Michael R. Kelsey (1) (1943–)

This is a fantastic guide to the entire Paria River, including some nearby canyons and hikes. The author is a geologist and cartographer who is very familiar with the area, and has been updating this guide for over twenty years. The book is crammed full of information, maps, and stories, with a level of detail that one normally only gets from the "locals." The content and information sets this book apart from the standard trail guide, and makes it a must-have for anyone who wants to hike, backpack, climb, or explore the Paria River.

The only reason I give this book a less-than-perfect rating is because it is very poorly organized. The sections of the book are in roughly geographic order, but information about a specific area may be spread out in two or three different sections. I took the book backpacking between Old Pareah and Oak Canyon, and didn't discover until after the trip was over that there was an entire section I'd missed that covered most of our route and provided information that wasn't covered in the three other sections we were using for the hike. There is no index. Often, the author refers to an area, saying "this is covered elsewhere in the book" with no hint as to where to look, leaving it to the reader as an exercise in scavenger hunting to find the desired information. The book is formatted with a small font and non-existent line spacing. It's great that the book is as compact as possible, but it's taken to the extreme and makes the book difficult to read. This book is in desperate need of a layout expert who can skillfully wield a word processor to get the book correctly formatted, organized, cross-referenced, and indexed.

Planning to explore the Paria River? Get this book. Give yourself a week or so to read it, study it, familiarize yourself with the organization, and add highlights, bookmarks, sticky notes, or whatever you need to make sure you get the most out of this great guide during your visit.… (more)