Got the book yesterday. It covers my favorite area on the planet (the Colorado Plateau) and as soon as I heard it was to be published, I decided to hike the section from South Rim to Zion National Park. With a lot of maps, trails could have been chosen and mistakes would have been made. This book has cut my planning down to less than half. The section getting from the Utah border to Highway 9 in Zion is worth the price alone. I can't wait to squeeze through "Fat Man's Misery".
This book should eliminate the planning mistakes. I'm sure I'll be able to make enough on my own. The mileages are essential information and well laid out in the different sections of the book. Important information such as where not to camp because of crossing private property and specific locations where there is danger of flash flooding, is vital to the component that needs to right up there with fun: safety.
The maps are excellent with the mileages shown on the maps corresponding with the mileages in the mileage portion of each section. Telling where water can be located and where to cache food for later pickup is equally important.
Most of the "Trail" is non-trailed. Excellent navigation skills are required for a successful completion of any portion of the Trail. I would have liked to see some GPS coordinates but most of those I wanted were available on the internet.
The book deserves additional credit for not sugar-coating the dangers that one will face on this Trail. The dangers cannot be overemphasized. It's not called wilderness for nothing.
Mitch and Joe want to bring attention to this wonderful area that seems to increasingly be under attack by those who look only at profit. To that end, I hope this book will be successful.
