The title says it, "best climbing guide I know." I'm not being paid to say this; don't know David Rubine. Why is it the best climbing guide I know? BECAUSE IT HAS ROUTE DESCRIPTIONS! The topos are accurate, and often backed up with excellent annotated black&white photos.

I'm basically a novice lead climber. I want 5.4's. Most guidebooks, should they lower themselves to include these "wimpy" routes, give little to no written or pictorial guidance. Rubine devotes equal energy to easy and hard climbs. As the previous reviewer notes, he even covers class 3/4 scrambles to interesting summits.

Dave Rubine's collection of recorded rock climbs for Pinnacles National Monument is comprehensive and fun to read for avid rock climbers. Whether you are looking for sport climbs or more traditional climbing, nothing is omitted. Even 3rd and 4th Class climbs are listed. With ratings on all climbs and written descriptions on most, staying on the correct climb is not hard. But beware the musical chairs handholds at Pinnacles. With descriptions like the "Know what you are getting into category" you can stay out of trouble. The construction of the spine is sturdy. Most of all, for you number tickers, there is a checklist of climbs by rating and two full indexes for cross referencing first ascentionists with page numbers and climbs alphabetically.

This is the definitive history of the Alamogordo/Sacramento Mountain Railway. The steepest standard gauge railroad in the world. I am the chaiman of the foundation dedicated to preserving the memory of the famous historic railroad. The A/SMR was the first railroad to use switchbacks to gain altitude, the first excursion tourist railroad (1898-1947), the steepest, 4300' to 9600' in 30 miles of track.
thanks to AMAZON for helping us raise funds to continue our work.

Richard Haskell

This is an excellent source of information about a long lost piece of American History. I have personally visited many of the sights contained in the book during time stationed at nearby Holoman AFB. in the middle 1980's. The book has been a great resource in modeling the branch line with my son in HO scale. Much of the old road bed still remains in the forest near Cloudcroft, and can very easily be followed during hiking trips. There is even some remnants of old tressels deep in the woods today.

I shopped around extensively at local travel bookstores to find a good wine country book, and I think this one is the best. It has beautiful color pictures on almost every page. Many of the pictures show the wine labels, which helps make the book a nice souvenir for you to remember the wine/winery later. The pictures are supplemented with insightful commentary on the wines, history of each winery, and even pictures/descriptions of the restaurants, lodgings. The maps are also in color, and are detailed for each town. Also included is an events/festivals list and analysis of wine vintages by year. All that, and it's still small enough to carry with you when you visit the wineries.

My wife and I were completely delighted following the "tours" in this guide. The maps, directions and winery descriptions were second to none! Anyone contemplating a trip to the California wine country should consider this book a MUST. Of course, if your not planning a trip, you will be after reading this! We stayed at two different B&B's recommended by the book and were very pleased. The book accurately depicted the quality of the rooms and hospitality of the staff. Again, I highly recommend this wine country guide.

Not only does this book contain an immense amount of information about the gorgeous and fascinating state of Nevada---but it is all presented in a personable, idiosyncratic, witty and winning style. As with most guidebooks, you'll probably be interested in reading only those sections relevant to a planned trip. But the book is so informative and fun, you might find yourself---as I did---reading sections about areas in Nevada you have no plans to visit. Highly recommended.

Amusing and useful, well-laid out with honest reviews of both wilderness areas and the glitter gulches--I have used this book for several trips to Nevada and it is indespensible

So far we have tried 15 of the 150 recipes and they have all been good. We rate dishes on a 1 to 10 scale, and all in this cookbook have been 7 or higher. It is taking us a while to get through the recipes because we are repeating so many of the 8's and 9's! Also, all of the recipes include the calorie and carb counts, which is very helpful.

I bought this book because I've been trying to avoid Chinese take-out! I love Chinese food, but take-out can be so greasy. By making my own, I can control the oil and sodium in each dish.

An avid collector of Cooking Light books, I had to pick this up! More than 100 recipes; lots of fish, poultry, and beef selections; lots of variety. Got it yesterday; made the beef with spinach and ginger sauce for dinner that night. Got good reviews from my testers!

Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book covers more than Asian stir fry. Cuisines covered include Mexican and Italian, with fajitas and other quick cooking, high-heat dishes.

Enjoy!

Buying this book prior to my Alaska cruise proved to be well worth the investment. Per Ludmer's suggestion, we rented a car in Skagway and drove to Carcross, Yukon, Canada. What a wonderful outing away from the ship and for less then 25% the cost of us all taking the train. Get more tips from Ludmer by reading this book.

Concise, easy-to-read information fills every page of this bestseller. Unlike most cruise guidebooks, Cruising Alaska puts the emphasis on hard facts - not pretty pictures. Every detail is here, including stateroom size, passenger-crew ratio, dining options, current cruising routes, ship decor, onboard facilities and more. A candid analysis of the routes is given for every ship in Alaska this season, with details on the highlights, as well as what is missed. Maps, index.

We have used Brian Fagans guidebooks from SD to SF for many years, but this is the best of the lot. We recently led a cruise to the Channel Islands, and made this a "must" for the cruisers, all of whom praised it highly. Really THE guidebook to coastal cruising in Central-Southern California---and a bargain!

From a recent sailing trip out of Santa Barbara through the channel islands I can tell you that this book is invaluable. His treatment of safe ports and refuges (arranged very well but conditions) was fantastic and kept us out of danger.

This book has sparked some incredible hiking for the dog and I. The descriptions of each hike are excellent. One awseome spot the book guided me to was Santa Paula Creek Canyon which has a beautiful stream and deep pools for swimming. Pointers are provided for finding trail heads. If you are going to venture out into the Sespe/Los Padres Wilderness, however, I reccomend buying a good topographic trail map. This is primarily an "idea" book.

An easy to use hiking book, small enough to fit into one's daypack. Coverage of the county is excellent, directions to trailheads are clear. It's the only book available that covers most of Ventura County.

Fans of Patrick O'Brian will love Amasa Delano's Voyages. Delano's travels took him through the same uncharted waters and touched the same exotic lands as O'Brian's intrepid Captain Jack Aubrey and his ever-curious companion Stephen Maturin, but with a difference: O'Brian's heroes live in fiction; Delano was for real.

Seldom have I read a seafarer's account with so many varied and interesting observations about the world through which he traveled. Joseph Banks, Charles Darwin and other professional naturalists wrote a good deal about the flora and fauna they studied, of course, but Delano's curiosity takes him everywhere and informs the reader about an amazing range of contemporary details of life and human behavior.

Berkshire House Publishers and Eleanor Seagraves have performed a service of great value in resurrecting this account of sea voyages that played a critical role in establishing America's place in the field of maritime commerce and exploration. Truth can be stranger than fiction. Delano's extradordinary exploits are every bit as fascinating as the tales told by Patrick O'Brian and will appeal to the same readership. Handsomely illustrated.

Although I'm waiting try the new hikes detailed in this book (I'll wait till summer passes, thanks), I have found it to be a great read on its own merits. The physical descriptions of the areas covered are detailed and evocative without being flowery; the driving and trail directions are as exact as they can be given the remoteness of some of these areas. Mr. Zdon knows these places inside and out, and he goes well beyond the obvious choices into some wild and relatively unexplored terrain. This book introduced me to some new places I want to experience, and made me realize I don't know my "familiar" spots as well as I thought. The volume is also very handsomely illustrated and produced.

Andy Zdon has done a very thorough job researching the approaches and hiking/climbing routes in this guide book. I especially liked the fact that he warns the reader against taking passenger cars up roads which he feels require 4WD capability. The inclusion of general area maps and actual photographs make the book even more useful. Descriptions are great but someone said "a picture is worth a thousand words". Included in the descriptions are such useful topics as the anticipated round trip elevation gain and hiking distance. In some instances Andy has added his personal comments regarding safety issue or things like "don't underestimate the difficulty of this hike". The personal touch gives the guide book user more of a "hands on" feel to the overall hike. I recommend Desert Summits to all of those folks who are planning to get out and hike/climb the areas described in the book. Hey, here's another "list" to get you out of the house this winter.