Many of the tips in this book may be O.K for a begining hunter, but anyone who has spent very much time in the field, will not find many new ideas. I suppose any new idea may be helpful, but I was disappointed to only find a few.

Elk Hunting Secrets offers more conflicting anecdotes than helpful suggestions. The stories and tips, while often amusing, seemed to conflict with each other more often than not and as such could leave the curious but unexperienced elk hunter scratching his head. My recommendation is: if you are an experienced elk hunter, you will find the stories and tips interesting, funny, and maybe from time to time, helpful. For the price, its not a bad little book. For the inexperienced hunter, look elsewhere before turning to this book. You may end up being more confused than enlightened.

One afterthought - the tips for camp and horse care were for the most part very good. If you are the leader or host of a yearly elk camp, this book may have something for you.

When the title says tips that is exactly what it means, this is a compendium of blurbs about elk hunting that range from one liners to several paragraphs. While this book has some interesting and useful information a lot of it is not detailed enough, and there is a lot of tongue in cheek for a book that is supposed to be serious. A little more editing to remove the filler would have been useful. For the price, its not too bad, but if you expect integrated information on elk hunting spend the extra money for one of the more in-depth books.

Major disappointment. Probably a ton of good content. But the little stick drawings of plants, at best, and no drawings a lot, for most, is a real let down.

The author has spent her entire life in the mountain west, has degrees in horticulture and is a retired Colorado Cooperative Extension Service agent. She implemented the Master Gardener program in Boulder County, and she's one smart lady!

This book is a real compendium of ideas suitable for mountain and intermountain areas. She not only describes what works--and what doesn't--but tells the reader why. The first section includes chapters on landscape planning and design, followed by a section on cultural procedures. Want to plant a windbreak? She tells you how. Need to know how to prune a tree without destroying it? It's right here. And much, much more. Hyde mixes contemporary wisdom and knowledge with "old-timey" country skills in chapters on protecting plants from flood, frost, hail, heat, ice, lightning, vandalism, wind and Ol' Man Winter. Other sections focus on specific plants for the mountain west and the garden necessities, including tools.

I live on small acreage on a northern Idaho prairie. There are gardening books I've enjoyed more, but none that have helped me as much as this one.

A collection of essays - part nature writing, part travelogue. While the intent of the writer is admirable, you can shelve this collection with other "friends of Ed"; that is Ed Abbey, the master of this genre. Name dropping appears to be the focus of many of the essays.
As far as the travel essays, this area has been covered better by others, though the essay on the relatively unknown Owyhee country was well done.
Another note of irritation is Peterson's continuous railing of "urban refugees" sticking "a dagger in the heart of the wilderness". Yes, we would all love to be the only ones hiking up our favorite trail or to have a lonesome cabin at the end of a dirt road, but Peterson doesn't seem interested in any sharing of the wilderness.

This book is a collection of essays, some may be familiar to the readers of Backpacker magazine. Petersen writes about places in the West and the people that love those places. Many of the essays read like travelogues, for better or worse. Some of his essays bring you right next to the campfire, sipping whiskey at night or strong coffee in the morning, sleeping under the stars awash in desert incense. Perfection.

Other essays weren't as moving (I'm thinking of the pacific northwest essays) and read rather flat. Another gripe: Peculiar analogies pop up in every second essay or two, e.g., elk bugling being described as the equivalent to "Yo momma, sucker!", a feeding hawk is termed a "feathered dracula", an adobe doorpost is as thick as a bodybuilders bicep, and finally, views are sometimes described as "million dollar" or "billion buck" rather than *really* described.

Still, this book should be read by those who like to read about outdoor activity, especially those with an interest in the west. Loads of interesting anecdotes about Ed Abby and crew. Excellent ranting versus development and threats to the environment.

Simply put, this was a very boring book. It is so small that it does not have time to get invovled with the subject which it claims to cover. Nice try, but it is a waste of money!

An awe inspiring collection of the true stories of the mormon pioneers on their journey of faith to the Salt Lake Valley. The author does an incredible job of allowing the histories to speak for themselves.

The hero's extraordinary voyage through the far west and far east could have been brought to life with imaginative editing. Alas, what could have been an exciting historical read was a disappointment.

Sometimes boring, sometimes gripping,overall very interesting and informative. A thorough mix of personal and historical data that is a treat for a history buff, and surely a study for a behavioral psychologist. A good book for inclusion in any military library.

No much more than a compilation of generally available information. Was hoping for reviews, tips, insight, etc.

This book is a little out of date now, but it includes all the basics we needed to plan our ski trip. We wanted to do a road trip through several Western states, and with the information in this book, we were able to plan where to go and where to stay without breaking the bank. It helped us balance our trip between big resorts that everybody knows about a little resorts that we hadn't even heard about.

This guidebook will help you to find each of the National Wildlife Refuges operated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, in the Rocky Mountain states. There are a 3-4 pages for each refuge, focusing on its history, directions to get there, opportunities for driving, walking, and bicycling in the refuge, and a discussion of major wildlife species protected by each refuge, as well as some of the political issues surrounding certain refuges. I had hoped for some general information on Rocky Mountain wildlife; the book was not at all helpful for that, and had very few pictures or photgraphs of wildlife, but it did alert me to a refuge along the route of my upcoming vacation. So without the book I would have missed an opportunity for some spectacular wildlife viewing with only a 27-mile detour. The book accomplishes its purpose very well; I gave it only three stars because that purpose is very limited.

Noel's study of the saloon in Denver treads the line between being a rather parochial local history and a more analytical social history. He includes everything that you need to know about saloon ownership, local politics, and drinking habits, but does so without stressing existing historiography. This absence makes the book a quick and entertaining read, but there's little sense of how Denver compares to other cities. The book is very good at what it does, but what it does is limited. If you want a fun book on drinking in Denver, this book is more than adequate, but if you are looking for a more scholarly approach read Roy Rosenzweig's Eight Hours for What We Will.

From the title page: "Four Years in the Rockies: or, The Adventures of Isaac P. Rose, of Sheangno Township, Lawrence County, Pennslvania; Giving his experience as a hunter and trapper in that remote region, and containing numerous interesting and thrilling incidents connected with his calling. Also including his skirmishes and battles with the Indians--his capture, adoption and escape--being one of the most thrilling narratives ever published." By James B. Marsh, original publication, 1884.

Isaac Rose, born 1815, spent from 1834-1837, in the company of Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and others trapping beaver in the northern rockies. Includes the usual incredible (and mostly true) adventures with grizzly bears, horse stealing, and Indians. Contains a narrative of an unusual journey down the Humbolt river and a touching story about Chilsipee, a young Blackfoot girl found wounded after a battle who became a pet of the trappers.

After the rendevous of 1837, Isaac returned home to Pennsylvania and became a school teacher and lived quietly.

So, this is supposed to be a guide book? After seeing a "complete" guidebook of colorado mountains on the market, I jumped at the chance to buy it. I received it in the mail today, and after a quick run-through of the book, I can conclude that this text is worthless. The average climbing description on any mountain in the book goes something like this:
"Peak X lies to the south. Climb up its ridge."
You may find a bit more information on the more popular 14ers, but not much. Even Longs Peak, possibly the most versatile, well-rounded mountain in colorado with options from 3rd class hikes to highly technical climbs, gets no more than half a page of description. This book is by no means a "climbing" guide as it so proudly boasts either. While looking up climbs in the Sangre de Cristo range, I hoped to find some info on some of the classic climbs of Crestone Needle, but not ONE thing was mentioned about ANY climbs on the peak.
What more can I say. Don't buy this... attempt of a guidebook, unless you are happy with simple one-sentence descriptions of easy hikes.

Not for novice climbers who need more detailed descriptions or are looking only for the same crowded peaks covered in the other Colorado guidebooks. But a unique resource for more experienced climbers/hikers/backpackers with hundreds (thousands?)of peaks and other destinations to explore. No other book I've found covers ALL of Colorado's mountains - with enough info to get you going on the right ridge or around the odd obstacle. I've climbed nearly 1000 peaks in Colorado and never needed another guide, although others may find the descriptions too short.

this book is not for novices looking for a tour guide or sightseeing guide to the mountains in colorado. it is, however, one of, if not the best, summary of climbing & mountaineering in colorado's mountains. it's best for those already familiar with climbing and packing as it doesn't cover any basics, really. good information for those looking for someplace to go.