The author's delight in the areas he travels is palpable. Paul Rea's passion for rock, river, plants and birds unfolds as he strides through a canyon or paddles a stretch of quiet river. His prose awakens the senses and creates a strong desire to experience these places for oneself.
This is not a book to be speed-read. Each sentence packs so much color, description and nuance that the reader wants to read slowly and savor each line.
The enthusiasm the author feels comes through "loud and strong." In addition, he invites readers to understand that some of these wonders will not be accessible to our heirs if we do not carefully set aside/preserve these environs. His concern for the environment is balanced by a sense of fair play-trying to find solutions that work for everyone.
If you are passionate about the "great outdoors," this is a book for you!

Reading Rea's book is truly like being in the red rock country. His adventurous stories are alive with colorful sensory detail and suffused with his love for the natural world, with all its challenges, grit and glory. Rea writes with a naturalist's keen eye, weaving in history and philosophy, and concern for the threat our species poses to the wild.

I generally am a reader of fiction rather than nature books. After a friend recommended this book to me, I found to my surprise that it was enchanting. The poetic descriptions, which are both sensual and spiritual, lovingly render the incredible beauty found in this part of the world. This motivated me to plan a glorious trip to the red rock country to see it for myself.

Of course, any Clifford fan will be happy with this book, especially those toddlers. The story is nice, the translation into Spanish is good, and if you want your toddler to learn Spanish, this is a good little book to have in your library. However, I didn't like the illustrations. The cover depicts Clifford as we are used to seeing him, but the illustrations inside are of poorer quality, and seem to be early editions of what the characters look like now. Anyway, the toddler may not even notice, but I did.

It is a great book to introduce Spanish to your toddler.

cliford is a cool RED DOG!! Cliford is a book for all ages.

this books give one an excellant felling for the hardship of the time. Also give us a deeper respect for our older family members who went through the ordeal

I have read this particular volume which is just one of many sequels on the Holt family saga spanning at last two centuries from the pioneering days of the New World. The stories are amazingly credible. While the stories are fiction, the framework is firmly anchored on historical facts. While the sequels have varied plots and settings, the stories revolve around the Holts and the pioneers of various enthnicities whose courage, honor, selflessness and industry have carved the great nation of America. The wagons west stories are all very fascinating - adventure, humor, pathos, suspense, romance, and drama are all there, presented by the author with sensitivity and good taste that has made the wagons west book series wholesome and knowledge-enriching. The stories have very positive impact on the reader because the author has successfully kept the virtues highlighted while still realistically showing the dark side of men. The stories are universally inspirational in the sense that wagons west glorifies the good attributes of the characters as human persons regardless of their color and creed. The wagons west stories do not only tell the readers how the West was won (as there are so many stories written on this already), but conveys to readers a message that love and justice has no boundaries and out of these virtues - great men and achievements are made. Dana Fuller Ross is a patriot in writing these books. America should thank him for making people appreciate more the value of the American history and its legacy-one that has shaped America's role as the world's leading champion of freedom and justice. I have actually read at least twenty of the Wagons West volumes and still completing the set. My high recommenation, therefore for this particular volume applies to the rest of the series. I have great admiration for the author for being a very responsible writer. The story presentation has been very efective in advocacy, too!

I have read this book of Dana Fuller Ross, together with at least 20 volumes of his series on Wagons West. I read one volume (Independence) by accident, and from that day on, I have not stopped reading all volumes I could find on this series. The author wrote a very inspiring series. It appears to be so well-researched because even as the stories are fiction, the framework is firmly anchored on historical facts. America has a great history and anybody who reads Wagons West volumes will wish he or she had been a part of that history. The author presented the saga of early pioneers in the lives of the Holt family, as natural as the human person acts and responds to situations, but there is a big difference with the Wagons West stories - the impact is very positive to the rader because the stories highlight the virtues rather than the dark side of men. The stories have entertainment value in terms of wit,suspense, romance and adventure - all of which were portrayed with approriate degree of circumspect and sensitivity. This book and the rest of its companion volumes glorify the courage, honesty, honor, dignity and selfless love of the people who pioneered the New World and shaped the future role of America as the world's leading champion of freedom and justice.

It was this book that first convinced me to buy a GPS. We were out 4-wheeling in the Colorado backcountry and met another 4-wheeler. We were looking at his Colorado Atlas and disagreeing at which trail intersection we were at. He pulled out his GPS and said he would settle this. The GPS with the Colorado Atlas proved us both wrong. I went back to town and bought this book and a GPS.

You should receive the sixth edition (2002) of the DeLorme Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer when you order from Amazon, even though Amazon's listing still shows only the fifth edition (2000). The atlas is indispensable if you're planning to travel on the back roads or the major Forest Service or BLM roads of Colorado. Governmental jurisdictions are well-differentiated by color, and the topographic relief is very nice.

The only caveat is that the scale of the maps in this atlas, at 1:160,000, is too large to show great detail. If you're mountain biking or hiking in remote terrain or on minor trails, you should get additional maps, such as smaller-scale governmental maps or those made by Latitude 40.

Although I don't have this one myself, I have several of their atlas in my 4x4 and when I go to Colorado I will buy this one also. If you go into the back country you must have an atlas of that state from DeLorme Mapping

In his book, "Day Hikes from the River," Tom Martin describes 75 day-hikes that begin at the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. All of the hikes described in Toms' book contain a narrative discussion of the hike followed by a topographic map. The narrative discussion covers where to begin the hike, the route to be followed, prominent landmarks, and points of difficulty. These discussions are quite detailed and provide a great deal of information that is often left out of other guide books. The topographic maps are sufficiently enlarged as to be readable and contain pretty much the same information as the narrative discussion but in a very helpful graphic format. The difficulty of the hikes detailed in Tom's book range from easy walks to demanding hikes that should only be attempted by experienced Canyon hikers.

The intended audience of Tom's book are river runners, and I'm sure they will find Tom's book to be a valuable resource. However, many of the hikes described in Tom's book are equally applicable to those who walk, rather than boat, into the Canyon. For example, three of the hikes described in Tom's book begin at Nankoweap Delta, a popular destination of backpackers. Similarly, Tom describes a number of hikes in the Thunder River/Deer Creek area, another popular destination of backpackers.

I've done a number of the hikes described in Tom's book, and it is my experience that his description of these hikes are very accurate. Also, many of the hikes described in Tom's book are not contained in any other book or publication. I recommend Tom's book to both Grand Canyon river runners and backpackers.

I purchased a copy of Tom Martin's book "Day Hikes From the River - a Guide to 75 Hikes from Camps on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park," and have greatly enjoyed browsing through it. Great job, Tom! The maps and descriptions are excellent. I sure wish I'd had this book on previous trips down the Canyon. I keep thinking "dang, if only I'd known to hike a little further and then head up that nose," or "I can't believe I floated right by that spot every time without stopping," or whatever. It seems to me that a lot of river runners tend to congregate at a relatively few well known hikes and other points of interest, and I hope that this book will tend to spread people out over a larger number of sites. With the help of the book I'm already thinking up an itinerary of new hikes for my next trip.

This is a great book describing hikes & rest stops at the usual stops along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. What's more, it describes in full a lot of hikes not usually done or known about, which means they'll be less crowded. But they're just as scenic. The author tells where they are, how far they can be, and what to look for along the way. This book is recommended for the first timer on the river, and the veteran who is looking for more than than the usual tourist stops for a hike.

I was disappointed in the convolutions of the plot and felt that at some points I needed to diagram it all out on a pice of paper about five-feet-long and three feet wide. I found it very hard to literally imagine a Native American the size of Charlie Moon. Unfortunately, his fried food diet is all too believable. On a positive note, I did enjoy the quirkiness of the characters and their approaches to life, and felt they were very well constructed.

I always enjoy reading about Charlie Moon and Aunt Daisy. I find the characters believable, and the action suspenseful enough to keep me reading until the last page. Although I know nothing about the Ute tribe and their culture, the books read as authentic information, like Hillerman's Navajo tales. If you enjoy Native mysteries, try Doss on for size.

Jame Doss has outdone himself with this book. The reader is caught up in an intriguing mystery full of colorful characters and spiritulism so well put together that it is difficult to put the book down once it is started and is kept guessing at "whodunit" until the very end of the book.

The thrills of mountain climbing and caving can be found in this book. TJ Burr's book "Rocky Mountain Adventure Collection" gives one the feeling of being there with him.

TJ Burr covers a wide variety of high country adventure activities with his real life stories of backpacking, skiing, exploring, running, climbing, caving and prospecting. He'll take you to the top of Longs Peak, and into the bowels of a mountain cave. I really enjoyed the way he described his wild caving experiences - I felt like I was in there with him. His book is for anyone interested in high country adventure in the Rockies, not just hard core participants.

TJ wrote in a style that really helped me feel like a bystander watching him climb in the Rockies. He had me on the edge of my seat when he had to race down a mountainside to escape the worsening thunderstorm high above timberline. His descriptions of crawling into mountain caves made me feel claustrophobic. I shared the same sensations through his emotional writing style. You can almost feel the excitement of his adventures through his tales of climbing, skiing, and backpacking. I really enjoyed how the author helped me visualize high country places I've only dreamed of visiting. Whether you are an active participant in outdoor adventure or not, you'll enjoy this book. This was the first mountaineering related book I read, and I really enjoyed it.

My only complaint with this book is that it was WAY too short...I wanted it to go on and on...really, I wanted it to tell my late father's story for him. He was a hang-up man at Climax and would've loved to have read this book himself. He probably would've swore at some of the bits in there...! I began reading the first chapter out loud to my husband and ended up crying at the memories so many of us have of growing up miner's kids in the 60's and 70's. I went to school in 1st grade at the Climax school and our apartment building was at timberline for heaven's sake! Would someone out there please write another of these memoirs for those of us who are hungry for those tales...make it long and (sorry Mr. Ludwig), please don't be someone who ended up in management so soon!!

Jim's book has given me a feel for what's it's like to work hundreds of feet underground with dynamite and dim lighting , in damp darkness.

If one is cut out for this kind of work, like Jim is, he can remember the "way-it-was" with fond memories and light-hearted humor that makes me smile.

Well worth the time to read.

I lived with my husband in the mining town of Climax, Colorado from 1957 to 1962 when the Climax township, 205 homes and ten 18-unit apartment buildings were moved to nearby Leadville, Colorado.

Mr. Ludwig's book accurately and with feeling describes those times and the close, emotional and often humorus events of those times in the spirit of mining familes who were there but will never be able to return to an era never to be repeated.

He focuses on human side of mining, rather than the glory of the wealth it produces for this nation. He does that better than anyone I have ever read who attempts to document the drama of underground hardrock mining and families who were directly involved.

The ethnography in this text is insufficient, and the writers in the local Denver scene seem like cartoon characters, especially when compared to New York writers. However, the last quarter of Ferrell's book on anarchist criminology is powerful and goes a long way to developing a theory how graffiti impinges on the power stucture it is being painted on. graffiti upsets the aesthetics of authority.

Ferrell offers a major contribution to sociology, criminology, and to youth studies. This brief book not only offers insight and analysis of graffiti artists, it explores the ways in which power is negotiated and challenged. In the graffiti artists' use of space and in their definitions of beauty and neighborhood, they uncover the way power and meanings are manufactured. Ferrell's work is a powerful, clear, and engaging book; one which shows stunning new ways of seeing and studying 'crime.'

Crimes of Style is a journey into the burgeoning underground Denver Graffiti scene. Jeff Ferrel's participant observations of local taggers and writers gives a fascinating insight into a sometimes beautiful and sometimes offensive subculture of vandalism....or is it? The question of vandalism or art remains an underlying question throughout Ferrel's book. And the reader must decide for himself where the line between art and crime stands. Jeff Ferrel's work is divine inspiration to the fledgling sociologists like myself.

The reader feels the cold, the isolation geographically and as a woman entering a "man's" profession. Cornell's way with words draw us into a world little known to most of us, but one that expresses the hardiness of women in particular and Americans in general. Well researched and well written. It's not difficult to see that the author of Doc Susie had a passion for exposing Doc Susie's true grit, compassion and adventuresome spirit.

The story covers the trials and tribulations of a single female doctor coping with the hardships of living in the western U.S. in the late 1800's. The medical & daily language used is authentic and reminiscent of that period. Very easy reading filled with heart warming experiences. The story is based on the life of a true pioneer woman Dr. Susan Anderson struggling for acceptance in the harsh environment of the lumber camps, gold mines and railroad towns of the Rockies.

Doc susie was a very good book. I enjoyey how Susan Anderson made her dreams possible.