This little hiking guide does a wonderful job of exposing the reader to both the main trails around Telluride, as well as some of the trails you might not otherwise discover on your own. This alone makes the book worth buying if you are heading to Telluride.

The author also has a tender touch with the history of the area. Without overwhelming the hiking components of the guide, she always has a nice tidbit to add historical context to your walks. In some cases its the ghost that lingers on a certain trail, and in other cases its a description of just what illicit activities went on around a certain turn.

My main complaint is with the maps that the author provides. They are useable, but i would hope in the next addition she might create some of her own maps that more effectively support the book.

The 1991(first) edition is out of print. A new edition appeared in 1998. I bought mine last summer in Telluride. It's an invaluable guide to hiking in the Telluride area, written by a local resident who is fit but not superhuman. This book got me out of my hotel room and into the mountains. It also indirectly encouraged me to work at fitness year round so I could enjoy my trips to Telluride more. (Telluride is not a vacation spot for the aerobically-challenged.) I recommend the place, and the Hiking Guide, highly.

Pyle grew up near an irrigation canal running through Denver and Aurora, Colorado. He has returned to this canal throughout his life, and in this book he tells their stories. Urbanization leaves these pockets of unclaimed land behind, and this book is a durable guide to one example. Coloradans will find Pyle's work especially relevant. At times, the author strays into a didactic zeal as he warns of the need to protect such places, but this is by far the lesser part of The Thunder Tree.

Starting from a personal viewpoint (but in no means limited by it) author Robert Michael Pyle eloquently writes of the importance of nature and of making a personal connection to the land and the natural world. Never preachy, he manages to gently urge the reader to look more closely at the local landmarks, wildlife and little details that make up their most familiar landscapes. I saw the landscape in my area with new eyes after reading this book.

Forget the "Uncompahgre Mountain" in the description of this book above - it's really known only as the Uncompahgre Plateau, and Muriel Marshall knows this plateau like few do, even those of us who have spent a lot of time wandering its folded canyons and open wide-viewed mesas. Maarshall has a unique way with words - this is one of the few books you can read without ever going there and still get an accurate feel for the place.

I have throughly enjoyed reading this book. My grandparents homesteaded in the Uncompahgre Valley, and this has given me new insite as to what life was like when they homesteaded back in the late 1880's.

I may have been born in Colorado but that doesn't mean I know all the great places there are to hike in this state. Both my husband and myself have used this book extensively for ideas on where to go next. The directions to the trailheads are accurate and fair warning is given as to the condition of the roads to get there. I especially appreciate the ranking system.

What's in a Name? Actually, quite a lot as you will discover if you get this interesting, informative book. As a non-native of Colorado I have often wondered at, and about, some of the names I encounter when entering the outskirts of a city, town or settlement. For instance, what would motivate someone to name a town Firstview, or Last Chance, or Ophir? More times than not my inquiries of locals or natives were less than satisfactory. It is amazing the number of citizens that do not know why or how their community received its name. Thus, you can imagine my delight when I discovered this gem of a book. No longer do I have to rely on finding the right person in a town to provide me with the source of the town name or visit the local library to satisfy my curiosity. The book provides historical, geographical, and geological information on Colorado cities, towns, settlements, villages, and crossroads within all 63 present day counties. In addition, there is an abundance of stories associated with the naming of the sites that simply "seemed worth telling." The town of Ophir was named after a verse in the bible, 1 Kings 9:28 which some say has sustained the town. Some say Telluride, the famous ski resort, was named for the chemical element Tellurium even though the area contains no Tellurium! Others say that prospective visitors were warned by prospectors and miners: "To Hell You Ride." 19th century literary interests led to the naming of Montrose. The name was selected from the popular works of Sir Walter Scott, specifically his 1819 novel The Legend of Montrose. Ah, but there is more, much more. Want to know about Delta, Saw Pit, Silverton, Aspen? What about Firstview and Last Chance? They, and many more, are all here. If you are a history buff, traveler, or just curious about Colorado place names this is the book for you. It is inexpensive, just the right size to take with you in the car, and easy to read. Now, what is this about Mount Sneffels and Jules Verne's A Journey to the Centre of the Earth?...(p.151).

This book interested me if only because it described an under appreciated facet of American history: Spanish occupation of the Southwest and her attempts to understand and defend the frontier.

Carson's "Across the Northern Frontier..." examines chronologically the period of first Spanish and then Mexican domination of the lands centered on Santa Fe, the principal outpost in the province. It is largely a tale told through the adventures of governors and explorers.

For three centuries the Spanish had an uneasy hold on the area. It was far away from present day Mexico, the hub of Spanish domination of the region. Spain wanted New Mexico first to satisfy its appetite to forever expand. Later, the region was seen as a buffer against the many tribes to the north and later still against encroaching French and English (later Americans). Life and occupation were hard. Numerous Indians lived in the region. Settled farmers in pueblos that predated Spanish settlements as well as roaming plains/desert and mountain tribes who dominated the outlands. The first were easier for the Spanish to dominate because of their fixed location. Sometimes allies, sometimes in rebellion, the pueblo Indians had an uneasy relationship among the colonists. They also provided the man power for agriculture, commercial enterprises and armed militia. The plains Indians, although in some periods in commercial or military alliance with the Spanish against other tribes, were generally an over the horizon threat that had to constantly be guarded against or actively punished in order to maintain a somewhat secure area around greater Santa Fe.

The book focuses on forays made by the Spanish over three centuries to "Colorado" (the name used to describe the area above Santa Fe and beyond -- much larger than the present day state). Some of these forays involved exploration, trail-blazing or trade. Most, however, involved a military interest -- either retaliating or punishing plains tribes who made war on the colony or showing strength in the hopes that plains tribes would fear the wrath of Spain more than the entreaties of French trappers and traders who mingled with native peoples to the north.

This is an interesting book - principally because I had only the most general understanding of this history. The book does have sort of an adventure/exploration quality to it as foray after foray into relatively unknown and completely natural areas of present day Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Oklahoma are examined. The book does stick to it's mission -- the focus is on these outward thrusts of the colony. Administration, Indian relations and everyday life are sketched over, usually as they relate to the security concerns of the area and it's ability to survive as one of the "furthermost outposts of Christiandom" as it was described by many of the Spanish.

Bob Schaller provides a realistic representation of the Arlington's, a family which truly cares about the places and people they come into contact with during their vacation.

I liked it, you should buy it...

In order to support the prison system which was a philosophy in the 19th century, various methods of prison labor were attempted. This is a thoroughly researched study of the efforts by Colorado. The author has set the struggles for inmate work as opposed to private enterprise and union objections in the context of Colorado's early history. The study covers the period from 1872 to 1940., and is the only one of its kind. For those interested in the paradoxes of incarceration and Colorado's experiences , this is a good study. The author has also included a background of prison labor as tried in the East and then attempted in the West.

Muriel Marshall has done it again. This prolific chronicler of Western Slope history is well known for her histories of Escalante Canyon, Grand Mesa, The Uncompahgre Plateau, and the Gunnison-Uncompahgre river region. She has a well-earned reputation for highly readable, authoritative writing that is unmatched for its clarity and scholarship. Thus, it was with great anticipation that I awaited the arrival of her latest effort, a history of the 'Dobie Badlands. The 'Dobies(locals shun the word "adobe")are found along the base of mountain ranges in such diverse areas as Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, eastern Colorado, the Dakotas and a barren looking patch stretching between Grand Junction and Delta, CO. Casual observers tend to describe the 'Dobie's as a barren, desolate, desert that is truly a "no-mans-land." Ah, but they haven't seen them through the eyes or pen of Marshall. What an eye-opening view it is! True to form, Marshall provides the reader with a wonderful description of the history of the 'Dobies which were seas, fresh water lakes and islands some 100 million years ago. She traces the evolution of the area with its diverse geology, flora, fauna and characters that are every bit as awesome as the 'Dobies themselves.While she does justice to the entire area she favors the area along the Gunnison river in Western Colorado. Here we learn that what some call a wasteland is a beautiful, haunting, mesmerizing "pure abstract art form." What do the 'Dobies look like? Well, that depends... "...like hell, if you listen to herders who have lost sheep in them, truckers who've been mired up to the axle during a thaw..." "...like heaven if you listen to photographers, artists, and rockhounds..." "...like haven to runaways. The 'Dobies are a terrible place to finad a cow or a crook..." Its all here, the stories of the men and women that tried to make a life among the unique features of the 'Dobies. The disappearance of a nine-hole golf course; the raising of peacocks; the railroads attempt to tame the terrain; and Doc Holiday's search for outlaws! The history of the 'Dobies is anything but barren or desolate after reading Marshall's exciting work. It was worth the wait to get this marvelous history of an area much misunderstood. Marshall is to be complemented on a job well done.