Grand Canyoneering: Exploring the Rugged Gorges and Secret Slots of the Grand Canyon
After four years of painstaking work, and occasionally some heart thumping adventure, Todd Martin's encyclopedia of Grand Canyon drainages is finally finished.Grand Canyoneeringis the first extensive guidebook covering technical canyoneering in Grand Canyon National Park. At 500 full-color pages, highlighting 117 drainages from Waterholes Canyon upstream of Lee s Ferry to Tincanebitts Canyon at river mile 264, there is an adventure for everyone.Backpackers will enjoy 34 hikes through remote drainages that do not require ropes. Technical canyoneers will marvel at the stunning microenvironments and challenges to be found in the only limestone slot canyons on the Colorado Plateau. And river runners will be surprised at the slot canyon adventures within easy reach that they've floated past for years.Of course,Grand Canyoneeringhas complete and accurate beta to assist in exploration of these places in Todd Martin's proven writing style, and more than 100 pages are dedicated to technique, safety, and etiquette for environmental preservation, but in my opinion the book does something more profound. Loaded with 200 stunning full color photos of remote parts of Grand Canyon, including places never before seen by human eyes, Grand Canyoneering peels back one more layer of the onion that is Grand Canyon National Park, a place so vast and isolated that it's difficult for humans to appreciate the scale. Even if you never intend to hike, raft, rappel, or gawk from the rim of the Grand Canyon,Grand Canyoneeringprovides a never-before-published view of one the seven natural wonders of the World.--Rich Rudow, one of Outside Magazine's Adventurers of the Year, 2012WINNER: National Outdoor Book Award: Outdoor Adventure Guidebook Category 2012.If you're into canyoneering,Grand Canyoneeringis a must-have. Handsomely illustrated with color photographs throughout, this outstanding guide includes thorough explanations of over 100 different trips into the tributary drainages and ravines of the Grand Canyon. Trip descriptions are supplemented with topographic maps, key GPS coordinates, and information on water sources, specialized equipment and natural history. Todd Martin writes in a comfortable, conversational style which makes the guide a pleasure to read; yet, at the same time, he is exacting when it comes to describing canyon routes. The sheer volume of material alone is impressive, and combined with the photos, maps, and text, it s decidedly atour de forceof outdoor guidebooks.--National Outdoor Book Awards