Boater's Guide to Lake Powell : Featuring HIKING, Camping, Geology, History & Archaeology

This book is a guide to Lake Powell, which has formed behind the Glen Canyon Dam in the middle part of the Colorado River. The dam is located in extreme northern Arizona, near the town of Page, but 99.9% of Lake Powell is in Utah. It has a shoreline of 2900 kms or 1800 miles.

The emphasis of this book is on hiking with boater access. Also covered are potential campsites, geology, history of the early pioneers and cattlemen; the ones who came to build trails, look for minerals, and explore. Excerpts from the John W. Powell and the Dominquez & Escalante expedition diaries have been added in the appropriate locations, plus archeological sites and their history are documented using studies from the Universities of Utah and Northern Arizona from the 1950's, before the lake covered many of the sites. There are 43 mapped areas, which show inlets and the canyons above, and hiking and camping information. Shown on these maps are Anasazi ruins, petroglyphs, and other information for mostly day-hiking. All sections of the lake are included, from Cataract Canyon in the upper end, to the San Juan Arm; plus the Escalante River drainage and its many great hiking canyons, and Rainbow Bridge, the one of the largest in the world. There are also lots of great slot canyons with boater access only; these include West Canyon, maybe the best all-around canyon hike on the Colorado Plateau. This 2nd Updated (3rd) Edition has 251 fotographs, including 10 color fotos on the front & back covers.

The author was born in 1943, and experienced his earliest years of life in eastern Utah's Uinta Basin; first near the town of Myton, then Roosevelt. In 1954, the family moved to Provo, where he attended Provo High School, and later Brigham Young University, where he earned a B.S. degree in Sociology. Shortly thereafter he discovered that was the wrong subject, so he attended the University of Utah, where he received his Master of Science degree in Geography, finishing that in June, 1970.

It was then real life began, for on June 9, 1970, he put a pack on his back and started traveling for the first time. Since then he has seen 223 countries, republics, islands, or island groups. All this wandering has resulted in a number of books written and published by himself. Here are his books, listed in the order they were first published: Climber's and Hiker's Guide to the World's Mountains and Volcanos (4th Edition), Utah Mountaineering Guide (3rd Edition); China on Your Own and the Hiking Guide to China's Nine Sacred Mountains (3rd Edition-Out of Print); Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau (4th Edition); Hiking and Exploring Utah's San Rafael Swell (3rd Edition); Hiking and Exploring Utah's Henry Mountains and Robbers Roost (Revised Edition); Hiking and Exploring the Paria River (3rd Edition); Hiking and Climbing in the Great Basin National Park (Wheeler Peak, Nevada); Boater's Guide to Lake Powell--Featuring Hiking, Camping, Geology, History and Archaeology (2nd Updated Edition); Climbing and Exploring Utah's Mt. Timpanogos; River Guide to Canyonlands National Park & Vicinity; Hiking, Biking and Exploring Canyonlands National Park & Vicinity; The Story of Black Rock, Utah; and Hiking, Climbing and Exploring Western Utah's Jack Watson's Ibex Country.

He also helped his mother Venetta B. Kelsey, write & publish a book about the town she was born and raised in, Life on the Black Rock Desert--A History of Clear Lake, Utah.