I picked up this book from the library on a whim, mainly because I enjoy books on travel and journeys, and this seemed to be an epic one.
The book is about the journey through the Grand Canyon – not just down one side and up the other, but from end to end. This is a seriously difficult trip – requiring a lot of logistics, physical training, and support from other people. The author was mainly traveling with another person in order to write an article for National Geographic. However things quickly went off the rails and more help was needed. The journey lasted almost a year, with breaks in between as required by injury, family and weather.
On paper I don’t like it when a trip is interrupted and then restarted later. It breaks the immersion in the adventure, and seems a little bit like cheating. In reality I understand that it is a necessary thing sometimes, and it wouldn’t be good for the story to have the traveler hurt/burned out/arrested.
The writer is really good at setting the scenes of nature, and describes not just passing beauty but those memorable moments when everything comes together to feel transcendental. However the style of the beginning of the book is (I guess) going for humor and it just isn’t that funny. The two guys are starting the journey basically unprepared and so the writer describes all the stupid things they unknowingly do, while other hikers are perfectly prepared and uncommonly kind and patient. It was a little frustrating to read these parts.
I also got the sense that this book was really written for all the people who are closely associated with the Grand Canyon. That means all the tour guides, boaters, through-hikers, and park rangers and rescue crews. It felt that a lot of the content was for insiders to recognize and appreciate. Maybe if I had that background it would have been more interesting.
The journey is long and the writer backfills incidents on the way with the history of the Grand Canyon and the native people that lived in and around it through history. While the history was interesting and made for good reading, I didn’t like how these backstories put everything else on hold – I wanted to follow the journey more closely.
Because these guys are on an assignment for National Geographic, some people they meet want to get their story out into public view – including some Native Americans who are continuously fighting for their home and lands after they were taken from them (repeatedly). The way their stories are written felt a little inauthentic to me. They meet two separate female Native American women who want to share their stories, with both shedding tears as they tell it. Maybe I am overly cynical but it felt a little too staged to me.
Overall I enjoyed the journey even if it could have been edited down a little bit. It did have the effect of making me want to go back and take another look at the Grand Canyon – from a more peaceful location, perhaps.
Next I am reading Good Game, No Rematch by Mike Drucker.
