Customer Reviews

Hiking and Exploring the Paria River

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book to plan my Paria Canyon hike. The detail is astonishing- mileages, detailed maps and where to find water complete with historical information and photos. Every gooseneck and crack is described as well as the geology. The only demerits the author gets are: choosing a poor print font that is difficult to read. Mileages are in kilometers - an annoying mystery as he is a Utah native and the maps are somewhat confusing. I will submit a revised review AFTER my hike.

The book offers very good information and facts for your hike. It is a very dry reading and the author would never be considered a humorist. It provided very good information on where to camp, sites to see, where the water is and maps. The maps were not very good and it is a good idea to get a BLM map for your hike. The BLM map that can be purchased at the trailhead station and provides most of the info you need for your hike. The annoying and confusing thing about the book is the author refers to distance in meters. So if you are an American hiker and you are depending on the distances to find LIFE GIVING WATER for example you better have an idea how far 1000 meters is. He must have gone to school in the 60's(like I did) and some science teach told him (as they told me) that America will have to convert to the metric system soon (the 60's) and guess what, except for the beverage companies going metric to sell us less product for more money it didn't happen. Because of this I would get an advanced BLM map in feet and study it.

Highly informative and detailed book, but the font type makes the book difficult to read and unpleasing to the eye - seems like a minor point, but extremely annoying and user unfriendly. I heard some BLM Rangers commenting on how this author makes it seem too easy/benign to get to some of these places (i.e. you can get yourself into trouble). Author also displays a lot of personal comments about BLM management (I read through it, but some may find annoying).
Detailed maps, but took a long time to figure out how to interpret them (even with the map key) -- had to cross reference other maps to figure out "where" the book's hand drawn maps were located on a "real" road map.
This book is better used as a second, more detailed book (use it as additional information to look up once you've used another book to pick out where you want to go).

This is BY FAR the most comprehensive book for the Paria Canyon area. This also includes Buckskin Gulch and Wire Pass. There is a tremendous amount of detail so you know where reliable water is, archeological sites, camp sites and great little side trips. If you are planning an overnight in Paria Canyon, this book is a must.

My husband has in the past visited the Paria wilderness, and is just amazed at the amount of useful, detailed, practical and up-to-date information he has found so far in this book. The historical text is outstanding, and the maps seem to be very precise. We're planning a trip to Paria this fall with our children, and that is when we'll get to check if the book is in reality the very valuable resource he think it is. Thank you Michael Kelsey!

As an experienced backpacker I have purchased many, many trail books through the years. There are things that I absolutely love about this well-researched book on what most would consider an obscure & remote area. First, the quality of the printing is very high. The pages are glossy and will withstand considerable wear and tear. Mr. Kelsey puts considerable depth into his research. Obviously the author is passionately about the area, the hikes and the history. And mostly I love the photography (or "fotography" as he calls it). This is the first book of its type that I have ever owned where all the original photos are color & glossy. The photos are absolutely outstanding.

I only have a couple of gripes but they are big ones. Despite the high-quality of the printing, the book is difficult to read. There are no line breaks between paragraphs and quotes are not indented. I understand that he's trying to save space, but at what cost to the reader? A minor annoyance is his spelling of all forms of the word "photograph" as "fotograph". What's up with that? My biggest complaint is Mr. Kelsey arrogant the use of kilometers vs mileage when referencing distances. It's almost like has little for what the reader wants.

I was torn as to how to rate this book. With so many things that I like about it, I would have felt guilty giving it only 3-stars despite how much of a arrogant jackass Mr. Kelsey is for making me convert metric to miles. I also give him extra credit for being accessible. He gives his email address on the first page. I contacted him with a question and he promptly answered back. Heck, that's worth an extra star! If in his next edition, Mr. Kelsey fixes a few of my complaints, I would be more than willing to give him the coveted 5-stars.

Kelsey's work is really good- he does a great job describing some alternate ways into some of the most spectacular canyons you'll ever see, in addition to describing more used routes as well. He introduces you to some outrageous canyons, and with the use of good maps to pinpoint your routes this book is extremely rewarding. The part of the world he describes is like no other, and I have to applaud his hiking ethic and strength as well. This part of the country is rough and tough and if you can handle it you'll love this book!
Joe S.
Ashland, OR