Here Today Vanishing Species

Book Description

The Glen Canyon region of southern Utah is a desert paradise of mesas, buttes, slickrock canyons, and boundless solitude. Much of the region is roadless, and the best way to explore this wilderness is to hike it. In Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Glen Canyon Region, you will find 59 detailed hike descriptions covering hundreds of miles of trails and canyoneering routes in this vast region. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Grand Gulch, Dark Canyon, Natural Bridges National Monument, and Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness are all included. This book provides detailed maps and tips on desert safety, coping with heat and dehydration, backcountry travel, driving remote desert roads, trailhead access and services. Whether you're a casual day hiker or a seasoned trekker, use Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Glen Canyon Region to lead you on a journey through the incredible beauty of this landscape.

Customer Reviews:

Maps need improvement, but book is fine.......2007-10-14

We used Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Glen Canyon Region for several hikes this summer and, despite some shortcomings, I would recommend it.
The trail descriptions are pretty realistic and give a good idea of what to expect on the hike. Based on these descriptions we picked our hikes and were never disappointed. The book describes the general character of the terrain, what you can expect to see, how difficult the hike is likely to be, etc., followed by a decent trail description.
Where the book needs improvement are the maps. The maps are OK to get a general idea, but NOT A SUBSTITUTE for proper planning of your trip. First they are a bit simplified (which is OK), second they are sometimes wrong (which can get you into trouble). The map for the Boulder Mail Trail, for example, has an incorrect scale bar which makes the hike appear much shorter than it really is (the text gives the correct information).
However, using this book as the sole information for your hike is not the smartest thing to begin with. In combination with the deLorme (or Benchmark) Utah Atlas and Gazetteer and a series of large scale topographic maps (USGS, Trails Illustrated) we never had any issues finding the trailhead or loosing the trail. So, consider this and similar books as a source of ideas, but do your homework, get the right maps etc. and you'll be fine.

Needs better maps.......2005-06-27

On trying to follow the guide to one of the hikes, the Yellow Rock/Box of Paria River, we were fortunate to meet a BLM ranger as we were about to set out. It became clear that we weren't where we thought we were, and had we continued on, would have entered a confusing and unmarked maze of canyons instead of the entrance to the Box. This is the fault of this book - the maps are poorly labeled and confusing, and the directions (which usually start out by referring you back to some other hike, a poor strategy for a guide book) were, in this instance, just plain wrong, giving incorrect mileage to the point where we should have been. The two locator maps at the front of the book are especially bad, the first oriented perpendicular to the other covering the east part of the region, the second one showing the western part. They should be combined into one map across both pages, show the monument and park boundaries and have some kind of legend, along with better labels.
What we ended up using as a reference for the rest of the trip, on which we did four hikes, was, in fact, a place mat from a breakfast place in Escalante, which turned out to be much better organized, concise and accurate. On the front is an easy-to-understand map, clearly labeled, and on the back are brief descriptions of the principal backroads and the hikes along each one. This handy little sheet is actually easily found in most businesses in the area, for free.
Of course, a restaurant placemat doesn't give the level of detail contained in Mr. Adkison's book, which has several useful features, including good categorical summaries for each hike such as elevation gain and loss (including a line graph depicting this), difficulty ratings, hiking time, etc. It was inaccurate in one of those categories for the Yellow Rock hike, stating that no permit was required; the ranger corrected us on this count as well.
If this book were reorganized in the same manner as the place mat, with the good map of the back roads - there are several key ones: The Burr Trail, Hell's Backbone, and Cottonwood Canyon - and then listed the hikes attainable from each one, then it would be a lot more useful.

Best Easy Day Hikes Grand Staircase/Escalante & the Glen Canyon Region

Average customer rating:

Good for ideas, but not as a true "guide" book
Excellent for What it Covers
The Grand Escalante

Best Easy Day Hikes Grand Staircase/Escalante & the Glen Canyon Region
Ron Adkison
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560446501

Book Description

Hikes varying from half-hour strolls to full-day adventures, this guidebook is for everyone, including families.

Customer Reviews:

Good for ideas, but not as a true "guide" book.......2007-02-13

This book is divided into three sections; Cedar Mesa in SW Utah, The Escalante Canyon and Grand Staircase-Paria Canyon. The Escalante-Grand Staircase hikes range in length and difficultly. Included are the following hikes:
Upper calf Creek Falls -2m
Lower Calf Creek Falls-6.2m
Devils Garden-.07m
Fortymile Ridge to Sunset Arch-3m
Willow Gulch to Broken Bow Arrow-4m
Kodachrome Basin's Panorama Trail-2.9-5.4m
Cottonwood Canyon Narrows-3m
Willis Creek Narrows-4.8m
Lick Wash-8m
Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch-3.4m
and 9 hikes in the SW area of Utah

This book might be good for getting ideas on where to hike, but some of the information contained in it is not accurate, or lacks sufficient detail. For example, the author fails to mention that a permit to hike Wire pass to Buckskin Gulch must usually be obtained 3 months ahead of time. Also, the directions to Sunset Arch are different than any other guide book. (?) He also fails in giving accurate campground information. There are many more camping opportunities than what he mentions. I would advise consulting other guide books before setting off on any of the hikes and would not use this book for trip planning.

Excellent for What it Covers.......2005-01-20

This is a streamlined version of Adkison's lengthier book about the national monument, but is perfect for the short hikes in this beautiful region. It has everything a pocket guidebook should have: clear descriptions, mileage, elevations, maps, and ratings. This is my favorite guidebook for the Grand Staircase whenever I do short hikes.

The Grand Escalante.......2000-07-13

Look interesting and informative for people who are planning to go to Escalante soon. Good resource. I saw Bryce and Zion Parks on my first trip to Utah- can't wait to go back The escalante looked so beautiful even though I only saw part of it on the way to Capitol Reef National Park

Average customer rating:

A Must for Your Fanny Pack
Very accurate
A Very Nice and Quite Usable Guidebook
Excellent and extremely useful information

Hiking The Escalante
Rudi Lambrechts
Manufacturer: University of Utah Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0874806313

Customer Reviews:

A Must for Your Fanny Pack.......2002-07-03

Hiking the Escalante Wilderness can get very confusing even if you are proficient at the use of USGS topo maps. Hence, whenever I have gone I have taken this book. He devoted a lot of time to not only giving you a much-needed guidebook, but also to giving you a lot of history, biology, botany, and even deals with hundreds of side canyons/routes... But some of the information might be outdated (e.g. the pools in Death Hollow) and his descriptions that seem clear can be vague (how to safely scale the last 50 yards to Phipps arch); there are other, wrong, places that look exactly as he describes the correct place (e.g, finding the mail route west and out of Death Hollow - there is a bend lower in the creek that looks the same, but is not the route). He also relies heavily upon his odometer readings to find trailheads and all car odometers don't jive with his readings.

Very accurate.......2001-01-30

Having hiked the Escalante canyons a lot before reading this book, I found upon reading it that the book seemed to match my memory of places fairly exactly. That doesn't mean a lot, so I took it with me on a few of the more backcountry trips and found it so extremely accurate and useful that I am now using it as the primary information source for some trips to areas that are new to me in the Escalante region. I'd definitely recommend this book.

A Very Nice and Quite Usable Guidebook.......2000-03-12

The Escalante is a vast area of great charms. This is a nice hiking guide to some of the more accessible areas of the Escalante. These hikes are not for the faint of heart - they require good backcountry skills. What makes the book truly great is Rudi's natural history background. Extensive drawings and text add richness to our visits to the red rock country of the Escalante. 43 hikes listed, drawings, maps and many b&w photographs.

Excellent and extremely useful information.......1999-11-21

I not only enjoyed reading this book, but found it extremely useful in planning my first trip to the Grand Staircase region. It gave me an accurate idea what to expect from each trail.

Average customer rating:

Steve Allen's best book
Young Turk
Much Needed Info for the Area, but lacks
Phenomenal Masterwork of Backcountry Description
An excellent, informative, and realistic guide

Canyoneering 3 (Canyoneering)
Steve Allen
Manufacturer: University of Utah Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Rayovac SPHLTLED 3-in-1 LED Head-Lite

ASIN: 0874805457

Amazon.com

Steve Allen describes the Escalante National Monument as "a twisted, complex web of sandstone; a jigsaw puzzle of canyons, draws, gorges and washes." His guide, Canyoneering 3, is the latest installment in a series that helps debunk myths of desert hiking being little more than strolling over flat, sandy landscapes. Allen walks the reader through 23 hikes with necessarily wordy descriptions, proving that Escalante is as complicated as it is picturesque. The author is regarded as a legend among canyoneers; you couldn't find a better tour guide to steer you through. --Ben Tiffany

Customer Reviews:

Steve Allen's best book.......2007-05-18

I enjoyed this book much better than Canyoneering 1 and 2 (which are still OK to good). Everything a guidebook should be.

Young Turk.......2005-01-03

If you have not used a Steve Allen guidebook before, they are indispensable in Canyon Country. His love of these places is evident in the care with which he writes. Steve has been hiking the Colorado Plateau for over 15 years now extensively and much of that time was spent researching this guidebook for the Escalante area. You won't find routes listed in here that were only hiked a single time, they were hiked, reworked, and double-checked many times. Canyoneering is hard core, and the routes into and out of the canyons are areas to easily get lost in. Good directions and good maps are a must. Steve's books also have lots of interesting tid bits on local and natural history. Check out Canyoneering I and II if you like this one.

Much Needed Info for the Area, but lacks.......2002-02-26

A much needed trail guide, but I'm concerned that those who use this book will end up trampling the fragile Escalante terrain. I tried following a couple of his routes (quite accurate), but I'm afraid after a few years these will be trodden sand pits. The maps have a lot to be desired, but that's why we bring topos', right?

Phenomenal Masterwork of Backcountry Description.......2000-03-12

Oh My God. Having delved into this book in preparation for an upcoming week in the Escalante, I am bowled over by the breadth and depth of this phenomenal book. Amazing. This covers in fine detail backcountry travel routes in the very large and very wild Escalante area. Does not even compare to any other guide I have ever seen. There is such a depth of detail... Plus Steve's enthusiasm for the southlands exudes from the text.

This is an extraordinary book. Emphasis is on longer adventures, but there are also good day trips. Folks looking for placid strolls down well developed trails should probably look elsewhere. Not only are there few developed trails in the Escalante, but they are not described here.

An excellent, informative, and realistic guide.......1999-06-17

This interesting book covers the Escalante area well. Especially useful are the road/milage accounts, as reaching the trailheads is an adventure in itself !

Trail Guide to Grand Staircase-Escalante

Average customer rating:

Outstanding guide to a the whole region
Poor Quality Book
Decent Guide
Good, but there are better out there
Less Helpful than the Other Guidebooks

Trail Guide to Grand Staircase-Escalante
David Urmann
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0879058854

Book Description

Devil's Garden, Death Hollow, Wolverine Creek--such names suggest the wildness of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Designed for both the drive-through traveler and those already somewhat familiar with the monument, this definitive guide leads adventurers through beautiful but challenging landscapes, and details hikes, campgrounds, and Indian ruins.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding guide to a the whole region.......2007-05-19

This is an outstanding guide to the huge region encompassed by the GSENM. On a number of earlier trips I had spent a total of at least three weeks backpacking along the Escalante River and its sidecanyons, but had never visited the Grand Staircase or the Kaiparowits Plateau. I just returned from two weeks backpacking and car camping in the latter two regions.

Urmann's book provided an excellent overview of the region. It was sufficiently detailed so that one could make effective use of it to locate various features, but not so detailed that one could not read through it easily to get an overview. (Of course, for backpacking one should alway use topo maps. No guidebook can be that detailed.)

I first read the about the regions with which I am familiar to "calibrate" the book. I found it remarkably accurate. Throughout I found very few errors (one a misspelling, one a mileage along a road). I recommend it highly as the best book from which to learn what is available to see and do in this enormous region.

Poor Quality Book.......2007-04-06

The bad news:
-- The few maps are woefully inadequate.
-- In this computer age, there is NO EXCUSE to omit an index.
-- Uninspired and thin writeups.
-- No trail summary, listing in one place a table of all the hikes with length, difficulty, elevation change, ... for each.

The good news:
-- This hiking book won't increase hiker density, meaning increased chance of solitude.
-- It is indeed small and portable.

Decent Guide.......2007-01-30

I used this, along with resources on the internet, to plan a couple of day hikes to Grand Staircase National Monument last year. It seemed to be a decent guide and helped us pick out a nice hike in Lick Wash. I don't generally use guide books on the hike itself and I always refer to resources on the web as well, so I might not be best person to review this. If you are just trying to decide where to hike and figure out what options you have in the are you are in, I would recommend this book. (The Monument covers a pretty large area - we were staying in Page, AZ, so we stuck to the southermost hikes). I just wish we had more time to hike the area while we were there.

Good, but there are better out there.......2006-03-16

I got this, then ultimately ended up getting the Falcon Guide book instead, which had almost all of the same hikes and was better written/thought out. Still, this is a good book, but the Falcon Guide is better.

Less Helpful than the Other Guidebooks.......2005-01-20

As a lover of the region, frequent visitor, and avid hiker and photographer, I own several of the guidebooks for the Grand Staircase. After reading the favorable review of this Trail Guide, I ordered the book from Amazon, without ever actually perusing it in advance. The good things about the book are its compact size and introductory chapter for background information. The written directions to the trailheads are also good, but there are major shortcomings in the book, all of which are frustrating when you are actually out in the field trying to find something the book claims to be guiding you toward. There is no index at all in the back of the book, there are not even the simplest trail maps at all, and the descriptions are severely lacking for some of the trails. For example, the information about the hike to the One Hundred-Hand Panel of pictographs on page 47 simply says, "it is possible to hike up to the pictographs...but be sure not to cross the fence near the trailhead...Once the pictograph panel is found..." Those directions are woefully inadequate in directing somebody to find the panels. At other trails, the descriptions are sketchy and very brief in comparison to what other guidebooks have about the same trail. I would recommend Ron Adkison's "Best Easy Day Hikes" and Steve Allen's "Canyoneering" instead of this one.

Canyons of the Escalante : information and hiking guide (SuDoc I 29.9/2:ES 1)

Average customer rating:

Canyons of the Escalante : information and hiking guide (SuDoc I 29.9/2:ES 1)
U.S. Dept of Interior
Manufacturer: National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of Interior
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00011442S

Book Description

Today we find him in a high-level physics report, illustrating phenomena that can't be described in ordinary technical terms. He appears in psychology textbooks, illuminating the workings of the mind in a way no straightforward explanation can.

In three definitive volumes (The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin, The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin and The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin) Idries Shah takes us to the very heart of this mysterious mentor, the Mulla Nasrudin. Skillful contemporary retellings of hundreds of collected stories and sayings bring the unmistakable--often backhanded--wisdom, wit and charm of the timeless jokester to life.

The Mulla and his stories appear in literature and oral traditions from the Middle East to Greece, Russia, France--even China. Many nations claim Nasrudin as a native son, but nobody really knows who he was or where he came from.

According to a legend dating from at least the 13th century, Nasrudin was snatched as a schoolboy from the clutches of the "Old Villain"--the crude system of thought that ensnares man--to carry through the ages the message of how to escape. He was chosen because he could make people laugh, and humor has a way of slipping through the cracks of the most rigid thinking habits.

Acclaimed as humorous masterpieces, as collections of the finest jokes, as priceless gift books, and for hundreds "enchanted tales," this folklore figure's antics have also been divined as "mirroring the antics of the mind." The jokes are, as Idries Shah notes, "perfectly designed models for isolating and holding distortions of the mind which so often pass for reasonable behavior." Therefore they have a double use: when the jokes have been enjoyed, their psychological significance starts to sink in.

In fact, for many centuries they have been studied in Sufi circles for their hidden wisdom. They are used as teaching exercises, in part to momentarily "freeze" situations in which states of mind can be recognized. The key to the philosophic significance of the Nasrudin jokes is given in Idries Shah's book The Sufis and a complete system of mystical training based upon them was described in the Hibbert Journal.

In these delightful volumes, Shah not only gives the Mulla a proper vehicle for our times, he proves that the centuries-old stories and quips of Nasrudin are still some of the funniest jokes in the world.

Customer Reviews:

The wisecracking Sufi makes for fun thought provoking reading........2006-08-28

I very much enjoyed this book and its illustrations. I could have done without some of the modern input. The Mullah Nasrudin lived many centuries ago and is credited with a collection of humorous stories about the mundane aspects of life. These stories could be compared somewhat to the Zen koans, only I found them more enjoyable. My favorite Nasrudin stories, however, are those that were told to me. This book is also available in Spanish as Las ocurrencias del incredible mula Nasrudin.

The modern equivalent would be Yogi Berra - .......2006-01-25

The exploits of Mulla Nasrudin are supposed to demonstrate issues of sufism in practice, and it may well do, i don't know much about sufism, but this is quite a nice little book nevertheless.

These are very short tales - not much longer than Aesop's fables and they demonstrate human falibility and strength on a number of different levels inspiring great thought.

Loved the early editions with the illustrations by Richard Williams, but this was a nice edition

For instance the tale of Nasrudin becoming scared when seeing riders on the rode, imagining he would be captured by them and sold into slavery he flees over a nearby wall. the good Travellers who cannot understand the action pursue him to make sure he is all right and find him cowering in a grave. Nasrudin observes he fled there because of them and they came to the grave because of him. On the surface a strange tale and yet the deeper meaning of motivations unravels a whole new set of concepts to consider.

This reminds me of some of the sayings of yogi berra, they are shorter but in fact same appealing levels of meaning to them that question our understanding of events.

Poor translation........2005-07-18

This book suffers from a very poor translation to English. I think it has a lot to do with the choices of words. Many times I found that if the author rephrased certain sentences then a joke and a moral would make much more sense. Also, some of the short stories contain illogically connected sentences thus really doing a trick on the meaning of a joke that author was trying to translate. All these is very sad because the stories of Nasrudin can be a real delight. I guess I will have to find a better book.

A blast of a read!.......2002-07-17

The trend during the last few years towards stories about stupid people brought us such non-classics (but entertaining reads) as "The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said", "The Darwin Awards", and others. But what few people know is that such stories were circulating 1000 years ago in the Sufi storytelling tradition.
These stories are the equivalent of our "Urban Legends". Oddly enough, as I read this, I wish that I could view the world in such simple ways as the Mulla Nasrudin, who is the character in all these stories. His views, often twisted, very often completely at odds with his surroundings, are also very pragmatic, and make perfect sense in his mind.

These stories are tremendous fun, and rather thought-provoking.
Enjoy!

Nasrudin ain't what he used to be..........2002-06-18

Shah's renderings of the stories of the folk character, Nasrudin (aka Nasruddin) were much more charming in the early editions when they were illuminated by the clever pen-and-ink illustrations of the animator Richard Williams. Without those illustrations, these editions are dry and pedantic.

Book Description

Looney Tunes: Back In Action! doesn't skimp on the action part. This calendar concentrates on the brightly colored and kinetic scenes of the $100 million blockbuster.

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