Wild Wyoming

Rating:
Summary: The biggest but least informative Guide to Wyoming
Review: I have read other books from this author and enjoyed them, however, this book was dissapointing. It isn't nearly as thorough and spends a lot of valuable paper complaining about BLM officials, congress, Forest Service planners, etc. I thought for 400 pages, this was surely an exhaustive guide to Wyoming - but it included so much political hype that I couldn't take it anymore - and I'm enviromentally-minded myself! It also includes a great deal of, "this rock is 55 million years old" which is fine if you want more guess-timated geological history than description to help plan a trip. The problem with the political commentary is simply that it is exaggerated to the point of being fictional. For instance, regarding the hike up Laramie Peak, the author writes, "the motorized visitors are now as abundant as the hikers on the trail, and horsemen are well advised to avoid it...". and that the summit offers a "collection of ugly prefabricated buildings and antennae." I hike Laramie Peak annually, sometimes more often than once a year, and only once have I ever encountered ATVs. I have never thought of this 30 second encounter or the sheds at the top as detractors of the experience and based on his description, nobody would want to go there (which may be the goal). I guess its all in what you are looking for. If you want to read an attempt to advance a political agenda, this is your book. If you want to learn some great hikes and get more useful explanations of areas, you should probably go for Hiking Wyoming - a much better Falcon Guide that has fewer pages and better content - it covers about 40 more trails than Wild Wyoming does.

Rating:
Summary: A standout guide
Review: If you want a Wyoming guide that suggests the best restaurant in Jackson, look elsewhere - if you want to find your way around some of the more remote, unserviced and extraordinary lands in Wyoming, let Wild Wyoming be your guide. I've used this book in the Red Desert and other very remote corners of Wyoming and suspect that the rare footprints I found were Molvar's - clearly he trekked every place he describes. There are some political notes, too, but that's appropriate when particularly BLM wildlands are on the chopping block for energy development. This belongs on the shelves of serious Wyoming travelers along with the excellent Moon Guide (you can get your restaurant info there).