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Rating: 
Summary: Changing What You Expect from an Outdoor Guide Book.
Review: Running Water guides set a new standard for outdoor books by reproducing topographic maps annotated with GPS waypoints. Thousands bought Global Positioning System receivers only to discover the Catch 22 of satellite navigation. You can't save the location of a place as a waypoint until you've actually been there; and once you've been there, you don't necessarily need GPS to get back. Publishing annotated maps means navigation nerds can finally tell where they're going instead of simply where they've been.
Visit us at running-water.com to download individual maps. Tuck it in your shirt pocket when you head to the hills -- way more elegant than carrying the entire book when you only need two pages of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Adventure at your fingertips
Review: A friend from Italy turned me on to this book while he was visiting California. Viggo had met a
woman kayaking while she was using the book to discover some hidden hot springs. I picked up the
book and it fuels my imagination with all the potential lovely wet adventures so near at hand. I was
familiar with some of the spots but others still remain for more exploration.
Rating: 
Summary: Geat for outdoors lovers; Beer totin' Yahoos- dont read it
Review: An almost comprehensive guide to swimming holes in california. The author is a little strict about what qualifies (no man made structures visible from the water) but I think that just helps to drive home the eco-point. The places this book guides you to are so great they will turn anyone into an environmentalist. Maybe even those yahoos that mess up some of the places. The book is very complete, including all the info you need to get to them there best holes and important info like "is it private enough to skinny dip?" (no way - way). My only hope is that no one else buys it so the previously little known places don't get overrun with the aforementioned beer swilling yahoos. (sorry about that Pancho et al, but , priorities ya know)
Rating:
Summary: great book by thoughtful guy
Review: Ever since I was young, I have been in search of the secret, awesome swimming hole. To plagiarize, it is the stuff dreams are made of. We have visited two of the sites described already. In both cases, Pancho Doll's directions and advice were right on the money. In some cases, I can see how the book needs more directions because it largely uses GPS coordinates, assuming the reader has a Global Position System device. But someone who is good with maps and talking with locals (part of the fun!) should not have a problem. It is wonderful that someone has written such a book with such captivating style and good on-site research. Bravo, Pancho! I also was able to speak with him because he uses a dictation device we manufacture. He was every bit as thoughtful on the phone as in his writings. I can only hope he will continue to update and fine tune his writings. The only concern is that somehow all us readers have to help keep these places well preserved and prevent abuse.
Rating:
Summary: great book by thoughtful guy
Review: Ever since I was young, I have been in search of the secret, awesome swimming hole. To plagiarize, it is the stuff dreams are made of. We have visited two of the sites described already. In both cases, Pancho Doll's directions and advice were right on the money. In some cases, I can see how the book needs more directions because it largely uses GPS coordinates, assuming the reader has a Global Position System device. But someone who is good with maps and talking with locals (part of the fun!) should not have a problem. It is wonderful that someone has written such a book with such captivating style and good on-site research. Bravo, Pancho! I also was able to speak with him because he uses a dictation device we manufacture. He was every bit as thoughtful on the phone as in his writings. I can only hope he will continue to update and fine tune his writings. The only concern is that somehow all us readers have to help keep these places well preserved and prevent abuse.
Rating:
Summary: thank you Pancho!
Review: I feel almost like this book was written for an audience of one: me! The only things it's missing are specific directions from my apartment and personal reminders like "don't get carried away and go diving into the water before you take your keys out of your pocket and take off your glasses dummy!". Obiviously i liked the book's approach and perspective - right on the money! The book seems to emphasize several positive traits of potential swimming holes that i generally agree with. He likes the natural, pristine, undisturbed spots - great, me too! He writes from an environmentalist's stand-point and tends to avoid the "roached" party spots. Natural beauty in a recreational swimming/jumping/diving/exploring/sunning situation is certain bliss. He also prefers places that include some cliff jumping opportunities. Yes! i know of no other guide book that places such an emphasis (liability wooses!). It is great to see because from my perspective, vertical thrill adds alot to such a spot. Another criterion he uses is accessability. Everything in the book is a potential day-trip with a maximum 3 mile hike/scrambles in. Nice to know, but i'd really like to see the places Pancho knows that require a little more effort! Actually, what i really want is Pancho as my personal guide and backpacking buddy! My only complaint with the book would be with his editor. I hope that before the next reprint, someone without a GPS tries to follow the written directions with only the provided topo and a regular map (what a job that would be! i'll work cheap!!!). Many of the directions lack detail, clarity, or are slightly convuluted (easily improved). But pherhaps this is intended? i know i have taken much pleasure in previous adventures in search of such spots with minimal information. With this book in hand, you really need to adopt the explorer attitude: do your research, hit the library, study topos at REI - you don't really have "directions", you have "clues" ;). I finally bought the complete california topo collection on CD - excellent investement and a nice compliment to this book. Now all i need is a GPS to pre-enter my waypoints, and i'm allll set. Another complaint i would have is the lack of regional maps. The book is broken down into regions, but there isn't a map showing where the swimming holes fall within said region. In order to find this information, you must reference the lat/lon coordinates or start reading the how to get there instructions (usually starting from closest town). See the web site for detailed info on this book. In fact, i think an online version can be purchased giving you full access to the data sans dead tree. happy splashing!, stu - official member of the Pancho Doll fan club
Rating: 
Summary: Cool Book, Easy Reading, Difficult Directions
Review: I was so excited when I found a book of this nature. I love waterfalls and swimming holes so I swooped up the book. I knew of some of the places in the book already, such as University Falls. The directions he gives to that place would have someone drowing in the Rubicon before finding University Falls. One day my best friend and I packed up the kids and set out for another destination in the book. We spent most of the morning trying to find the trailhead-and the other part of the day getting lost trying to find the swimming hole. The kids were whinning, hot and tired and we were disappointed if not straight up mad! We found a guy who lived in the area who laughted very hard when he read the directions (straight out of the book). Just about everything was incorrect. Wrong forest road number, wrong forest road, didn't bother to mention several turn offs, and it wouldn't have mattered if we were on the right road because the road indicated didn't really go where Doll stated it did. If you have GPS you're in luck. You're gonna need it. At the end of each chapter Doll lists Why Bother places. Doll doesn't included directions or pictures for those places but I managed to find a few on my own and they were gorgeous!
Rating:
Summary: Cool Book, Easy Reading, Difficult Directions
Review: I was so excited when I found a book of this nature. I love waterfalls and swimming holes so I swooped up the book. I knew of some of the places in the book already, such as University Falls. The directions he gives to that place would have someone drowing in the Rubicon before finding University Falls. One day my best friend and I packed up the kids and set out for another destination in the book. We spent most of the morning trying to find the trailhead-and the other part of the day getting lost trying to find the swimming hole. The kids were whinning, hot and tired and we were disappointed if not straight up mad! We found a guy who lived in the area who laughted very hard when he read the directions (straight out of the book). Just about everything was incorrect. Wrong forest road number, wrong forest road, didn't bother to mention several turn offs, and it wouldn't have mattered if we were on the right road because the road indicated didn't really go where Doll stated it did. If you have GPS you're in luck. You're gonna need it. At the end of each chapter Doll lists Why Bother places. Doll doesn't included directions or pictures for those places but I managed to find a few on my own and they were gorgeous!
Rating:
Summary: Needs better directions
Review: When I came across this title on the shelf I started jumping up and down and begged money from my friends to buy it. Imagine how much more delighted I was when I really started reading it, and found that the author's mind-set and approach to swimming holes is the same as mine! Concerned with pristine beauty and unadultrated appreciation of water and rock, Doll is very descriptive and no nonsense about the sites themselves. A little less descriptive, however, are the directions to these spots. The very day that I bought the book, we drove to Yosemite and tried to find a couple holes. No luck. The directions were confusing and lacking the most basic measures such as distance and time. Does anyone really USE GPS? For those of us that don't, the topo maps really offer no help, and his verbal directions are very unclear. I was frustrated that the author seemed to be sitting in the trees while we hiked, chuckling to himself, "Ha ha, I know where these holes are, and you don't!"
Rating:
Summary: Needs better directions
Review: When I came across this title on the shelf I started jumping up and down and begged money from my friends to buy it. Imagine how much more delighted I was when I really started reading it, and found that the author's mind-set and approach to swimming holes is the same as mine! Concerned with pristine beauty and unadultrated appreciation of water and rock, Doll is very descriptive and no nonsense about the sites themselves. A little less descriptive, however, are the directions to these spots. The very day that I bought the book, we drove to Yosemite and tried to find a couple holes. No luck. The directions were confusing and lacking the most basic measures such as distance and time. Does anyone really USE GPS? For those of us that don't, the topo maps really offer no help, and his verbal directions are very unclear. I was frustrated that the author seemed to be sitting in the trees while we hiked, chuckling to himself, "Ha ha, I know where these holes are, and you don't!"
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