Canyoneering: The San Rafael Swell

Rating:
Summary: Excellent guidebook, Enthusiastic author.
Review: A great guide to a vast number of adventures in the San Rafael Swell, what really makes this a quinta-stellar masterpiece is Steve Allen's enormous enthusiasm for the wild places. A variety of hikes are covered and Steve has an amazing attention to detail. Anyone who's looking for information on hiking in the Swell will find this the best book. While most of the hikes are of the hard core variety, there are enough easy hikes to keep the less vigorous busy for a few years.

Rating:
Summary: alot of detail, comprehensive
Review: Steve's book gives plenty of information to find these hikes with lots of detail about the highlights and routes. Being an experienced mountaineer but a novice canyoneer, I did find selecting hikes a little difficult without a rating system. I would recommend using the Falcon Guide to the same area in conjunction and as a cross reference to avoid getting in over your head. If you can only buy one, get this one, as the 2nd half of the book contains a rich overview of the history and geology of the area which will highly enhance your visit.

Rating:
Summary: A very good guide to a remote, wonderful place
Review: The San Rafael Swell is a huge geological blister located in east central Utah. It is crossed by several creeks and has numerous beautiful canyons, cliffs, mesas, slot canyons, and grottoes. It is also marked by spectacular cliffs of white Navajo sandstone, particularly on the east and southeast borders. There are a few big arches in the Swell and a host of gargoyle rocks. It's a place that, were it anywhere else, would be a National Park or Monument. However, in the scenic wonderland that is southeast Utah, it's just another unexplored place for the most part. Up to this book, the bulk of the Swell's publicity has come from occasional uranium strikes.

Author Allen has turned out a masterpiece. The book extensively covers all the things previously discussed, and a lot more, too. Especially interesting is the history of the region. The maps and hikes/tours are clearly described, although I would have preferred measuring in terms of distance rather than time. Quite obvious is Allen's enthusiasm for the place, an enthusiasm brought out in the text. The pictures are good, but I would have preferred some of them in color, given the fantastic breadth of colorful formations in this region.

I used the book last May in a brief Jeep tour of the Swell, and found it to be very accurate. I recommend the book highly to anyone who wants to see/explore this magnificent region.

Rating:
Summary: A very good guide to a remote, wonderful place
Review: The San Rafael Swell is a huge geological blister located in east central Utah. It is crossed by several creeks and has numerous beautiful canyons, cliffs, mesas, slot canyons, and grottoes. It is also marked by spectacular cliffs of white Navajo sandstone, particularly on the east and southeast borders. There are a few big arches in the Swell and a host of gargoyle rocks. It's a place that, were it anywhere else, would be a National Park or Monument. However, in the scenic wonderland that is southeast Utah, it's just another unexplored place for the most part. Up to this book, the bulk of the Swell's publicity has come from occasional uranium strikes.

Author Allen has turned out a masterpiece. The book extensively covers all the things previously discussed, and a lot more, too. Especially interesting is the history of the region. The maps and hikes/tours are clearly described, although I would have preferred measuring in terms of distance rather than time. Quite obvious is Allen's enthusiasm for the place, an enthusiasm brought out in the text. The pictures are good, but I would have preferred some of them in color, given the fantastic breadth of colorful formations in this region.

I used the book last May in a brief Jeep tour of the Swell, and found it to be very accurate. I recommend the book highly to anyone who wants to see/explore this magnificent region.

Rating:
Summary: Phone Home?
Review: This book offers some good ideas for some different adventures in the San Rafael Swell but is somewhat confusing and deceiving. In some of his hike descriptions, Steve uses time instead of distance to detail his routes e.g. hike 19 minutes southeast to the wash, then turn east. This can be misleading because everybody hikes at different paces. If you hike especially fast or slow you may make a turn at the wrong landmark. He also described a route as turning at the E.T. looking rock. - Huh? We missed our landmark and had to phone home. His maps (though meant to be supplements for topo maps) look deceivingly one-dimensional, which give a false sense of easy, flat walking. If you're experienced in the backcountry, it's a good list of routes. I would, however, recommend Kelsey's San Rafael book for better maps, landmark descriptions, and distances though you do have to adjust his hike times as he hikes much faster than most. Add time and a half as a general rule.