This is a very good book, and well worth reading. If you like Christian fiction, this is for you.

As a frequent visitor to Rocky Mountain National Park I'm always looking for the best in solid, compact field guides. Gerry Roach's little gem is an good example. The text and tone of the book benefits from Roach's personal familiarity with the trails and summmits described.

This is an excellent guide to summit approaches for those interested in bagging the major peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. Roach provides his readers with concise information on distance, elevation, grade, class and snow steepness with a modest amount of editorial. For nearly every peak Roach provides alternate roots suitable for both the casual or technical climber. The book is punctuated with black and white photographs of a number of the better known mountains in the park and their key landmarks.

Those intimately familiar with RMNP will most benefit from this book. Descriptions are generally terse and primiarly dedicated on how to get from Point "A" to Point "B". The book suffers from lack of either topographical or overview maps. For the reader more interested in hiking or backpacking, as opposed to bagging summits, Dannen's "Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park" (8th Ed.) is the best I've found and a much more thorough and enjoyable read in a pocket format.

This was the first book I have read by this author. Hopefully it won't be the last. The dialogue was fast paced, witty, and sensual. If you like modern western romances, you'll enjoy this one.

Luther Ward just wanted his life back. He had spent 8 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He had lost his wife, his son, his freedom and his ranch. Hopefully he could convince the pretty young widow who lived there to sell it back.

Maddy Landers needed help. Her husband was dead and she had ranch to run. Could she risk her safety, her home and children by helping the ex-con former owner? Could she afford not to take him up on his offer to help? Maddy has to teach Luther to trust again if she has any hope of persuading him to stay.

To the novice of the fur trade era, this is a wonderful book. For the more experienced reader of this time period, it is a good review of the many names and places which shaped the early American West. Along with timely excerpts from a multitude of diaries, journals, narratives and books, the author also includes numerous maps, drawings and art work replications from the famous western painter Alfred Jacob Miller to depict these annual gatherings. The book is in a chronological time order, beginning with the first rendezvous of 1825 and culminating with the last event of its kind in 1840. It was as much a pleasure to read as I'm sure it would have been to experience these yearly social occasions.

This is a great book for identifying flowers along the trails. It fits easily into a jacket pocket and its color divisions makes it easy to quickly identify flowers. While on the trials I was able to identify two dozen or so flowers. It is a very complete guide to flowers of the Rocky Mountians.

The only problem I found with this book is that it is not rain proof. If it gets wet it turns to mush. Once it dies out the pages stick together so well that there is no way to salvage it. So it would be a good idea to pack in a plastic bag to store this book in should you encounter an afternoon rain storm while hiking.

At first glance, I thought this would be another charming photo book; at second glance, it's clear that it is that, and much more. The photo captions are more than your typical flat "this is a mountain goat backed by majestic mountains". Much more, in fact. This is a photographer who can write, and write he does, with nearly every caption providing a mini-lesson in natural science that leaves you wanting more.

This is in addition to pictures that are a joy and a wonder to look at: Hello? I thought the pika was practically extinct? How did he get this picture that makes it look like the most natural thing in the world? And what's this? A burrowing owl? They're endangered too, I'm sure. And its head looks like a whirligig, but the feathers on its body are so clear they look etched-- how does it DO that?

I enjoyed this book very much. Anyone who has ever hiked or plans to hike in the Rockies; children, or grownups, who like animals; and people who appreciate a book where love of subject shines through on every page, will like it too. And at $11.95, it's fantastic value for money.

While the focus here is on one of our fur trade pioneers, David Jackson, the reader also gains insight as to the many economic and geopolitical strategies which went on between American and British fur companys. However, I must point out a few controversial issues. First of all, the author seems to portray two of the fur trade's icons as somewhat greedy, heartless and callous individuals: William Ashley for financial and economic gains and Jedediah Smith for exploration fame and glory. So be it. There is not enough space here for a debate. Secondly, the author is quite adamant in his view on the presence of alcohol during the first mountain rendezvous of 1825 while evidence refutes this. The only mention of alcohol in Ashley's diary of commodities during that first rendezvous is, according to Dale Morgan's scholarly work "The West of William Ashley", footnoted as future orders for the following year. In agreement with Morgan are other historians such as Fred Gowans ("Rocky Mountain Rendezvous"); Richard Clokey ("William Ashley: Enterprise and Politics in the Trans-Mississippi West"); Linda Hasselstrom ("Journal of a Mountain Man: James Clyman); and Jack Tykal ("Etienne Provost: Man of the Mountain") to name a few. I believe the author may be conjecturing on this issue. Thirdly, there is mention that Bridger floated down the Green River to taste the salt of an inland lake. Is he referring to, as one would suppose, the Great Salt Lake? Maybe I am reading this wrong, but how could he float down the Green, (which empties into the Colorado River), and then into Salt Lake? According to Bridger's biographer, J. Cecil Alter, Bridger went down the Bear River (and possibly by horse, due to the time of year) which does in fact empty into Salt Lake. Overall a good book with a stellar bibliography.

Good News! Everyone that has an interest in the history of what arguably is the most beautiful mountain range in the United States, the San Juan's in southwestern Colorado, will be delighted to know that the University Press of Colorado has issued an updated version of Duane Smith's 1982 masterpiece. The beauty of this book is that it combines impeccable scholarship from a preeminent Colorado historian with a reader friendly style that results in a wonderful book both for the general reader interested in the urban and mining history of the San Juan's and the more studious reader seeking the definitive history of the period. The San Juan's were, and may be again, one of the great mining regions of Colorado as well as the United States. One cannot discuss the history of the myriad towns in and around the San Juan's without knowing about the mining history, as they are so interrelated as to be one. This book records the development of the mountains from 1860 to World War I. The author stated his purpose in writing the book was to study the mines and people who worked in the mines and lived in the camps, some of which turned into present day towns that now depend on tourists rather than ore for their existence. It is truly an incredible story of the settlement of southwestern Colorado. It's all here. The story of the removal of the Ute Indians from their land so that the "gold fever" in the San Juan's could be treated; the opening of mines such as Camp Bird, Golden Fleece, Golden Chicken, Tomboy, Neglected, May Day and Yankee Girl as well as hundreds of others; the settlement of towns such as Ouray, Ophir, Telluride, Silverton, Durango, Animas City, Creede, Lake City, and Leadville and a host of others that are now little more than ghost towns. The story of the individual miners and their work and living conditions is worth the price of the book alone. In addition, you will meet Otto Mears, Horace Tabor, Dave Wood and a multitude of others that individually, and collectively, contributed to the heyday of the San Juan's as a mining region. In additional to a fact-filled book on virtually every facet of mining there are 99 photos and an index. This is the best book yet published on the mines and people that worked them in the San Juan Mountains from 1860-1914. Anyone remotely interested in the general history of Colorado or the specific history of the majestic San Juan's will find this book a delight. The University Press of Colorado is to be commended for making the book available in such a reader friendly format.

I can just hear the theme music from "Bonanza" as I leaf through the recipes in these books. Hard-working cowpokes will adore these baked sweets from the American West.

This baking book is composed by the operators of Breteche Creek, a 7,000 acre cattle ranch. The recipes are original, and divided into five chapters: Cowboy Cookies, Breteche Bars, Comforting Cobblers, Crisps and Custards, Surprise Endings, and Restaurants. The Index includes a list of noteworthy restaurants and inns of the Northern Rockies. Each recipe includes a list of ingredients, paragraph-form instructions on how prepare the recipe, and a short description of the finished product. There are full-color photographs of 24 of the recipes.

My favorite recipe in this book is the Breteche Blondies on page 29. The authors note that the brownie is a distinctly American recipe. The Breteche Blondies call for easily accessible ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, butter, chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans. These bars are dense, moist, and delicious. My husband has already deemed them a "keeper." Whenever I bake them, it is always a challenge to see if they will make it out the door!

This baking book includes recipes from restaurants and ranches. Examples include: Warm Chocolate Soufflé with Chocolate Glaze and Mascarpone Cream from The Snake River Gill in Jackson, Wyoming, Buffalo Bill Cody's Red, White, and Blue Berry Shortcake, named for the founder of the town of Cody, and Chocolate Banana-Mousse Cake from the Spanish Peaks Brewery in Bozeman, Montana.

Go ahead, watch "Bonanza" as you imagine yourself ringing the dinner bell for your hungry cow-hands!

This book was a bit over the top in parts, but it had some really good gunfight scenes, and Smoke Jensen has a mythic quality about him. Some great dialogue about the code of the west.