3 comments about Red Rocks Climbing: Supertopos.

1. This the most useless climbing guide I have ever seen.
   
   There are 3 guidebooks available for Red Rocks. The best one one is the new eddition of Mountaineers guide edited by Roxanne Brock, which is a very comrehensive, and gives good route descriptions pitch by pitch. It is similar to 'Falcon' guide; in fact it is a copy of it with much improved topos and graphics. It is also somewhat better organized then 'Falcon' guide and provides stellar guide for each route; very helpful. I definitely recommend it.
   
   The only good thing about supertopo guide are actually topos but unfortunately the number of routes described in this book is very limited. I can only guess that the author included only routes he has done, otherwise I cannot understandthe reason of producing the guidebook to a fenomenal climbing area including only 10% routes or so.
   
   Second problem with the book is a lack of detailed route descriptions; instead the author decided to suggest strategy of doing the route consisting of a statement such as that the route is very popular and you should start early to be first in line to avoid waiting in the que; I guess this is really difficult to figure out yourself.
   
   Third problem with the book is the lack of directions on how to get to the route. OK after few days and after talking to other climbers, who have climbed there for few days, you can get a good orientation but if you don't have anyone to ask for directions, you cannot work-out from this book.
   
   The book looks impressive if you never climbed in Red Rocks, but if you did, it is absolutely useless, unless you really want to limit yourself to a small number of routes described in the book.
   
   So do yourself a favor and don't waste your money for this particular book; go for Mountaineers guide, it is very good and useful. Besides it is cheaper. I bought this book because it was offered in the electronic form and I could print it out and reap easily pages with topos for the route.
   
   And go climbing in Red Rocks, it is really a stellar climbing area.



2. I've got every Red Rocks guide ever published, which is about 10 books, including a really old one published in Rock and Ice around 1982. This guide is not comprehensive but contains a good selection of classic long routes. One thing I enjoyed was the historical information on each route. For example, Triassic Sands has a section on the history of this climb that can't be found anywhere else.
   
   However, if you just want to get up these routes you may think all this history is unnecessary. Red Rocks is a difficult area for one guide book as there are such a wide variety of climbs, from single pitch sport routes to multi-pitch sport routes to full day trad affairs. This book does seem to emphasize the latter and if you are more into sport climbing you are probably better off buying one of the comprehensive guides.
   
   The photos in this book are superb. The online version, in particular, has some really good shots. I guess they reproduce better on a monitor than on paper.



3. Its a good book if you're trad climbing, it has the majority of the routes in it. If you really want to know all the routes and have a ton of information, there are better guide books out there for Red Rocks.

5 comments about Afoot and Afield: Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.

1. I have a long shelf full of southwest guidebooks. For the Las Vegas area, Beffort's book is the best choice for people unfamiliar with the desert. It has a good mix of easy and difficult hikes.
   
   My sister and her husband recently visited Vegas while I was out of town. He was at a convention; she wanted to see something other than casinos. I turned her loose with a few suggestions and Beffort's book. She did three of the trips in the Spring Mountains and didn't get lost, uncharacteristic for her. The credit goes to good directions in the book.



2. One hell of a book. Great descriptions of hikes in around the vegas area. As well as a few extra bonuses with Death Valley and what not. Even has some Mojave action in there. Well This is a definate must if headin to the Vegas region and need a little something more than the usual Vegas experience.



3. I grew up in Las Vegas but moved out decades ago. But as a kid I didn't pay much attention to hikes and birding. This guide seems to cover the area in more detail than others and offers a nice assortment of day trips focused around the city and surrounding area. Though some of the outings, especially Death Valley are a bit far to really explore in a day.
   
   With the recent downturn in the economy, Vegas has been hit pretty hard and you can find great bargains there. So for our winter escape from the gray Northwest we are heading there to enjoy some sun, red rock canyons and birding. Catching a show or two will be a nice bonus. For the nature part we feel well armed with this guide.



4. Intersting and informative. Divided into regions (north, south, east west) for easy selection. Includes highlights about each hike and info on the trailhead. Altho we live in the area, had no idea there were so many hiking trails. A very useful book.



5. I am new to hiking in the Vegas area and have found this book to be the most complete reference guide out there. I was glad to see such a detailed explanation of each area as well as the trails. Definite thumbs up.

5 comments about Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.

1. I enjoyed this guide for the easy to find information and easy to read maps. It gave good hike descriptions and the list of spotlighted activites was right on target. I do use this regularly to create my plans for the park. This did lack the personal touch that I found in some other references and found myself picking up other guides to go with the maps in this book. The Moon guide was by far my favorite. But do check it out if your going to Yosemite. More information is always better.



2. A very well assembled collection of recommendations and facts for planning a trip to Yosemite. If you want to get the most of your trip to the region, planning is essential. Just showing up will severely compromise the options you have available. If you are planning to also visit Sequoia/Kings Canyon, you might want to opt for the Frommer's Guide or Lonely Planet's "Hiking In The Sierra Nevada." Personally, I think this guide has a little more detail and better organization than the Moon guide, with the maps being far better.
   
   Planning: The book does a very nice job giving you phone numbers, camp locations, amenities, and tips on which sites will fill up first. This really is the most important, especially if you want to camp at a popular location or want to do overnight hikes in one of the more popular destinations. If you want to stay in one of the valley hotels think a year in adavance (at least), camping in the valley needs reservations 6-8 months in advance.
   
   Trip descriptions: For the places I visited the descriptions were thorough but not overwhelming in detail. The book has both short trips (1-3 days) as well as longer excursions, but many of these can be abbreviated to suit your needs.
   
   Maps: You will certainly need your own big topo map when on the hike, but the maps here (and in other Lonely Planet guides) are among the best you will find in this sort of guide. First they are topographic, which helps you with overall planning, even if you will eventually make use of a big map later on. Second, the maps are in two colors, which facilitates reading immensely. Finally, the printing is fine and crisp. Some other guides have blurry reproductions of USGS maps that look like they were printed onto a paper towel.
   
   Other: The book is compact and lightweight. If you are an obsessive type you could carry it along on your hike without adding too much weight.
   
   Overall, this is a great guide to aid in planning a trip to the region, especially those on their first couple of excursions to the region. For those who want more details on other trips check out Sierra North and Sierra South, as well as books by Mike White, R. J. Secor, and Steve Roper.



3. I thought this was a pretty well-rounded overview of Yosemite with some nice pics to boot. I've been hiking all over Calif but never quite got around to hitting the Big Y. I had seen pics and knew it was great, but I wasn't quite sure what the best approach to schedule a three-day weekend. Well, this baby helped a lot -- reservations, planning hikes, meals and all that a snap. The maps and spotlight-recommendations were great.



4. I've lived in California for 3 years and have been to Yosemite at least 5 times. We have gone for backpacking trips, car camping trips, and stayed at Curry Village. We always bring this book with us. You need to have a book like this with you when you are there so you can both plan ahead and do things on the fly. It's a great book that highlights all the must-see spots. Yosemite rarely disappoints.. even if some spots are crowded, once you get there, you can understand why! Lonely Planet books in general area always well organized and have great maps. I like how this book had both short hikes as well as some longer overnight backpacking trips. It also does a good job of detailing all the campgrounds. If you want more detail (or a little different perspective) on hikes and backpacking trips, get "Hiking in the Sierra Nevada" by Lonely Planet.



5. Lonely Planet produces some of the best all around travel guides. They are detailed and offer good advice on where to eat, stay, camp, and hike. This particular guidebook at once offers both more and less than it promises. Although 3 national parks are listed in the title, it is really a guide to the central Sierra. Readers will not only learn about tourist attractions in the National Parks, but also locations all along the Owens Valley, from super hot springs to backpack trip suggestions for the eastern Sierra. Excursions through Gold country and an extended discussion of some excellent state parks, notably Calaveras Big Trees State Park, round out a very nice book.
   
   On the other hand, Sequoia and Kings Canyon proper receive relatively little coverage, despite appearing prominently in the title. If you are planning to visit these parks in particular, another guide book may be more appropriate. Still in all this is a very nice book. The plates in the front are fabulous. If those photos do not make you want to drop everything and head for California's best mountain range, nothing will. There are lots of fun sidebars covering every imaginable topic, from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail solo to the recovery of Mono Lake. Finally, maps, driving directions, and especially restaurant suggestions, are everything one comes to expect from a Lonely Planet Guide. On the whole then, this one gets two thumbs up.

5 comments about National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Southwestern States: Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah (Audubon Field Guide).

1. This field guide is really usefull. It has a basic description of hte animals, plants, geology, insects, and weather of the Southwest.



2. Just returned from a tour of the Southwest. The field guide was easy to use. I liked the fact that it covered so many aspects of the Southwest and eliminated having to tote five or six field guides to cover most of the subject matter.



3. I initially found this book in the library and enjoyed it so much I wanted my own copy to carry with me when out hiking in the Tucson, AZ area. Informative, accurate, and easy to access information. For such a small field book it packs complete info regarding plants, trees, birds, reptiles and general info on geology and natural history in the southwest. If you want to learn more about the southwest desert - this is a must have field book



4. Great book...some of everything and not too big/heavy to bring along. Excellent to use with kids too because of all the good color pictures!



5. I use it as a reference all the time when I see an animal would be nice though if it had more info on all the animals and plants and insects

5 comments about The Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country.

1. the descriptions of the route are great, but they're mixed in with a semi-narrative about the landscape, flora and fauna. not very easy to pick out the relevant bits when you're route-finding.
   
   the addition of the maps in the back are meant as a convenience, and while i realize that this is a ROUTE and not a TRAIL, it would be more convenient if the maps had a general indication of the route path described. at the very least, it should label by name, all the lakes, peaks and passes described.
   
   the book is also a bit heavy for a long haul, so i found myself tearing out the what i no longer needed wtih each resupply.
   
   i give steve roper total props for exploring, discovering and sharing this route... and expecially for going back and updating it a few years on.
   
   Backpacker Magazine Editor, Steve Howe did this route in 2006 and made daily podcasts which can be downloaded free on iTunes. i found his route descriptions and waypoints to be a perfect complement to this book.
   
   my attempt to do the route in it's entirety got cut short with a shoulder injury only 5 days in. though i was able to finish up by detouring for another three weeks on the john muir trail, the SHR definitely requires 4 limbs. i'd recommend attempting it later in the season (August/September) to avoid the snow fields at high altitude on the north facing passes (i dislocated my shoulder when i lost my footing on a steep snow-covered face). i'd also recommend using a PLB or Spot Satellite Messenger with GPS Tracking even if you're not traveling solo. i didn't see another person for the first 8 days of this trip, and only then it was because i was on the heavily trafficked JMT.



2. I have the original copy of SHR in the Sierra Club tote book series. I enjoyed this update with photographs though I prefer the smaller format of the original. Great read and better guide book.



3. My girlfriend and I now refer to this book as 'Stevie' after spending a month thru-hiking the SHR with it this fall. I'm not sure that Mr Roper would approve of having his name taken in vain, but we sure took a liking to his style and found that his words of wisdom quickly became our loyal companion.
   
   Like others before us (and it broke my heart to do it) we cut out the actual guide section of the book to keep weight down, and I highlighted all route-finding information to make it stand out from the amazingly informative and, at times, highly entertaining, descriptive detail. Used in conjunction with Andrew Skurka's excellent accompanying map set (available via web) we had very few route-finding problems, although we were blessed with exceptionally good weather and zero snow cover. It appears that the guidebook maybe too good, as we found that use trails had become pretty well established over large portions of the route, possibly to the dismay of Roper and cross-country purists.
   
   If you are planning to thru-hike the SHR, you need this book. It is not an easy trek (much more rugged than the JMT) and there is no other hard-copy guide. The book's also worth buying if you are craving a shorter High Sierra trip, as some great options are described for incorporating sections of the route into loops with access points on both sides of the range.
   
   The author's advice is priceless for safe cross-country travel through some of the world's most spectacular mountainous scenery. May Stevie become your friend too - but tread lightly so that it remains as rewarding a challenge for future Sierra lovers as it was for us.



4. I did part of this route nearly 10 years ago. As others say, Roper's descriptions are enough to keep you safe but vague enough to let you explore and feel like you are on your own.
   
   The only thing that bears repeating is that this route is *hard.* It is a physical and at times a mental challenge and you need to be prepared for it -- but if you are, it's the trip of a lifetime.



5. Great book. Great hike. Beautiful prose and accurate descriptions with just enough ambiguity ti make it interesting.

2 comments about John Muir: The Eight Wilderness Discovery Books.

1. Or numerous other natural phenomena? Come browse Muir's collection of books. Yes, browse the 1,030 pages which comprise his writings. This book is excellent for the student of nature because his descriptive writing takes you to the high Sierra, the redwood forests, the 1,000 mile trek through Florida to the Gulf of Mexico. You are there and you want to be THERE! While much of the description was written over 100 years ago, the magnificence of a Sequoia, the humidity of a Florida swamp and the curiosity of a Douglas squirrel is still REAL today. A true travelogue for nature lovers and mountainmen wannabes alike



2. Wonderful glimpse into one man's love of nature and lifelong crusade for preservation. Poetic, spiritual, compelling and insightful.

5 comments about Nevada Atlas & Gazetteer.

1. Great Product! Nearly as good as having a seperate map for every county in the whole state.
   I like it best because I can read the text much easier than a state map, especially in low light. My bifocals are OK for reading but not the fine details of most maps.



2. An indispensable addition to your travel planning for Nevada! Buy one and you'll find you'll want more DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteers for traveling in other states!



3. These Delorme Atlas & Gazetters are wondeful. They show you many features not available through GPS, maps or other atlases. It is a great feature to have the BLM lands marked as well as the back roads. Good resources are also included in each states atlas. A good addition to anyone's travel tools.



4. Took a number of non-roads shown as roads in this atlas and almost became stranded once. Also missed some interesting roads not shown in this atlas. I later reviewed these errors in the other brand atlas of the same size and found them ALL to be correct in that atlas. I continually find errors in the California, New Mexico, and Nevada versions of the DeLorme atlases. I have since converted my usage to the other brand.



5. In the other cases where I have compared DeLorme & Benchmark side by side (California, New Mexico, Arizona), I prefer DeLorme. Not this time. As other reviewers have mentioned, BLM land is not marked in the main body of the atlas, only in the whole-state map; this alone makes the atlas nearly useless for those interested in exploring public lands. Benchmark's marking of public lands at a coarse scale in their "recreation maps", but not in the finer scale "landscape maps" is not ideal, but it is workable; DeLorme's approach for Nevada is not. I also notice that Benchmark includes more campgrounds (including one I stayed at last summer south of Silver Springs) and other fine detail for Nevada than DeLorme, whereas in other cases the opposite is true. Elsewhere in the west, stick with DeLorme. For Nevada, get the Benchmark.

5 comments about Streetwise Las Vegas Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Las Vegas, Nevada.

1. Slightly out of date. Save your $5.95 and go to AAA!



2. This is my 3rd map from Streetwise. The first I bought when I moved to Orlando and the 2nd was for the streets of Sydney. Now I'm relocating to Las Vegas and these maps have always been a big factor in locating my apartments. Thank you!



3. I plan to visit Las Vegas later this year. I used this series map in London and Paris on previous trips. These maps usually show PART of a city in detail (no suburbs) in a form that folds and is weather proof. This map is exactly what I wanted. There is a detailed map of the strip and entertainment locations, showing the casinos and hotels themselves. You can see what is across the street from where you're considering staying, how far you will have to walk to see everything you want to see, and all the locations with respect to the airport (McCarran). Turn the map over and see the city on a smaller scale, showing more of the city around the strip, etc. If you are visiting your brother-in-law in one of the suburbs, you will have to buy a second map, but this gives me everything I want and need.



4. This map has a tiny, and I mean really tiny, map of the hotels and resorts on the strip. If, like me, you want to see the locations of the different hotels and casinos do not buy this map. I returned it and am annoyed I had to pay for postage both ways- for an inferior product- that was not advertised correctly.



5. Very helpful for a first time tourist in Vegas. Very easy to find all the major attractions, and good scale for estimating walking time.

5 comments about Benchmark Nevada Road & Recreation Atlas - 2nd Edition.

1. I use this atlas for it's great off-road detail to plan and execute ATV trips. This is the BEST atlas I have found for off-road detail in Nevada and it hasn't let me down yet. It must be the best, since others in our ATV Club have it and refer to it often. I never see another atlas on the trail besides this one!



2. When I purchased a Nevada Road & Recreation Atlas that had missing pages, Benchmark offered to correct the problem immediately. They responsed to my email in less than 24 hours. I've used 3 of their Atlases for different states and find them extremely useful.



3. Not only does this map label and explain all the interesting recreational features in the state, it also labels all the rural ranches and farms(!) We use it at the university! THANKS!!



4. The Benchmark Nevada Atlas is of the best topographic atlases of Nevada. This large format atlas includes historical sites, major and minot roads, and physical features that complements most GPS based mapping programs. It's a must have if exploring landsailing sites in Nevada!!!!



5. I ride bikes and like to see all the back roads. if there is a road then its in this book. perfect travel companion.

4 comments about Frommer's Las Vegas 2010 (Frommer's Complete).

1. I was very disappointed with Frommer's Las Vegas 2010. They used the same pictures, maps, etc. as they did for previous editions. They added a few new facts, but it is basically the same book that I first purchased, Las Vegas 2007. There have been many changes in Las Vegas in 3 years and to publish a book including incorrect maps of the strip is not what I would have expected from Frommer's.



2. I reviewed Fodor's guide to las vegas 2010, the Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2010, and Frommer's Las Vegas 2010.
   
   Hands down, I liked Fodor's the Best. I liked Frommer's probably the least. It is also the shortest book of them all. I felt the information presented was much less detail than the other books, especially sample itineraries, day trips, side trips, trips with kids, and show information. I did not do any in depth reviews of where to stay as I am staying at a time share--however, the layout and pictures included in Fodor's is much more appealing.
   
   If you haven't been to Las vegas before and are looking for a guide--start with either of the 2 other books and you will probably be happier. Or, you can do what I did and purchase all 3. However, the only one I am using is Fodor's as it is the most complete for what I was looking for.



3. It still has Aladdin, Boardwalk, Stardust and a few other hotels that are not there anymore. The map in the book is current.



4. Great update for Las Vegas 2010. Tropicana is described as under renovation and
   may or may not be great. Very complete. Maps of all the main areas of Las Vegas.
   This is definitely a bargain for the price.