Customer Reviews

Hiking and Exploring the Paria River : Including The Story of John D. Lee and Mountain Meadows Massacre

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

 

 

I have been down the Paria twice now and both times reading this book by Mr. Kelsey made for a well prepared and enjoyable desert hiking experience. Revisiting it last week before I took a solitary second trip on the river after 6 years was once again very valueable in final last minute preparations. His thoroughness in detail of vital survival information like the availibility and location of year round springs, the subtle physical description of the terrane and moisture conditions to be expected in some of the slot canyons, and his own exploration of side tributaries can help a hiker gain access to details she might miss otherwise and to remember to carry the appropriate gear. This book will enhance the overall appreciation of her experience. I laminated his detailed maps of the river before going on my first trip and again used them for this recent trip. I cannot stress how useful they are when you are out there in the wilderness and on your own. Really, get this book before you go.

Found this guide book very helpful in a canyoneering trip down this nice canyon. I read the book before an April 2003 Paria Canyon trip starting at White House Trailhead and going all the way to Lee's Ferry. One thing was missing from my pack though....the book!

My trip I carried the BLM map/travel guide you can purchase at the Paria Ranger Station. It was $8.00 and I had a detailed map with camp sites and all known streams for water. The Kelsey Book has little dots or symbols for the sites which were pretty useless when the maps are so small in print. I was glad on the trip I had the BLM Guide for the trip.

Check the weather forecast before you leave and again at the ranger station. The summer of 2003 in September there were flash floods in the canyon from storms over 40 miles away!

The Paria Ranger Station reports temperatures to the weather service and rain/snow amounts. You will have to go to noaa.gov site for the info. Enter Kanab or Salt Lake City in the today's forecast box and then at the bottom of the forecast page will be additional forecast info - press the forecast discussion. On the new page enter state summary and look on the page for Paria Ranger Station!! There the high and low's will be listed with any precipitation amounts. The ranger station calls in the info every day.

Remember to pack the book for your trip to help you with your travels down this great canyon.

This book is outstanding. I'm an avid canyoneer and these books got me started. Many think they're too good. I follow the canyoneering boards and people consistently complain that Kelsey gives away too much information and allows, "just anyone who buys the book" to get in the deepest, darkets canyons. The land managers down right hate these books because people get into trouble. I think a good guidebook tells you about an area and it's up to the individual to be responsible and not exceed their abilities.

Aside from the extermely thorough and detailed area information, Kelsey takes pains to explain the history of the area and to prepare you for what you need to do spend time in these strange lands. I have hundreds of guidebooks from around the world and none of them comes close to Kelsey's in these areas. They are a treat to read.

There are a few quirky things about Kelsey's work. He lists everthing in metric. I agree this makes perfect sense from a technical (the rest of the world is metric and it makes much more sense) point of view but still have to do a poor job of converting everything back to miles in my head. It would be better to list miles in brackets after the kilometers. Kelsey is also (apparently) very fit because his hiking times are impressively rapid. I usually add 50% to his times to get a realistic estimate of how long it will take me.

All in all, I couldn't recommend Kelsey's books more. He is an extremely hard working, dedicated author. His works are jewels for this area and will long be recognized as not only the geographical authority but also the historical authority in this wonderful part of the world. Buy everything he writes.

Got this book in preparation for a trip to the area. It's very comprehensive, but looks like it was laid out with an old fashioned typewrite. Still, if you plan to hike the Paria River, it's definately a good resource..

I ordered this book, as it's one of the only ones out there with any detailed information on the Paria wilderness, and the reviews looked pretty good. HUGE mistake.

I have many problems with this book, but I'll just cover a few here. First--and probably most important, as it speaks to the safety of those who use this book--Kelsey gives sloppily written and poorly researched instructions into places that require considerable technical and canyoneering skills. These treks are not something to be undertaken lightly, and the only indication that one should perhaps give pause before undertaking one of Kelsey's routes is a half-page proviso near the beginning of the book that says, quite literally, "hey, don't blame me!" Appalling, truly.

Second, what on earth the Mountain Meadows Massacre has to do with a book about hiking the Paria wilderness is beyond me. Aside from Kelsey's horrific bias in relating some (emphasis on "some") of the facts of this event, it's just completely irrelevant, and doesn't belong in the book. He self-publishes this book (another red flag), and so is lacking an editor to rein him in and keep the book focused. Pity.

But my biggest problem with the book is Kelsey's bizarre agenda regarding BLM access and permit process for those wishing to hike into the Coyote Buttes North area (primarily to see the spectacular rock formation known as the Wave). The BLM strictly limits access to the area, because it's fragile and easily damaged, and they began doing so when swarms of people began descending on the Wave. When you have bus after bus full of tourists showing up to trample their way in to a place like this, it's going to have a very negative impact on the area. Kelsey's proposed solution? Let EVERYBODY in, and just ask them to take their shoes off when they reach the Wave. I'm not joking--but I wish I were.

Kelsey imagines the permit system into Coyote Buttes North as some kind of liberal conspiracy (I'm not joking about that, either, sadly). Honestly, with advance planning, it's not that difficult to get a permit into the area. I began planning my trip a year ago, signed up online for the BLM lottery system, and got a couple of permits for my first choice of days. No difficulty, no hassles. If you fail to plan ahead, you can still take your chances with the walk-up lottery. Kelsey flat-out lies when he claims that you won't find restrictions like this anywhere else--not true. The National Forest Service restricts access all over the backcountry in popular wilderness areas, and keep trailhead quotas in place to limit the number of backcountry permits that are handed out on any given day (I just reserved my permit to get into the Palisades area in the John Muir wilderness this summer--again, not a difficult thing to do).

With all the information easily available on the internet, Kelsey's book is largely unimportant and unnecessary (and I kind of regret even buying it). When the BLM sends out the permits, you get a VERY detailed trail map to guide you to the Wave, a much, much better guide than what Kelsey offers in his book.

Pass this one up--it's not worth the money. Do a little research online, and just pick up your topo maps and photo guides (Amazon has better prices on those anyway).

Not the best book on the Paria, from one who has spent a great deal of time there. Dense and difficult, would be a challenge for a novice who didn't know the area to start with.

I never did figure the association with Mountain Meadow???... Mountain Meadow is over 300 miles from the Paria! and the only connection with John D. Lee was that he ran a ferry at the Colorado River at one time. Save your money.

Kelsey is an expert in this field. You cannot give him only one star just for not spelling photography right.

Husband wanted book, I ordered it. He likes it.

As an American I lived my life of [...] years in feet and miles. I too heard my [...] teacher (nearly 45 years ago) say better get used to metric the US is the last country on the planet not using it and SOON you will have to use it. Never happened! (except for beverage providers who saw an oportunity to give us less product for the same price!) Wilderness hiking can be very dangerous, you need to know where you are, and I can't be pulling a calculator out every page to figure out how far 13.7 meters is!! Otherwise the book is filled with very good information. Pick up a detailed map at the trail head the maps in the book are too small to be of any help.

Kelsey's books can be helpful but his maps are pretty bad, hard to read, and why does he always spell the word photography, fotography? Why not fotografy? Why not just spell the word corrrectly? I would love to know the reasoning behind this, it would be good for a laugh or two around the campfire.