No comments about Profiles of Virginia.

No comments about West Virginia Impressions (Impressions (Farcountry Press)).

1 comments about Appalachian Trail Guide to Central Virginia (Appalachian Trail Guides).

1. Appalachian Trail Guide to Central Virginia is a good general guide which consist of a 4 X 6 inches packable book and three maps in a waterproof bag. The maps are double-sided and give adequate detail of the covered areas. The book starts out with general information which I found fairly basic. Most of this info was of little value to me, but a green hiker might find it useful.The actual meat of the trail descriptions is very good, giving mile by mile directions as to what to expect and where to turn. An interesting feature of this book is the small horizon sketches which show different mountain peaks and valley with their names. I don't think I have every seen this done before, but I can't wait to see if it will actual help me locate and identify the surrounding landscape. This is a series of books so the complete collection (11 books)would weigh down a thru hiker. For the weekend ender or week long hiker, this book and maps should be worth it's weight in his pack.

No comments about ADC the Map People Loudoun County, Va Street Map Book (Loudoun County Va Atlas).

No comments about Westward from Virginia: The Exploration of the Virginia-Carolina Frontier, 1650-1710.

3 comments about Buildings of West Virginia: with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council (Buildings of the United States).

1. West Virginia was created through political conflict during the Civil War, and many people may think of it only as part of that part of our nation's history, or perhaps as a place of coal mines and Appalachian troubles. What Chambers shows us in this carefully researched, beautifully written book is that West Virginia has a history and an architectural heritage of great distinction and diversity. Chambers looks at the full range of this state's architecture, from the distinguished work of many state and regional as well as national architects in the principal towns and cities to the sagas of the industrial settlements, of which there are many, and the slower changing regional patterns of small town and rural areas. Buy this book, and learn that West Virginia is a state to visit, appreciate, and admire. Chambers's nuanced study takes into consideration the multiple and complex aspects of its history, and gives us all a new appreciation for an American state with a complex heritage. Anyone wanting to understand the South, Appalachia, or indeed America needs this book.



2. Chambers has written the book I wish I had written. If you are interested in architecture in the Mountain State, buy this book.
   
   I was born and raised in West Virginia, but had always thought my native state nearly bereft of architecture, having only had the luck to have a succession of inferior state capitols go up in flames until the present Cass Gilbert statehouse. Chambers' book will disabuse you of that notion and make you proud of a significant architectural legacy. (The job now, of course, is to preserve what we have.)
   
   He has performed a public service for every West Virginian, whether at home or living elsewhere.
   
   The only nit I can pick is that he has chosen to ignore a number of significant engineering structures (mostly railroad coaling towers and coal tipples). Concrete coaling towers such as in Bluefield and Thurmond are important structures in their own right. Tipples, though not significant individually and now mostly gone, were significant as a building form. They were once nearly as common as 7-Elevens and no one who grew up in the coalfields ever quite gets over a love affair with the exposed I-beams, the corrugated metal and the jumble of roof and conveyor angles that used to be seen in the once-ubiquitous coal tipple.



3. I've found this book to be exceedingly useful in researching architecture in West Virginia. It's a shame it is not more widely available! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in preservation or taking architectural tours of the Mountain State. Well researched, must have been a massive undertaking. It's recently helped me out on a rather difficult project, so I'm very thankful I found it!

No comments about Jefferson Co, West Virginia / Charles Town / Harpers Ferry Street Map.

No comments about Shenandoah National Park: An Interpretive Guide.

3 comments about Southeastern Whitewater: 50 of the Best River Trips from Alabama to West Virginia.

1. Southeastern Whitewater describes fifty of the best whitewater paddling trips in the Southern Appalachians, ranging from the Little River Canyon to Big Sandy Creek and located in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. It won't replace Carolina Whitewater, Northern Georgia Canoeing, or other detailed state or watershed-specific books because it doesn't include everything (for example only the Cartecay and Lower Conasauga represent Georgia). On the other hand, it covers the entire southern Appalachians, so no matter where you are in the area this one book will describe something nearby to paddle. Only quality whitewater streams are included, so if it's in the book it's worthwhile doing. None of the trips in the book are appropriate for unaccompanied beginning paddlers. The average difficulty is Class III (IV) (similar to the Big South Fork, Nolichucky, or Ocoee) and about a third of the trips are more difficult than the Ocoee. Finally, Smith only included streams that he had paddled multiple times and knew well, so the detailed trip descriptions are outstanding. Many chapters have at least one full-page action picture of open-boaters doing a signature rapid (for example Julie Keller and Francis Cheung are featured in Entrance Rapid and Diamond Splitter).

   In addition to 50 detailed trip descriptions, Southeastern Whitewater introduces the Trip Relational Information Profile (TRIP) rating scale, an elegantly robust new way of comparing rivers on both specific and global dimensions of difficulty. The TRIP scale incorporates and normalizes nine dimensions of stream difficulty, "weights" them, and derives an overall difficulty rating. The nine dimensions include; Difficulty of Rapids, Volume x Gradient Interaction, Average Gradient, Streambed Morphology, Continuousness of Rapids, Maximum Gradient, Total Gradient, Inaccessibility, and Reputation. The 26 pages in Chapter 2 explain the TRIP scales. One-hundred is the average for each item; a 10 point difference is about half again as hard and a 20 point difference is about twice as hard. For example, many of us quickly work-up to the Nantahala (77 overall TRIP points) and become comfortable after doing it several times our first summer of paddling. Indeed, it is common to move right up to the Chattooga Section III (86 points). It's a lot tougher than the Nanty (10 pts or about half again as difficult), but it's usually within range except for the Bull. So... is Section IV a logical progression?. Section IV has an overall TRIP rating of 116, 30 points more than Section III. Whoa!! It's more than twice as hard. Definitely time to reconsider. The lower Tellico (96 TRIP pts) and Ocoee (104 TRIP pts) are more logical areas to become acquainted with first.




2. If you are going whitewater boating in the Southeast and you want to buy just one book, then this is it. Monte Smith describes all the best whitewater in the southern Appalachians and he soe a great job of it. The descriptions are both amusing and informative. His TRIP scale is extremely useful, although it defies any brief description here.

   I do have a criticism or two. First, Monte makes too many references to his other books. Second, Monte is a little full of himself. The envelope has been pushed far since his hey (sp?) day, and there are many more skilled and significant paddlers out there today. Despite those criticisms, the fact is that Southeastern Whitewater is now THE definitive regional whitewater guidebook for the southeast. There are more comprehensive state guidebooks (Benner's Carolina Whitewater or Corbett's Virginia White Water) but Monte Smith's book covers all the best whitewater in the whole region.




3. As an intermediate paddler I consider this book almost my bible. The TRIP scale is immensely useful for selecting trips and pre-evaluating what are suitable trips depending on my skills and that of the company I am with. I have found Monte's characterization and ratings of the rapids right on which is rare (example. Benner's Carolina book is excellent but the Tuckaseegee gorge is no class 2/3 river like the Nantahala is). The writing is superb and amusing, each section contains a wealth of information on nearby alternate trips, gradient statistics, length, gauge, etc. along with Monte's comments and injected personality which I found entertaining. The book has a wealth of rapid pictures too which I usually can't find with the exception of W. Nealy's maps and cartoons. Using this book I have been able to plot which rivers I need to become proficient on first. Next to checking the water levels, this is my primary source for plotting an itinerary up to Appalachia.

1 comments about Near Horizons: A Weekender's Guide to Easy Trips from Albuquerque.

1. As a new part-time resident of Albuquerque, I wanted to get to know the area better and explore. Picking up this book has been invaluable in providing suggestions for short trips into the surrounding area. It's like having a resident guide to ride along with you and point out the features and attractions of the area.
   
   Now instead of driving aimlessly and hoping to find something interesting, I not only know what to look for and have some understanding as to where to look and why it is important.
   
   Engagingly written in a conversational style, this is a resource well worth having whether you live in the area or are just passing through and want to know where to look.