book helps me to relive the total feeling of this unique space.

No comments about Cedar Mesa: A Place Where Spirits Dwell (Desert Places).

2 comments about Utah Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series).

1. Once in a lifetime, every American should visit the state of Utah, known for its great skiing, glorious scenery and national parks, but most people will never discover another side of this interesting state unless they bring along a copy of this delightful book which is full of historical factoids as well as descriptions of unusual sites and places well off the beaten track. I highly recommend it.



2. Awesome Book. Everyone is borrowing it to plan short day trips and vacations. Wish I had bought all my family and freinds one.

No comments about Utah Trails Central Region.

1 comments about The Hayduke Trail: A Guide to the Backcountry Hiking Trail on the Colorado Plateau.

1. Got the book yesterday. It covers my favorite area on the planet (the Colorado Plateau) and as soon as I heard it was to be published, I decided to hike the section from South Rim to Zion National Park. With a lot of maps, trails could have been chosen and mistakes would have been made. This book has cut my planning down to less than half. The section getting from the Utah border to Highway 9 in Zion is worth the price alone. I can't wait to squeeze through "Fat Man's Misery".
   
   This book should eliminate the planning mistakes. I'm sure I'll be able to make enough on my own. The mileages are essential information and well laid out in the different sections of the book. Important information such as where not to camp because of crossing private property and specific locations where there is danger of flash flooding, is vital to the component that needs to right up there with fun: safety.
   
   The maps are excellent with the mileages shown on the maps corresponding with the mileages in the mileage portion of each section. Telling where water can be located and where to cache food for later pickup is equally important.
   
   Most of the "Trail" is non-trailed. Excellent navigation skills are required for a successful completion of any portion of the Trail. I would have liked to see some GPS coordinates but most of those I wanted were available on the internet.
   
   The book deserves additional credit for not sugar-coating the dangers that one will face on this Trail. The dangers cannot be overemphasized. It's not called wilderness for nothing.
   
   Mitch and Joe want to bring attention to this wonderful area that seems to increasingly be under attack by those who look only at profit. To that end, I hope this book will be successful.

No comments about Insight Guides Utah (Insight Guides).

2 comments about Wind in the Rock: The Canyonlands of Southeastern Utah.

1. This is a book that took me almost a year to read because I made myself ration my intake like it was a private hoard of maple syrup or 100 year old brandy. I have visited Southeast Utah for years and this book captures the essence of the unique canyon country wilderness. It is an experience in the small and personal; the opposite of driving up to a view point, jumping out of your SUV, taking a picture and leaving.

   For anyone who loves this country, this book is a return trip. For anyone who wonders how anyone could be interested preserving this "hot, dry, and dusty place," this may be the book that tells you.




2. I am a big fan of Ann Zwinger and of the Four Corners region. This book recreates the experience of walking through the canyons of southeastern Utah showing that despite surface similarities--each is unique and special. The book is enriched with her drawings of flowers and animals.

5 comments about Moon Handbooks Zion and Bryce: Including Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Moab (Moon Handbooks).

1. W.C. McRae and Judy Jewell's Zion & Bryce focus on Utah's two wonderful parks but also include sections on nearby Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches parks. A handy at-a-glance map on the back places all in perspective, while pages of detail cover everything from accommodations to day trips and overnight camping in each park. Accommodations are broken down by price ranges, hiking trails and scenic drives are outlined, and tips on making the most of each park's unique scenic attractions keep Zion & Bryce useful.



2. W.C. McRae and Judy Jewell's Zion & Bryce focus on Utah's two wonderful parks but also include sections on nearby Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches parks. A handy at-a-glance map on the back places all in perspective, while pages of detail cover everything from accommodations to day trips and overnight camping in each park. Accommodations are broken down by price ranges, hiking trails and scenic drives are outlined, and tips on making the most of each park's unique scenic attractions keep Zion & Bryce useful.



3. I was planning a photo trip to utah and so collected a large number of books on the area. I would rate this book as one of the best and most useful. It gives very handy hints on planning your trip. Most guides have so much info you can't wade through it all. This Moon guide assumes you have only a limited amount of time and helps you make decisions appropriatley. Highly recommended.



4. A great guide. Not only does it have the usual food and lodging recommenddations of usual guidbooks it also has great trail descriptions. this was the main reason I bought the book. Each trail guide is headed by distance, duration, Elevation cahnge, Effort and trailhead location. This info helped me narrow down the best hikes for my allowed time. Three good color maps in the front of the book: Southern Utah, Zion and Bryce, plus the various maps in the book with major roads and unpaved roads in the hiking areas. Highly recommennded especially for planning day hiking trips.



5. i like this book since it covers all of southern utah. the feature i use most often and like best is the way they rate all the hikes. i do what i can and can't do, how long it will take and whether or not it's appropriate for kids. it also gives useful information such as average temperatures and nearby towns and what they have available such as restaurants, showers, laundry, stores, etc.

1 comments about Birding Utah.

1. Birding Utah provides a comprehensive resource for finding birds in Utah. The extensive information provided should prove extremely useful for novice to expert birders, as well as any outdoor enthusiast.

   The book includes 5 chapters and an extensive appendix of birding and travel information sources. It is scientifically accurate and well written in a casual style. Chapter One details the basics of planning a successful birding trip, which should be most useful to novice birders. The second chapter describes Utah's biological environment from a broad-scale description of topography and climate to a finer resolution of habitats. Reading this chapter should give you an intimate feeling of the biological organization and spatial qualities of the state. The majority of the book is devoted to chapter 3, a description of 112 potential birding sites grouped according to region. The sites range from potential day trips to longer overnight excursions. The amount of detail that is provided for each site makes this book much more than a birding guide, but a travel guide for nature around the state. Included for each site are a list of habitats, birds, best times to bird, suggestions on where birds may be seen, directions to the site, general area information, a map, potential hazards, nearest facilities, and camping locations. It is obvious that each site has been researched by the author. The fourth chapter is a listing of birds that occur within the state; and associated habitat type, the regional distribution, and seasonal occurrence within the state. In chapter 5, the author has selected 50 "sought after" birds and details where and when the birds are likely to be found, and the chances for viewing one of these species. This chapter is unique to this birding guide because it also includes fine-scaled distribution maps based on current habitat types.

   My only criticism with the book is the manner in which it has been bound. For a field guide that is likely to get a significant amo! unt of use outdoors, I wonder if the binding will hold up very long. A more substantial binding would have been of great value.