This book has been out of print for almost a year because the author is working on a new edition. It is one of the best guides on trails, geology and plants in the Eastern Sierra. I have had countless people ask for it at the Visitor Center where I work. We are expecting the new edition sometime in August. It is the best and only reference for hiking trails in the Eastern Sierra. For Genny Smith's reference to the Owen's Valley area (Bishop Area), please refer to the book: "The Deepest Valley."

Yes, you read that correctly. This guide is so brittle and dry it's extremely frustrating. The Devil's Postpile area of Mammoth has a trailhead which leads you to heaven, literally. The Agnew Meadows and PCT criss-cross this area and these trails are as beautiful as any place in this hemisphere. Would you know it from this overly technical, ZZZZ-ville narrative? Nope. The authors take a place so astoundingly beautiful and reduce it to just another locale, a sort of ho-hum place you might encounter while strolling in the plains of Kansas. But Mammoth is not just any place, it's a spectacular place, a hiking paradise, a one of a kind wonder!

The map is excellent but doesn't justify the purchase of this book. The map itself is still current, even though it was produced in 1927. The mountains haven't changed, but boy, have the trailheads changed. There is also a shuttle system implemented in the past year and it will cost you $14 per couple to hit these trailhead, unless you want to ride the bus. This is vital information which is not included in this book.

To sum up: see Mammoth and hike it for yourself. Don't put any credence in this outdated, obsolete, dry-as-a-bone book.

This is an above average field guide, but the writing is sometimes so dry that while reading you may feel as if you are hiking through death valley, not Mammoth or the Ritter Range. The map that comes with it is fantastic, although, it comes from the 1920's surveys of the area.