Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography

Book Description

One of the most photographed subjects on earth, Grand Canyon continues to inspire awe, admiration, and frustration for those who attempt to capture its majesty with a camera. Reaching back 125 years into the photographic record of the Canyon, this book artfully explores the experiences of the earliest photographers and today's most exceptional artists.

Accomplished writer and Ansel Adams Award-winning photographer Stephen Trimble deftly navigates the stories of the Canyon's photographic history and takes us down the river and along the rim with the next generation of photographers and their photographs. Also included are twenty-one essays by the finest contemporary photographers recounting their experiences at Grand Canyon, along with fascinating details of changing equipment and a timeline of important moments in the Canyon's photographic record.

Customer Reviews:

Not what I thought.......2007-09-13

I bought this as a present for my wife. We had just returned from a trip that included a visit to the Grand Canyon, and I wanted to get her a memento of the visit. This book sounded good, but was not the one that included the beautiful vistas that we wanted. There are some photos too dark to really discern why they are included. There are some photos of a boat on the bank of the river. That could be from anywhere.
Although I suppose others may find it interesting, we didn't want a book of prose, we just wanted amazing photos. This was not that book.

The finest Grand Canyon book at the lowest price...........2007-02-15

This book is so awesome, and of such high quality, that its Amazon price seems surreal...I have two copies and am ordering a third, for posterity or whatever.

Intensely beautiful photographic prints, at the very leading edge of Canyon photos....almost beyond description!

If you buy one copy of this book, you'll then want another for a gift, and another for your own collection.....etc.

off the charts superb stunning startling good heavens.......2006-11-03

Yes, you would expect truly astounding photography here, and you get exactly that, in lots of different flavors too, but the stories are deft and revealing -- far more than in a book of photos alone of a place that you couldn't take a bad photo if you tried. Trimble himself is a master craftsman with the camera, but his service here is to gather some really remarkable work and voices into a tome that anyone who has gaped and prayed there will want to paw through before you get major brownie points for giving it to someone else. Terrific work.

Review by Jennifer Owings Dewey, author/illustrator.......2006-09-28

Lasting Light is a treasure, a compilation of photographs taken of the Crand Ganyon over a broad stretch of time. The viewer/reader may gain a sense of history, passing from the old to the new. The book is an experience in images of the vast wonder of the Canyon and the smallest, most discreet detail. Because the text is direct and not-technical, anyone interested in what is grand and lit by extraordinary light, the Grand Canyon itself, will find this work a delight.

A superb choice as a Memorial Fund acquisition for any library system.......2006-07-10

Lasting Light: 125 Years Of Grand Canyon Photography by award-winning author and photographer Stephen Trimble is a visual celebration and documentation of the beauty and grandeur of one of the most photographed subjects on earth -- the Grand Canyon. Comprised of the best of 125 years of great photographs beginning with the pioneering glass plate negatives of the 19th century to the digital images of the 21st century, Lasting Light produces spectacular visuals enhanced with an accompanying text of fascinating details regarding the advances of photography, stories of various individual photographers, and the relationship between the photographers and the unique American icon that is the Grand Canyon. As a coffetable art book, Lasting Light is a simply wonderful contribution to any personal, academic, or community library photography reference collection and would make a superb choice as a Memorial Fund acquisition for any library system.

Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau: Non-Technical

Average customer rating:

A must read for the canyon hiker !
A phenomenal book
Excellent book
The Best Available Guide for the Area
Kelsey's Guide to off the Beaten Path

Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau: Non-Technical
Michael R. Kelsey
Manufacturer: Kelsey Publishing (Utah)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Technical Slot Canyon Guide to the Colorado Plateau
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ASIN: 0944510221

Book Description

This is a canyon hiking guide to the Colorado Plateau, which covers the southeastern half of Utah, the northern half of Arizona, the western 1/5 of Colordo, and a small part of NW New Mexico. This new 4th Edition has been undated significantly beyond the 3rd. The author went back to almost all canyons, or at least to the trailheads, to check out the mile post markers, etc. Also, about half a dozen less-interesting canyons or hikes from the 3rd Edition were eliminated; while about a dozen new & more challenging hikes have been added, plus another 32 pages. This 4th edition contains 320 pages and 191 fotographs, about 90 of which are new.

The new canyons are from scattered locations in southern Utah, primarily in Zion National Park, and the Escalante River, San Rafael Swell & Robbers Roost country, along with major updates on slot canyons on the Navajo Nation. Other big changes to this edition are the addition of about a dozen new technical slot canyons; that is, canyons where you need ropes and rappelling gear to get through. This adds another dimension to excitement and challenge, and opens many new hiking areas previously closed to many of us. All these technical canyons are now either bolted-up, or have slings or webbing around boulders, making them ready for rappelling.

The general direction for this book, is toward slot canyons, which everybody likes; but it retains easy & fun hikes to canyons with Anasazi ruins, another favorite. So if you're looking for petroglyphs or pictographs, and cliff dwellings or ruins, which some people try their best to hide, then this is your book. In the back of this book is a section listing the Best Hikes, including for the most part Slot Canyons, then best hikes to see Indian ruins, and Native American rock arts sites. Below is the Table of Contents.

Customer Reviews:

A must read for the canyon hiker !.......2007-05-24

Just looking at this book makes want you to go, let alone reading it ! Clear description of all the 120 hikes on this subjects :
- Location and acces
- Trail and route
- Elevation
- Time needed
- Water
- Maps
- Main attractions
- Best time to hike
- Author's experience, adding a personal flavour.

A phenomenal book.......2007-05-23

Controversy surrounds this hiking guide. On the one hand are those who criticize Kelsey for giving innacurate directions, exposing the pristine lands of southern Utah and northern Arizona to more people, and giving ridiculously fast hiking times. On the other hand are those who find this guide extremely helpful in exploring the Colorado Plateau canyon country, land which is open to all. I used different editions of this book for over a decade and found the book invaluable. This newer edition contains many beautiful color photographs and updated maps.

Admittedly, the book is a bit eccentric. Kelsey insists on giving directions in metric, though this is certainly helpful to the many foreign visitors who visit the Colorado Plateau. I agree that an index would help as well. But the amount of time and energy that went into the research for this book must have been staggering. I never had a problem finding a trailhead or route with Kelsey's directions and maps. And after one hike, I had a general idea of how my hiking times compared to Kelsey's. His books have always contained ample warning about potentially dangerous canyons like the Black Hole.

His book has helped me to explore canyons in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Excellent book.......2007-05-07

Color photos, through coverage of hikes, lots of tips for traveling the backroads to these trails.

The Best Available Guide for the Area.......2007-04-16

Michael Kelsey guide books inspire only two reactions--you love them or you hate them--and I must admit to being a fan. These are not the greatest guides ever written, those would be the Steck "Loop Hike" guides, but for this area of the planet NOBODY knows more than Kelsey. The "readability" could be better, and yes, there is no index, but this book will get you to explore places nobody else even mentions. Kelsey does appear in the "fotos" (Kelsey spelling--kind of annoying, really) but I find this provides helpful scale. If you are buying a guide book for artistic photos, buy Sandra Hinchman's book--Tom Till did most of the shooting. Alternatively, you could just buy one of Till's books--they are ALL spectacular! Kelsey's hiking times ARE quite fast, but he gives these in the "Author's Experience" section and provides more "realistic" times in the "Time Needed" section so I don't see the issue. As for the metric system, well the USGS has started printing topo maps in meters so you might want to get used to it now.... The bottom line is this--if you have the canyoneering experience to be thinking about exploring these areas this guide is your ONLY choice!

Kelsey's Guide to off the Beaten Path.......2006-06-07

Sure Kelsey has an ego thing about himself being in all his photos, and the hiking times are off by 50% (Add that 50%, however, no one else has come close to offering a guide to such remote places. I've used it to find indian ruins, weird in-the- middle-of-nowhere canyons, etc. Most of his info is quite accurate. People who can't find something through his descriptions probably would become lost looking for anything. Most places he mentions you'll never find another soul at...that's the best part.

The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons (Penguin Classics)

Average customer rating:

Bold Explorer
Perilous journey into a sublime landscape
It is shameful that students today don't know this man!
A classic, I guess
A great adventure story

The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons (Penguin Classics)
John Wesley Powell
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West
Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
A Field Guide to the Grand Canyon 2nd Edition
The Hidden Canyon: A River Journey
Downcanyon: A Naturalist Explores the Colorado River Through Grand Canyon

ASIN: 0142437522
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Book Description

One of the great works of American exploration literature, this account of a scientific expedition forced to survive famine, attacks, mutiny, and some of the most dangerous rapids known to man remains as fresh and exciting today as it was in 1874.

Customer Reviews:

Bold Explorer.......2007-07-14

I got this book to read while I was rafting the Grand Canyon. It was well worth it. John Wesley Powell's description of his unbelivable expedition helped me put into words the spectacular scenes that makes up the Grand Canyon. I recommend this book to anyone who is considering traveling down the Colorado River.

Perilous journey into a sublime landscape.......2006-04-25

Anyone who is enthralled by the beauty of the Southwest, or as Powell defines it - the Colorado River watershed, should read this book. It's not the same now as it was in his day. For one thing, Glen Canyon, which he named, is now submerged under Lake Powell (could any name be more ironic?). No one today can feel the same kind of wonder and awe as Powell and his companions did as they pushed their boats into the raging rapids of the muddy Colorado without having any idea of what was ahead. Even the part of the Colorado watershed that has not been developed, and there is a considerable extent of land under protective status, today has nothing like the remoteness that Powell experienced. Everything has been mapped and carefully scutinized.

Yet, anyone who has spent some time sizing up the immense water-carved rock canyons, can still feel something of the sublimity that Powell felt. It requires more imagination; it is true, but anyone who is determined to make more of a commitment than just standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon can still experience the really sublime features of this landscape. How much more difficult will it be in the future? Will these wilderness wonders become more degraded?

The book describes by daily journal entries the historic river run of 1868 starting at the Flaming Gorge in Wyoming and ending at the Virgin River as well as a follow-up expedition the next year. Powell does not overdo the apprehensions and hardships of himself and companions, nor does he make mention that he accomplished the physical exertion of climbing the canyon walls and navigating the boats with one arm: but largely confines himself to descriptions of the events and the incredible landforms. The extent of the journey and all the spectacular features that he finds and names is impressive. That Powell's group experienced hardships there can be no doubt.

One of the more interesting parts of the book to me was the way Powell approached the Indian tribe that killed his three companions, who decided to abandon the expedition and hike out of the Canyon. In those frontier days, it was the accepted norm to meet violence with violence. But Powell, I thought here, really showed himself to be an exceptional human being. He had a inquiring mind and a sincere desire to learn everything he could without inflicting retribution.

It is shameful that students today don't know this man!.......2006-01-09

I find it totally unexcuseable that today's young college students (especially earth and environmental science types) do not know this man; yet, they all know Edward Abbey. Powell was not a scientist by today's standards but yet he managed to do many great things. He stood in opposition to the popular belief at that time that the West was a virgin Utopian land awaiting industrial and population exploitation from eastern society. He saw a great empty space in the National maps of the West and set about to explore and understand and map this area. He was a geologist, ecologist, ethnologist, and anthropologist all wrapped up in a persona that was at one time a soldier and commander. His exploration of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River is a terrific read for anyone looking for an adventure read. Its a scientific quest turned whitewater adventure. Abbey, on the other hand, has never done anything as substantial as what Powell did for our basic knowledge and appreciation of the West. Furthermore, Powell's vision isn't clouded by the selfish, militant, eco-geek goggles through which Abbey viewed the West.

A classic, I guess.......2005-09-30

John Wesley Powell was a fascinating guy.
John Wesley Powell was a scientist, geologist, and Civil War veteran whose right arm was shot off by a cannonball; he was the man who named Glen Canyon, and the man Lake Powell was named for. He was the first man to lead an expedition down the Colorado--the first two expeditions, actually--back when the river flowed wild, without dams.
He didn't worry about all the details like a knowledgeable crew, funds, both arms, having an experienced crew, not knowing if there was a Niagara-sized waterfall around the next bend or not, and so on--he just went. He understood you don't need experience to gain experience. He and his crew paid for their inexperience by nearly drowning, nearly starving, and by misadventure after misadventure but in the end MOST of their group emerged from the southern end of the Grand Canyon with stories, experiences, and first-hand knowledge of a part of the world that few people had ever seen before.
(Three of his crew abandoned the expedition, and their fates are uncertain.)
This is Powell's story. It's also a story of the geology of the Colorado Plateau, of the Colorado River, and of the West. It's not a perfect account, but it is a classic one. Powell's prose is at times high-falutin', he recklessly combines details from his first and second expedition, and he gives too little credit to his crew, but he is always an optimist, and always fun to read.
Take a river trip, and take this along. Or, take "Down the Great Unknown" by Edward Dolnick--that's a good account of that trip as well. (I actually prefer it.)

A great adventure story .......2005-09-13

This is a classic adventure tale, inspiring in that it's a true story of courage and endurance. John Wesley Powell and his companions (including a wonderful illustrator) set out on the Colorado River to chart what was the last unexplored territory of the U.S., the Grand Canyon. Powell was a Civil War veteran who, despite the loss of one of his arms, took on the mighty untamed Colorado in wooden lorries. He is the person for whom Lake Powell is named and interestingly his story is featured in a short IMAX film about the Grand Canyon. The book had originally been sold to a magazine in serial form and Powell's adventure followed avidly by "folks back East". Reading this book transports you back to a different time when the written word was the primary means of reporting stories like this.

Rock Climbing Eldorado Canyon (Regional Rock Climbing Series)

Average customer rating:

great book
exceptional
Dangerously BAD Guidebook

Rock Climbing Eldorado Canyon (Regional Rock Climbing Series)
Richard Rossiter
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Rock Climbing Colorado

ASIN: 1585920312

Customer Reviews:

great book.......2002-09-28

This is an excellent book, invaluable for serious Eldo climbers. Whoever wrote that first review probably didn't read the intro to the guide where it describes how to use the book. People who know how to use guidebooks to confusing climbing areas should have no problems.

exceptional.......2002-09-13

I just read the only other review available for this book and felt a 2nd opinion was worthwhile...

Eldo is a worldclass climbing destination. This means that the place is changing. The book is a few years old so yes - some of the data about raps and fixed gear(for example) isn't completely accurate. (but then no climber should rely entirely on any guidebook!)

However, this guide has an incredible amount of information about the incredible number of climbs. The route descriptions are excellent and the maps more than suffice. Eldo is a big place with a ton of routes. I'd like to see someone try to better organize and describe the routes - I don't think it can be done. The book IS organized well, it just takes some time to get oriented to the canyon and it's MANY formations.

Any place as big and historic as eldorado canyon is going to be very hard to cram into a single guidebook. Rossiter does an exceptional job. Any experienced climber will find this book to more that suit their needs for a trip to eldo.

Dangerously BAD Guidebook.......2002-05-24

This guidebook is not only confusing, it is downright DANGEROUS to depend upon. The tragedy is that it is the only guidebook devoted totally to Eldo.

Why this book [stinks]:

1. There is no logic to the formatting. Seems totally random. Is it north/south? east/west? You can't tell! Therefore you cannot just walk along the cliffs & flip pages SEQUENTIALLY to figure out where the [devil] you are. No attempt even made to match text descriptions of routes to the topos on opposing pages. Nor to place trail maps in logical places in relation to routes/parking areas. He counts each section's routes from "1" again, so you have route numbers repeated all over the place. (You can't just say, "Look up route #16." There are SEVEN route "16s".)

2. Topos are a joke

3. Book lacks USEFUL photos with route ID lines

Lots of pretty pictures of elite climbers doing 11s - 13s, but rarely a photo to help the mortals of us find moderates or ANYONE to even know where he is. (Many pretty photos though of the author and his friends being rock jocks.)

4. Rappel locations & escape routes NOT clearly indicated.

5. Book weighs a TON. Would have been better to break this anvil of a book into sections for each area, that you can clip to a harness. (Like the guides for the Gunks).

6. . It was not just us -- for 3 trips we were constantly running across people there who had the same book, and cursed it up and down just like we were. Even people who had been climbing there for many seasons.

Rossiter's other guidebooks are plagued by the same lack of organization. He needs to grasp the, "newcomer to the area" perspective, which is the TARGET AUDIENCE for a guidebook, after all.

This man obviously did not have an editor who (ahem) really tested the guidebook by going there and trying to USE it. Which is the only way to judge such a book. Perhaps he did not have an editor at all.

Amazon.com

Colorado and its neighboring states battle thousands of wildfires every year, scrub and sagebrush blazes often ignited by lightning strikes in the dry, hot days of summer. A vast, intertwined firefighting infrastructure combining local resources with agencies like the Forest Service and the BLM, reacts to these flare-ups as if going to war--and in theory, the coordination and communication ensures that fires are fought in the most efficient and safe manner possible. But while most wildfires in Colorado end up costing just over $60,000 on average with no loss of life, the catastrophic South Canyon fire of 1994 burned for 10 days, at the ultimate cost of $4.5 million and the lives of 14 firefighters. OSHA would later describe the coordinated action flatly as a "management failure," and concurrent investigations would reveal a tangled web of jealous rivalries, bureaucratic bungling, and severe morale problems. (One of the early on-scene supervisors would later tell investigators, "Leadership in this state sucks.")

John Maclean (son of Norman Maclean, who wrote both A River Runs Through It and an award-winning account of Montana's deadly 1949 Mann Gulch fire) skillfully unfolds that summer's foreboding blow-by-blow. Fire on the Mountain weaves together a tense narrative of almost cinematic action, starring ballsy cowboy smokejumpers, frustrated federal middle managers, seasoned "hotshots" flown in like commandos, pissed-off tanker pilots, and well-intentioned but spin-wary politicians. Maclean's well-sketched personalities bring the action on the ground convincingly to life--and knowing up front that many of his main characters won't survive South Canyon makes this tragic tale that much more compelling. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

THE DRAMATIC TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE SOUTH CANYON
FIRE -- THE DEVASTATING FOREST FIRE THAT TOOK THE
LIVES OF FOURTEEN FIREFIGHTERS

In this acclaimed bestseller of investigative journalism, John N. Maclean chronicles the deadly 1994 Colorado forest fire that was wrongly identified at the outset as occurring in South Canyon. This misidentification was the first in a string of seemingly minor human errors that would be compounded into one of the greatest tragedies in the annals of firefighting as fourteen men and women firefighters -- experts in their field -- lost their lives battling the South Canyon blaze.

This stunning reconstruction of the fire and its aftermath, drawn from Maclean's exhaustive research and countless interviews, reveals fascinating insights into what went wrong, and how so many top-notch firefighters fell victim to nature at its most unforgiving. A page-turning adventure narrative brimming with action and intensity, Fire on the Mountain offers a powerful and indelible profile of a special breed of people who put their lives on the line as part of their daily jobs.

Customer Reviews:

Blowout!.......2005-02-03

It started with dry lightning storm starting 40 new fires in the Grand Junction District with 5000 lightning strikes on Storm King Mountain before the fire and a total of 9,000 strikes total.

The BLM case is that other fires threatening homes required resource immediately and the South Canyon fire was not number one on the priority list; furthermore, BLM relied on County Helicopter support and availability from Western Slope Fire Coordination Center. The author tells about a tactic used by Blume where Blume would travel to Western Slope Fire Coordination Center identified which helicopters were on the pad, return to office, and place a call for the resource; the resource could not be denyed; games people play. What was needed to prevent such games was a join network of State and Fed with a central command hierarchy that could give stronger coordination during a crisis.

Therefore, it is logically that criticism would surface directing its anger at unclear procedures between state and federal agencies delayed deployment and usage of firefighting resources like failure to by the state too put out the fire because it had not cross its zone. Furthermore, criticism centers on these delays causing the small Storm King fire to expand from 30 acres to 50 acres to a crisis. When the smoke jumpers arrived at the fire scene they were startled at the size of the fire, however their "can do" attitude may have contributed to this underestimation of the problem. Brains are critical to fire survival and not just brawn. Smoke jumper could not be expected to back down from their jobs. Therefore, management must be held accountable for the disaster and their failure to recognized a crisis emerging and don't point the finger at the smoke jumpers. The reviewing commission says, "Twelve of the 18 Watch Out Situations were not recognized, or proper action was not taken" indicating that the firefighting crew was careless.

The smoke jumpers, BLM/Forrest service misjudgment could have been avoided by putting out the fire sooner. Immediate plane drops of retardant and helicopter support could have contributed significantly. Red mud retard was delivered by plane too late. The difficult wind currents made flyovers difficult caused by sudden drops in air pressure threatening to put the plane wing into the mountain.

Lack of immediate support delayed blue hat crews from arriving at the fire sight. Good black areas were too far from the fighting crews and super human efforts by the blue hats was not enough; the second group were able to power out to I-70 into safety.

"On July of 1994 had been a drought year and a time of low humidity. The fuels were extremely dry and susceptible to rapid and explosive spread. None of the groups recognized the dense oak spread as a potential for a blowup. A blow up is the perfect combination of fuel, high winds, and specific terrain topology. Cucou was monitoring the weather conditions on July 6: he predicted a cold front with winds of 45 mph passing through the fire zone around 3:30-4:00 pm. The weather information came in advance but did not trigger and evacuation. "A major blowup did occur on July 6 beginning at 4:00 p.m. Maximum rates of spread of 18 mph and flames as high as 200 to 300 feet made escape by firefighters extremely difficult."

On the west side the fire crossed the original fireline so BLM/Forest service started a second fireline further downhill on the east side of the ridge.

"At 3:20 p.m. a dry cold front moved into the fire area. As winds and fire activity increased, the fire made several rapid runs with 100-flame lengths within the existing burn. At 4:00 p.m. the fire crossed the bottom of the west drainage and spread up the drainage on the west side. It soon spotted back across the drainage to the east side beneath the firefighters and moved onto steep slopes and into dense, highly flammable Gambel oak. Within seconds a wall of flame raced up the hill toward the firefighters on the west flank fireline. Failing to outrun the flames, 12 firefighters perished. Two helitack crew-members on top of the ridge also died when they tried to outrun the fire to the northwest. The remaining 35 firefighters survived by escaping out the east drainage or seeking a safety area and deploying their fire shelters."

The smoke jumper elite were burned, a forbidden taboo; their story shows their incredible determination to survive; they lived their on the edge and lives with each other represented a close family bonds; the Storm King blowup was similar to the Mann Gulch blowup and no correlation translated to warn against a repeat occurrence; McKay was a hero; the escape routes were too long and steep with the worst part of the path achieving a 55 degree incline as the blue hat pace dropped to 1 per hour as the fire increased its velocity to 5 miles per hour; "the Prineville Interagency Hotshot Crew (out-of state-blue hats) was not briefed on local conditions, fuels, or fire weather forecasts before being sent to the South Canyon fire."; carry tools and equipment on the escape route reduced the pace and every second made the difference between reaching the ridge and death.

The book is captivating.

Still Learning.......2004-07-31

Great reporting, decent literature although granted, few of us will ever match his father.
I know/knew many of the principals on this stage and what struck me was how well he captured them. Over and over, I'd read of another friend and easily picture them saying or doing what was in print, but now became very real.
I'm amazed by how much I missed after the official report and talking with some of those that were there. Mr. MacLean's book has rounded my education well. My oldest started fire fighting four years ago and I required reading of the report and this book so that he would understand the multiple levels that mistakes are made at.
To those that complain about faultfinding; how much fault has been found with "Fire on the Mountain"? Have there been any lawsuits, settlements or retractions? If none, then please list flaws so we can judge the validity of disputed items.
The only major flaw I saw in this book was failure to deal aggressively with the two jumpers who were not carrying fire shelters. Should have been at least a few pages devoted to that.
There is a huge reason for this book. The failing of management to report on and effectively deal with management's errors. This book fills part of that void.
Mr. MacLean, would you please do a book on Los Alamos and the Cerro Grande Fire? I was there for a couple weeks. The mistakes of the prescribed burn that got away would only be an appetizer to leads us to the corruption/incompetence of the Lab. That Lab is a far more important issue than wildland fire safety.
Whatever else, thank you for this book.

Resubtitle : One of the Versions of the Storm King Fire.......2004-01-19

Gee -- this isnt the fire I remember fighting!! How eloquent and backbiting a report from someone who wasnt even there and who, while researching this book, appears to have devoted most of his time to the federal offices groups. To spend so much energy on the inability of politicos to get along when a fire is truly fought on the ground... And the truly amazing players, the local fire officers and firefighters who stepped up to the plate after the firestorm (prior to the arrival of the overhead team)and saved homes and each other -well, John you missed it, you missed most uplifting part of the story. So this isn't the "true" story of Storm King; it is one version, by someone who wasnt even there.

A disservice to the memory of his father and firefighters.......2003-09-12

Norman Maclean, himself a former firefighter and woodsman, wrote an excellent account of the Mann Gulch fire. His work was tempered by the distance of time, benefit of age, and experience in the woods. This is obvious through his interaction with the survivors and his search for what happened on that hill.

In contrast, John Maclean's account of the South Canyon fire is riddled with accusations, contradicitions of his own statements and interpretations, and a generally muckraking tone. There is searching for truth and then there is searching for animus. I wish he had left this story to those with a little more time in boots than in Chicago.

Punctuation seemed OK - 1 star is generous.

We hiked Storm King..........2002-11-20

It was the hardest hike I have ever done for a few reasons. The book very accurately depicts the conditions of the mountain and the fire fighters working the fire. It's such a moving story about those that were lost on Storm King and their last day. Have Kleenex handy, but definitely read this book.

The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado (25th Anniversary Commemorative Edition)

Average customer rating:

Death of a Canyon
Historically valuable, photographically bland
A visual rhapsody
A heartbreakingly beautiful book
Oversized Paperback Rivals Original Sierra Club Hardback

The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado (25th Anniversary Commemorative Edition)
Eliot Porter , and David Ross Brower
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World
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Nature's Chaos
The Glen Canyon Reader
Regarding the Land: Robert Glenn Ketchum And the Legacy of Eliot Porter

ASIN: 087905249X

Book Description

Glen Canyon, now Lake Powell, is rediscovered through wonderful color images by Eliott Porter.

Customer Reviews:

Death of a Canyon.......2007-06-10

This not a book about photography and should not be purchased just for the "pictures". It is literally a memorial to the death of Glen Canyon. It is a reminder of our obligation to stay informed.

Glen Canyon Dam should never have been built and would never be built today. The American people would never stand for it. Ironically and sadly, it was the loss of Glen Canyon that inspired many to say, "Never again." When the Bureau of Reclamation attempted to follow Glen Canyon Dam with a series of dams down stream in the Grand Canyon, the agency met a solid wall of opposition. In ways, the river still flows free through the Grand Canyon because of the sacrifice that was made with Glen Canyon.

Even former staunch proponents of Glen Canyon Dam lived to regret their support. As late as 1974, Senator Barry Goldwater still felt the dam was an improvement over the untamed river. But by the mid-80s, he felt otherwise. In one interview, in fact, Goldwater lamented that if he could change just one Senate vote he'd cast in 30 years, it would have been his vote to approve construction of Glen Canyon Dam.

Sad.

Historically valuable, photographically bland.......2005-09-30

"The Place No One Knew" is the famous book that comes up anytime someone mentions the submersion of Glen Canyon. It was the Sierra Club's--and the environmental movement in general's--first major statement on the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, the flooding of Glen Canyon, and the filling of Lake Powell.
The book is a companion, or I should say the polar opposite, of "Lake Powell: Jewel of the Colorado," a book by Floyd Dominy, then Commisioner of the dam-building Bureau of Reclamation.
Both books are basically propaganda, though for seperate sides of the same issue; both feature scenic photos of a place, praising text, and pertinent quotes.
Glen Canyon was referred as to "the place no one knew" because its lack of national park status (and protection) was a major factor in its being inundated by the trapped water of the Colorado River. In actuality, a lot of people knew it--just not many with the Sierra Club. In fact, more people rafted through Glen Canyon a year than did through the Grand Canyon. C. Gregory Crampton wrote ten books about Glen Canyon before its demise, and liked to joke that THIS book should have been called "The Place the Sierra Club Didn't Know."
Which would have been more correct.
All that said, this book is a valuable historical document--for its role in the Glen Canyon controversy, and for its role in this century's environmental movement.
But it's not that good of a book. The photos are below average: many have a grainy, low quality-feel to them, and most of them are of very small things, and fail to give the true scope and grandeur of what Glen Canyon was. They are not Eliot Porter's best work, and some of the photos aren't even of Glen Canyon, but of other red rock from other places in Utah. (That's true, believe it or not, and it's well-documented.)
The quotes that accompany the photos are all right, but they're not amazing, they won't make you jump up.
A far, far better book featuring photos of Glen Canyon is Eleanor Inskip's "The Colorado River Through Glen Canyon: Before Lake Powell." Check it out.
And a far, far better collection of Eiliot Porter's is "Eliot Porter's Southwest." It's full of gorgeous black and white images from all over the Interior West.

A visual rhapsody.......2003-06-06

I got a copy of Eliot Porter's Glen Canyon book after reading Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire," a chapter of which is devoted to a downriver rafting trip along this stretch of the Colorado River just before the dam was built. While Abbey's descriptions are vivid, I wanted to see with my own eyes what he was describing. And Porter's camera is the closest you can get to doing that today.

His pictures are, of course, not the real thing, but they are about as breathtaking as photography can be. The colors, textures, reflections, and the play of light and shadow are wonderful, and each photograph is distinctly different. His own description of the canyon's display of color and light in the introductory essay "The Living Canyon" give an instructive insight into the eye of the photographer. His awareness of what he is looking at and his ways of choosing to look help the reader to see even more in the 80 photographs that follow.

While some of the photographs capture the monumental scale of the canyon walls and formations, many focus on the myriad surfaces that are revealed to the eye: erosion patterns, lichen, rippling water flow, the dark streaking mineral stains extending from seeps, the rough texture of weathered sandstone in glancing sunlight, smooth river stones, the layered stripes of exposed sediment, the trickling spread of water falling from overhead springs, the hanging tapestry coloration of the walls, whorled and striated rock, dry sand. There are also photographs of plants: moonflower, maidenhair fern, willow, tamarisk, redbud, columbine, cane. Above all, there is the rich array of colors, capturing a great variety of moods and attitudes.

Porter was recognized for his photography of birds, and while there are no birds visible in these photographs, his introductory essay makes mention of them, and when looked at with that awareness, many of the pictures also seem to capture a sense of "air space" for flight. Before turning to photography, Porter was a Harvard professor of biochemistry and bacteriology, and it's interesting to see the somewhat dispassionate eye of the scientist in the way he uses the camera. While the story of Glen Canyon may induce sorrow or anger, the photographs are strong for their lack of sentimentality.

The pictures also excite a curiosity about the geology of the river, and the book concludes with a short essay describing how the canyon walls reveal the geological ages that have gone into forming this part of the earth, going back millions of years. The book also includes a catalog of all the plants and animals that inhabited Glen Canyon before its inundation. Altogether, with its quotes from other writers, including Loren Eiseley, Joseph Wood Krutch, Wallace Stegner, and members of John Wesley Powell's expedition in the 19th century, this book is a fitting record of a great lost national treasure.

A heartbreakingly beautiful book.......2002-11-13

These photographs are just about all that is left of Glen Canyon. After the Sierra Club and other environmentalists had lost the battle to prevent the Glen Canyon River Dam from being built, Eliot Porter took this extraordinary series of photographs to memorialize the gorgeous area that has been lost forever. Few people at the time knew much about the Canyon. It was too remote, too difficult to get to. Although it was one of the areas that John Wesley Powell found most beautiful in his first expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers, no access roads or paths were ever built to make it possible for many people to view the areas firsthand. As a result, very few people knew precisely what we were about to lose.

The tragedy is that these areas are really, truly are gone. Even if the Glen Canyon River Dam were magically removed, many of the areas viewed in these gorgeous photographs have already been silted up. The Green and Colorado Rivers carry extreme quantities of minerals, and when the dam stops the flow to form a reservoir, they tend to drop to the bottom. All dams have a limited life. They don't last for as long as one might imagine. Basically, they create a new landmass behind them over the course of a century or so. Many of the spots photographed in these pictures are now solid earth.

One would hope that such beautiful photographs as these, photos that create tremendous longing for what we have already lost, would make us more concerned to preserve what is left. But with the current presidency even today as I write this review opening the national parks to snowmobiles and with people speculating that there will be new attempts to open arctic areas in Alaska to oil exploration, we can't assume that in the least. These photographs may end up being emblematic of all endangered areas, of the ongoing fragility of all of nature.

Oversized Paperback Rivals Original Sierra Club Hardback.......2000-08-13

I was expecting a reprint similar to the small-sized Ballantine issue of the late 1960s. I was surprised to receive a book almost as large as the original Sierra Club hardback! The color in several of the photographs is even better than in the original (and difficult to find/very expensive) book, thanks in part to the cooperation of the museum which received Porter's works as a bequest.

The Grand: The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon a Photo Journey

Average customer rating:

Awesome - Grand Canyon Pictures
The Grand: The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon
Magnificent!
Amazing photographs
Great photography, great book

The Grand: The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon a Photo Journey
Steve Miller
Manufacturer: Wilderness Press/Grand Canyon Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Canyon

ASIN: 0899973671

Book Description

The Grand: The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, a Photo Journey follows the river from Lees Ferry to Mile 236 with more than 300 spectacular color pictures and expert commentary. Of the millions of people that visit the Grand Canyon every year, only a handful of them leave the rim and actually get to experience the river and inside of the canyon up close. With over 30 years of experience rafting the Colorado, photographer Steve Miller presents the Canyon from the unique perspective that only a rafter can, leading you on a mile-by-mile journey to see and learn about the geologic formations, wildlife (including rafters!), flora, trailside views, and, of course, the moods of the water, sky, and the canyon walls.The Grand is published in partnership with the Grand Canyon Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing visitors' understanding and appreciation of the Grand Canyon.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome - Grand Canyon Pictures.......2007-01-12

I recently purchased this book for my boss who when white water rafting in the Grand Canyon. He loved the book, he related to alot of the pictures and was happy to relive the moment again.

The Grand: The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.......2006-11-05

This is a book I highly recommend to all my friends who are contemplating a trip down the Colorado in the Grand Canyon. After spending two weeks on a raft trip in the Grand Canyon, this is one of the best guides I have seen about the trip, complete with pictures.

Magnificent!.......2006-01-25

What a treat it is to read this book! Page after page of glorious photographs beckon with their beauty. The pictures capture a wide range of scenes--from the river to its vegetation, animals and canyons. A thoroughly enjoyable book to be read and reread.

Amazing photographs.......2005-11-29

This book has page after page of remarkable, vibrant photographs. From the extraordinary landscape, to the animals that inhabit the surroundings, to people running wild rapids--this book offers more than just a glimpse into the Grand Canyon. An absolute must-have for everyone-- be it nature lovers, river runners, or if you just want to admire the scenery, I can highly recommend this book!

Great photography, great book.......2005-11-17

This is a unique book on the Grand Canyon. This book has beautiful pictures of the Grand Canyon seen through the eyes of a river runner. View some of the lush green side canyons that are accessible only from the river. This book is not only gorgeous to look at, it also contains geologic history and an interesting mile by mile narrative of rapids and geology that are viewed from the river. A must have, and great gift for any river enthusiast.

Average customer rating:

Very informative guide
Best single "naturalist" reference for canyon county...
Excellent all-in-one guide
A Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country

Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country
David B. Williams
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Compass American Guides: American Southwest, 3rd Edition (Compass American Guides)
Desert Solitaire
Canyon Country Wildflowers: Including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Four Corners: History, Land, and People of the Desert Southwest
The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 1560447834

Book Description

Comprehensive and beautifully illustrated trailside refernce to plants, animals, and geology of an area that includes nine national parks and monuments

Customer Reviews:

Very informative guide.......2005-09-24

I recently visited Arches and Moab for the first time and picked up this book while down there. This is a great book to carry in your pack as you hike or bike and generally explore the area. There were some facets that I felt were lacking. I found a few plants that I could not identify using this guide, and the I wish that there would have been information regarding seedlings of plants listed in the book. Other than that this is a great book to carry with you, it is a little wide to carry in a pocket, but great for packs and has a very sturdy binding.

Best single "naturalist" reference for canyon county..........2004-04-22

If you can only take one book with you to the Colorado Plateau, this is it! It covers all the basics--wildflowers, animals and geology, as well as clear information and illustrations on topics such as cryptobiotic soil, desert varnish, pothole life and hanging gardens. It also has information on cacti, wildflowers, reptiles, birds, mammals and their tracks. For an "all-in-one" type of book, this is fabulous. After years and a dozen backcountry trips to the San Rafael Swell area in Utah, this is the book we grab when we want more information. It is the only book we put in one of our packs when we go on a hike or mountain bike ride. On a recent trip with family members who have never been to the area-- the book was indispensible. As we came across hanging gardens, potholes, cryptobiotic soil, desert varnish, lizards, bats, cacti, and wildflowers-- this guide provided the information we wanted, and it explained everything much better and more concisely than we could have done. For people interested in detailed information on specific topics like wildflowers or reptiles, then a more comprehensive guide would be a good companion to "A Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country". (If you want information on hiking or canyoneering, then I would recommend books by Steve Allen and Michael Kelsy.) If you are going to the Colorado Plateau, take this book with you.

Excellent all-in-one guide.......2001-08-31

"A Naturalist's Guide to the Canyon Country" is an excellent overview of the natural history of the Colorado Plateau, and especially valuable for first time visitors and amateur naturalists. When my sister brought her family to visit this past June, we consulted this book every hour of every day. The adults and the children all found it invaluable for both identifying plants and animals and learning something about their life history. No, the guide is not all-encompassing, but most of the major players are here. I especially appreciated the inclusion of the little guys- especially the beetles lizards! We also appreciated the extremely sturdy binding, which held up well against all of the abuses that a 9-year-old could think of.

A Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country.......2000-08-18

I have been visiting the four-corners every summer for 25 years and this is one of the most delightful books I have seen yet! In fact I just returned from my four-week summer 2000 trip and this Guide was my constant companion. Of the many guides and books I have collected over the years, this was the one that I carried in my Jeep, kept with me in my tent, and consulted on my hikes. As an academic biologist, I appreciate the accurate (and beautiful) paintings of the animals and plants that I routinely encounter on the Colorado Plateau. The selection of species is representative of those that a visitor will likely see.

And the one thing that distinguishes this guide from the many others I have is the inclusion of interesting, yet concise, information about the different species pictured. Many guides merely help identify, while this one tells you something about what is identified. Each night above my desert tent a common nighthawk performed as the Guide described: "While they dive and climb during courtship, wind moving across their wing feathers produces a 'booming' sound. This has led to another common name: bullblasts." So much better than just color, pattern, length, scientific name.

Book Description

The Grand Canyon continues to be the most popular of our national parks. While millions gaze at its cliffs each year, only 15,000 float through the canyon on the Colorado River. A landmark portrait of the Grand Canyon, this is the only photography book to document this amazing journey from river level. Now this classic is back in print, with an updated preface and introduction and a dozen new photographs. A journal in photos and words, The Hidden Canyon captures the desert landscape and the thrill of the rapids. Edward Abbey’s journal—filled with wry humor and respect for the canyon—describes the journey as the dories (small wooden boats) alternately float and charge through the breathtaking landscapes and some of the roughest white water in North America.
Visit the author's site at: www.johnblaustein.com.

Customer Reviews:

A River Journey.......2007-01-05

I've been down part of the Colorado from Diamond Creek to Lake Mead but have never had the means or opportunity to see the rest at water's edge. Ed Abbey's text and John Blaustein's photos take me on a vicarious trip that brings back all the excitement of white water and the awsome experience of gazing up and up at the canyon's walls that many only view from the rim. It's a different canyon down there and a river journey allows me to see it all and remember the feel of ancient schist and the plaintive song of the canyon wren. It's a book to read and look at again and again even if you can never visit or revisit the river itself.

The Hidden Canyon: A River Journey.......2006-11-05

As a person how recently did a two week raft trip down the Grand Canyon, I can say that this book visually caputures the essence of the experience! The pictures are wonderful. I have recommended it to my rafting friends as well as some Grand Canyon river guides.

The Hidden Canyon : A River Journey.......2006-02-27

Having done the Colorado in a private raft, The Hidden Canyon absolutely thrilled me - again - as much with its elegant pictures as with Edward Abbey's flat-out-fun narration.

AWE INSPIRING!!.......1999-07-28

Having rafted the Colorado myself 2 years ago, this was a perfect souvenir-reminder of my trip. The photos in particular are exquisite - some I have no idea how he managed to capture without ending up in the river himself. I lost my Pentax to the very first rapid! This book definitely gives a sense of what the Canyon, the river, and the rapids are like. Makes me want to go back!

Breathtaking.......1999-07-13

I have traveled through the Grand Canyon many times, both on the river and on the trails. John Blaustein has not only been able to capture the beauty of the canyon but also the soul of the river it contains. Abbey's journal is a fine compliment to the pulchritude of the pictures.

Down The Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon

Average customer rating:

To Be The First Through The Then Unknown Colorado....
Too many digressions ...
Excellent read
Down the Great Unknown
I would much rather read this than John Wesley Powell's actual book.

Down The Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
Edward Dolnick
Manufacturer: HarperAudio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 0060002034
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Amazon.com

Edward Dolnick's Down the Great Unknown depicts the "last epic journey on American soil," John Wesley Powell's exploration of the Grand Canyon and the fulminating, carnivorous Colorado River. The book, a model of precision, clarity, and serene passion, outshines, arguably, its bestselling brother-volume, Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage.

On May 24, 1869, Powell, an ambitious, autocratic, one-armed Civil War veteran and amateur scientist, and a casually recruited crew of nine--without a lick of white water experience--embarked from an obscure railroad stop in the Wyoming Territory to travel through a region "scarcely better known than Atlantis." Ninety-nine days, 1,000 miles and nearly 500 rapids later, six of the men came ashore in Arizona--the first humans to run the waters of the Grand Canyon. Dolnick tells this story of courage, naiveté, hardship, and petty squabbling simply and authoritatively using entries from the men's journals, deft overviews (we always know where we are), and short science, history, and psychology lessons, as well as the prodigious knowledge of present-day river runners and his own first-hand observations. His prose carries the day: Powell looks like a "stick of beef jerky adorned with whiskers," the boats are "walnut shells," which in rapids are little better than "ladybugs caught in a hose's blast" or "drunks trying to negotiate a revolving door," while the river is a "taunting bully," a "colossal mugger," a "sumo wrestler smothering a kitten," and a notable rock formation looks like what might happen if "Edward Gorey had designed the Bat Cave."

Down the Great Unknown brushes against perfection. This is history written as it should be--and too rarely is: enthusiastic, rigorous, painterly, gloriously free of both pedantry and hyperbole. --H. O'Billovitch

Book Description

On May 24, 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran named John Wesley Powell and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. No one had ever explored the fabled Grand Canyon, to adventurers of that era a region almost as mysterious as Atlantis -- and as perilous.

The ten men set out down the mighty Colorado River in wooden rowboats. Six survived. Drawing on rarely examined diaries and journals. Down the Great Unknown is the first book to tell the full, true story.

Customer Reviews:

To Be The First Through The Then Unknown Colorado...........2007-08-27

I've "rafted" the upper Colorado.

Of course that was in a motorized raft, led by experienced pilots, with a map and they did all the cooking and if something really bad happened the ranger service could chopper in and get me (Hey, I *did* hike out from Phantom Ranch)

I can't conceive of doing it in an ungainly rowboat, without a steering oar, having little provisions, without a map or even knowledge of the river (what happens if you hit a 100 ft fall and nowhere to portage?), and where a broken ankle would have meant an almost certain death -- and with one arm.

Truthfully, its amazing this exposition survived.

Dolnick weaves in Powell's embellished account with the other expedition journals to craft a balanced account of the expedition, along with correlating the trip with known features of the canyon. Dolnick describes the tensions within the team -- categorizes their moves, good and bad and tracks their trailblazing passage.

Excellent read.

Too many digressions ..........2007-08-20

This is a pretty decent book for the newcomer who has never read anything about Powell. I found it less entertaining than my fellow reviewers though, as it follows the tedium of the daily journals a little too closely. I also found the narrative to be interspersed with too many digressions. These range from opinions of the Green/Colorado river by modern rafting experts to accounts of other early rafting expeditions, and a lengthy 2-chapter segment on the American Civil war and Battle of Shiloh. This latter exercise contributes nothing to the book, by the way! The reader is also left in the dark about the Native American peoples, Mormon settlers, and miners who inhabited this area at the same point in time ... Really, it is as if the expedition were done in a vacuum. Even worse was the lack of information on 9 of the 10 men who took part in the expedition. While there is more than enough about John Wesley Powell, readers get only sketchy details about the lives of the other 9 men. Even the simplest details like where these men were born is left out, nor are we given much about the kinds of lives they lived (careers, families, etc.) prior to the expedition (and precious little afterwards as well). Although 6 of these 9 men were, like Powell, fellow Union veterans of the Civil War, but we get nothing about their wartime experiences! We also have no clue what motivated them to join this expedition. This oversight would not doubt have suited the egotistical Powell, but is a serious oversight for a modern historian.

Excellent read.......2007-08-04

I enjoyed this book very much. So much that I have loaned it to family and friends to enjoy.

Down the Great Unknown.......2006-03-19

This book was informative but not a real "page turner". The author went off on tangents often that took away from the story at hand. It was not a bad book, but it was not full of the adventure that you would have expected the trip to have been.

I would much rather read this than John Wesley Powell's actual book........2005-09-29

"Down the Great Unknown" is a terrific retelling of John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition down the Colorado River. The book's author brings to life all of the expedition's more minor (and usually overlooked) characters, and gives the reader a great sense of the danger of the river and the grandeur of the canyons.
The author has an excellent sense of history, and does a wonderful job of tying all his sources together. The book also includes a detailed look at how John Wesley Powell lost his arm, and an examination of all the possibilities of what could have happened to the three men who abandoned the expedition.
If I had any objections to this book, it would be that the author dismisses too quickly the real possibility that a man named James White may have gone down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon alone two years before Powell did. (I hope the author has since read "Hell or High Water," a well-researched book on that subject.)
Overall though, this is a great read, and is much better written and much more interesting than even Powell's account. I would recommend it to any fan of adventure writing, and to any fan of the West.

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