Yosemite, The Complete Guide: Yosemite National Park [Paperback]

James Kaiser (Author)

Book Description

Series: Yosemite: The Complete Guide | Publication Date: June 1, 2007

From luxury lodges to rugged multi-day backpacks, this handy guide reveals the best of Yosemite National Park through vivid, full-color photography and informed writing. More than 20 hikes, ranging from easy to difficult, are covered in depth, with trail descriptions, elevation charts, maps, and photos. Chapters on history, geology, ecology, and wildlife are included along with essential information on lodging, camping, outdoor adventures, and popular park activities in Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, Wawona, and Hetch Hetchy. From the world-famous views of cliffs, waterfalls, polished granite domes, and giant sequoia groves to fine dining at the High Sierra Camp, this comprehensive travel companion allows anyone to access this fascinating park.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hands down, these are the best travel guidebooks I've ever read." --Wandering Educators --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

James Kaiser is an award-winning travel writer and photographer and the author of Acadia: The Complete Guide, Grand Canyon: The Complete Guide, and Joshua Tree: The Complete Guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Destination Press (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967890470
• ISBN-13: 978-0967890470
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Kaiser is an award-winning travel writer and photographer. When not traveling internationally, he writes guidebooks to U.S. national parks. His book "Grand Canyon: The Complete Guide" won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Full-Color Travel Guide and the Independent Publisher Award for Best Travel Guide. In 2006 he was a photographer for Yahoo! Sports at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. www.jameskaiser.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVE this book!, May 27, 2008

By 

E. Sinnokrak (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yosemite, The Complete Guide: Yosemite National Park (Paperback)

Bought this book back in March for a trip in early May. At the time, there was only one review, but I bought it anyway as it was the most recently published guide available.

Wow - the day it arrived, I sat down and read it front to back. The history of the park, the geology, the history of the Native Americans who lived on the land ... I was so impressed that it was more than just a "camp here" and "eat here" kind of guide.

What this book has over the others out there:
- The most gorgeous photos. It made me giddy with excitement to go and see those places for myself!
- a small but helpful section with pictures of the most common wildlife and plantlife that you encounter in the park (ended more than one debate about "what flower is this?!")
- Information about the native tribes' names and legends for the features in the park, or other important history of a particular place, highlighted in boxes set off from the main text.
- A sizeable section on the High Sierra Camps and hikes around them. Absolutely made me want to do the whole circuit (maybe next year...)
- This guidebook was clearly a labor of love for the author. This wasn't compiled from a bunch of staff travel writers ... it was written by someone who obviously knows the park extremely well and has chosen to highlight only the best parts, to give readers the best experience in Yosemite.

Why this might not be the book for you:
- There are no compass markings on the detailed mini-maps. This bothered others in my group more than me.
- Very few details on lodging. Not a problem for me, as I already had accomodations booked, and the lodging choices in the park are few anyhow, but this book is better for planning your TRIP, not your STAY.
- The descriptions of the hikes are kind of vague. If you are going to Yosemite to back-country hike, this isn't the book for you. If you want the best day (or 2-day) hikes, he hits the great ones. I was relieved to see how well-marked they are once you're on the trail.

I thought this guidebook was absolutely cream of the crop. So did my mother and sister-in-law - they each wanted to steal it from me and keep it as a coffee table book! (I bought them each a copy once we returned home)

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Yosemite Guide, February 12, 2008

By 

M. Lang - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yosemite, The Complete Guide: Yosemite National Park (Paperback)

A great general information/guide book for Yosemite.

I highly recommend this book for everyone. If you haven't been to Yosemite before, you get high quality photos of what is to come and some great general trail information to help plan your trip. If you have been, it is still a good buy as it is more than just a trail guide. The first 100 pages provide history and geology of the area and are a quick but fun read. In my opinion, it is just a great overall book to own. I plan to purchase the author's books about other National Parks in the future.

I also purchased the Moon book for Yosemite. It has more details on hikes, but for the average vacationer, I think this book is better.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A New Way of Looking at the Park, February 10, 2009

By 

Lady Sheepherder "Lady Sheepherder" (Bonanza, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yosemite, The Complete Guide: Yosemite National Park (Paperback)

I have several Yosemite Park guidebooks, but I am always looking for something new and different. This book has given me some images of the park that I have never seen in any of the other books or during my online research.

Because I do a lot of photography and hiking in the park, I feel this book is better suited for basics, general information, history, animals in the park as well as the flora and fauna.

This book certainly augments the other books I have on Yosemite and I am glad I purchased this book.

It also gives me personally, so great ideas on taking photos in the park that I had not thought about prior to this.

With regard to hiking, I would purchase the Falcon Guide, Hiking Yosemite National Park, because it really gives you indepth information about each trail.