This book is a fine journey through internal and external space, past and present time. If you loved "The Man Who Walked Through Time" by Colin Fletcher, you will love this book. If you like learning history, geology and geography as stories about people, places, and creatures, you will like this book. If tensions between the rational scientist/humanist approach to life and the more spiritually-based approaches of those who are drawn to mysticism or earth-based religion spark your interest - you will like this book. And finally, if you are moved by the sincere effort of a parent and child to live in a caring, thoughtful, respectful relationship with each other, you will be moved by this book.

Michael Quinn Patton is an outstanding story-teller who pokes fun at himself as a father, hiker, scientist, man and human being throughout. The book describes his fascinating journey through the Grand Canyon as a coming of age ritual with his 18 year old son and a friend who serves as guide. Along the way, Michael weaves in ancient mythology, stories of the knights of the Round Table, the geology and geography of the canyon, his friend's teachings based upon Native American spirituality, his own approach to religion as a humanist Unitarian Universalist, and much more.

Both serious and comical in nature, this is a fine tale of one family's approach to raising children well, having great adventures, and ultimately understanding deeply that parents must turn their children loose with trust in their ability to act with wisdom, make mistakes, continue growing, and live their lives as they choose.

My favorite parts included (1)the journey to and from Merlin Falls, containing a classic example of "jumping off the 100 foot pole without knowing where you will land" as father and son face unexpected danger together, and (2)an adventure in emergency car repair that the author compares to making love in a touching yet hysterically funny way.

This would be a great book for parents and teens to read together and discuss, as well as a terrific story for people who are teens or older to enjoy and digest by themselves.

This is a book that takes you inside: inside the Grand Canyon; inside a father-son relationship; and inside the struggle to make meaning and to take understanding from life transitions. As Patton shares the cacophony of voices in his head -- past and present, his own and his father's, the landscape's and the academy's -- he reminds us of the the turbulence beneath our own surfaces. By paying attention to those voices, even when they confuse and confound, he reminds us of the gifts to be found when we are willing to live in the tension of not knowing.

I was drawn into the story, carried along by the fine writing and the wilderness adventures. I wanted to find out how this experience played itself out for Patton and his son. What would this ritual ultimately look like? Whose sensibilities would most inform it?

I was also drawn into the emotional and intellectual challenges Patton faces as he tries to create a meaningful experience for an 18 year old. Where is the fit of tradition? How can we create meaning without falling prey to mystical mumbo jumbo?

The answers they reach together are not a prescription for initiation rituals for the new age. They are, instead, an invitation for thoughtful inquiry into our own values and history. The answers challenge us to pose our own questions -- and to be relentless critical inquirers.

Wow! This is not just your normal big photo book to set on the coffee table for an occasional browse through. This is a book to savor, page by page, slowly and with thoughtful contemplation of the stunning images presented both by the photographers and the author. From the first paragraphs of the introduction, I realized this book offers an unusual journey, as the author explains, in elegant prose, his reasoning for taking the reader UP the Colorado River rather than down. Here is a book worthy of being used as a reference in any historical geography or geology class, yet read from cover to cover for its literary appeal. Even those who have not visited the Grand Canyon in person will gain an awesome appreciation for this wonder of nature by traveling with the author and photographers through the pages of this masterpiece.

Take this wonderful guide to the Grand Canyon. Not only is it informative and visually beautiful it enhances your spiritual understanding and love for the natural beauty of this magical place. Robert Hutchinson's text takes you on an awesome adventure.

A very inspirational book and a must for anyone interested in the Grand Canyon. Betty's sense of humor captivated me throughout.

Ms. Leavengood delivers a captivating look at the lives of women who helped to shape the Grand Canyon - not geologically, but culturally. These early explorers helped to open up the Canyon for the millions who would follow, and the author does a great job in capturing the both the appeal of the Canyon and of the women who first made the trip. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Grand Canyon or the human spirit.

Renowned author and illustrator Wendell Minor takes readers on an extraordinary journey in the picture book GRAND CANYON. Minor, who has graced book covers with his art for more than twenty-five years, is also one of the most revered children's book illustrators around. He's done collaborations with Newbery Award-winning author Jean Craighead George, including EVERGLADES, ARCTIC SON, and the soon-to-be-published CLIFFHANGER, as well as critically acclaimed books with Eve Bunting, Anne Turner, and Charlotte Zolotow. Now, he tells of his experiences in one of America's most celebrated natural treasures, with lyrical text and stunning watercolors. For twelve days he spent time on the South Rim of the canyon, sketching and painting the huge rocks, the dramatic skies, and the abundant wildlife in the area. The colors are rich and intense, yet at the same time peaceful, perfectly complementing the words. You feel as if you're right there, standing over the canyon with space all around you. This is an excellent introduction for kids to a magnificent place, and even if, like me, you've never visited the Grand Canyon, you'll feel as if you were taking the journey and living the experience, too.

This is a thoughtful look at the wonders of the Grand Canyon as seen by a noted American illustrator who took his time to look carefully at and sketch some of that space. The gorgeous watercolors painted from his sketches convey the beauty and the color of the Grand Canyon and the accompanying text from his journal help put the images into perspective. Minor makes the spaces come alive.

This is the most accurate representation of the true experience one gets in hiking the Grand Canyon. Other books I have read, actually written by super-hikers, can seriously misrepresent what a typical hiker will get into down there. Her style is also a very comfortable read. Nobody should hike in the Canyon without reading this book!

This book is full of wonderful stories and very useful information on particular South Rim trails. It is not a trail guide, but rather a well-written and very interesting report on what it is like to backpack in the Grand Canyon.

Loved it. Kept me busy for hours!! Would like to have more for each state we visit!!

The puzzles in this book are excellent! Any kid would love it, and most adults too!

I read Dellenbaugh's reprinted "Canyon Voyage" (the much abbreviated title) as a young man in the flatlands of western Kansas in the 1960's. The romance of the period of Dellenbaugh's youth, and the Powell Expeditions in particular (1869-72), stimulated in me an ongoing interest in the history of the region. I have read the edited and published diaries of most of the participants of the two expeditions, and continue to invest in an array of scholarly and coffee table books that even remotely address the subject. My annual crossings of the Colorado and Dirty Devil rivers to pursue research interests in southeastern Utah never fail to regenerate my own wish to have participated in such an epic adventure. Thus, when I saw the notice of publication of Maurer's book about Dellenbaugh on the second Powell expedition, with the expression in the title "the true adventures," I was expecting something on the order of D.D. Fowler's book about Jack Hiller's, another expedition participant. That is, a pretty serious biography of the man and a pretty faithful reproduction of the daily diary kept during his time in the field. Well, it might be the former, but it is certainly not the latter. Unlike the other expeditioners who kept diaries, Dellenbaugh's original diary has never been published. Perhaps this is because his 1908 "Canyon Voyage" was a timeline-based (albeit compressed) narrative and researchers may have believed there was nothing more of value in the original diary. While Maurer read the diaries of all the participants, including Dellenbaugh's, as well as Dellenbaugh's "Canyon Voyage" and the earlier "Romance of the Colorado River," Maurer's timeline is even more compressed than Dellenbaugh's. Consequently the book lacks the rich detail of Dellenbaugh's diary and earlier publications. For example, unlike the present book, the consecutive daily diary entries of "Looked for the Major today but of course he did not come; carried the rations over," "Looked for the Major again," and "Still waiting,"conveys a real sense of frustration at being in the same camp, on the bank of the Colorado, day after day, laying up under a boat to avoid the oppressive August heat, with nothing to do, waiting for the Major and Prof to come in so the party can continue the trip down the river through the Grand Canyon. Maurer acknowledged that in the writing of the book he "sometimes resorted to the methods of historical fiction to flesh out some of the stories" and that "footnotes would be out of place in a book like this." Thus despite having the best possible materials at hand from which to draw, this book was never intended as a scholarly work. In that context, the writing was a success. Maurer did locate some great historical photographs and drawings not published elsewhere, and that alone is an important contribution. More than that, though, the book was a really entertaining read. I can well imagine some person, like me once, never having heard of either Powell or Dellenbaugh, picking up the book and just marveling at what they did. And, interest aroused, they have an avocation.

Richard Maurer's new book chronicles Powell's second expedition through the eyes, words, and illustrations of Fred Dellenbaugh - a 17-year-old boy from Buffalo, NY who, along with some rowing experience on the turbulent Niagara River and a facility for drawing, had the gumption to make his dream come true. This story is very well written and quite compelling and will appeal to those who love adventure stories set in the Old West. The photographs and illustrations are remarkable. My hats off to the author!

Get this book before you go to the Grand Canyon and you'll make the most of your visit--whether you stay for a few hours, or over a week. With over 44 full color photographs (2 of them panoramic canyon views measuring 17" x 7"), four easy-to-read maps, accompanied by concisely well-written text (just over 50 pages), this beautiful book gives you a scenic viewpoint-to-viewpoint guided tour of the best sights, rim trails, and hikes the Grand Canyon has to offer--plus as a bonus, its soft cover and unique shape (9-1/4" x 7-3/4") make it perfect for rolling up and sticking in a fanny pack. And at just under $5.00, it's the best bargain you'll find in Grand Canyon Village (but don't wait until you get there to buy it--there are very few copies remaining on the shelves!)

What I especially appreciated about the book was the logical arrangement of the Table of Contents by viewpoint, beginning from the south as you drive into the main entrance (Grand Canyon Village) and then west to east. Even more valuable is the information preceding each viewpoint description telling the distance to the next viewpoint (in miles and kilometers)--handy statistics that help you decide whether to hoof it to the next viewpoint or wait for the next shuttle bus, as much of the South Rim is closed to passenger car traffic.

In addition to the accurate information and beautiful presentation, this book also includes interesting history of the Grand Canyon with colorful descriptions of the pioneers who first explored, mapped, and took political action to preserve this natural wonder. Told with quotes, anecdotal stories, journal entries and black and white photos (from the late 1800's and early 1900's), the author weaves a tale as deep as the Colorado River itself winding through the Grand Canyon walls far below. Here you'll learn the history behind the buildings still standing on the edge of the rim, and the train that still visits daily, as well as be introduced to the geological history and modern day plant life and animal life that call the Grand Canyon their home.

The first 62 pages are devoted to preparing the hiker. A complete listing to get you started. Descriptions of geology, climate, animals, and plant life prepare you for the environment you will be hiking. I really enjoyed the geology information. Each hike is rated by time, distance, elevation gain plus an effort rating. Areas of the entire state of Arizona are covered. Less popular hikes rarely published are included too. Well done!

If you love the Grand Canyon, you will be delighted with this selection of naturalists articles written in the first half of the past century (!). Easy to read, most of the writing consisting of articles of a few lines to a few pages, you can open the book anywhere and transport yourself on or below the rim, at a time when a lot fewer tourists visited the canyon.The book is divided in three parts, Earth sciences (geology, river, sky and seasons), Life science (flora, fish, birds, mammals,) and Human history (archaeology, ethnobotany and history). Nice little B&W drawings throughout the book, this is a very good complement to a visit to the Grand Canyon or to any coffee table picture book on the Grand Canyon usually thin on writing.