Description
Book Synopsis Inspired by his ranger days in Rocky Mountain National Park more than forty-five years ago as well as more recent rambles, Richard Fleck has created these descriptive essays that take readers from shimmering desert heat to snowy summits. Fleck has expanded his acclaimed book Breaking Through the Clouds (2004) to create a new book that concentrates on the intermountain American West. This edition includes counterpoint experiences in the desert, canyon lands, and dry prairie far below the summits of the lofty peaks, such as Death Valley, Grand Gulch, Grand Canyon, and the Great Sand Dunes. His literary model was Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and his intent is to involve readers with an equally potent but different kind of natural reality. Fleck says, “After all, do not mountains rise out of deserts and dry lands? Mountains and surrounding deserts should not be separated.” The mountains are a constant source of spiritual renewal for this author, ena
Trade Review
"Fleck's eloquent accounts of climbing peaks and exploring the intermountain deserts of the American West reflect an intimate firsthand knowledge of and reverence for the region." —Lybrary.com
"This book is a shining example of how to write about the outdoors." —Arlene Shovald, The Mountain Mail
"Fleck’s knowledge of the history, natural history and literature of the American West enriches his accounts of outings with family, friends and students. With his graceful prose and attentive eye, Fleck captures moments of awe . . . For hikers who share his enthusiasm for the interior West, Desert Rims to Mountains High will replenish a fading storehouse of memories and nurture an appetite for more." —Jane Koerner, COLORADO CENTRAL MAGAZINE
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Death Valley
Chapter One: Descent into History at Grand Gulch, Utah
Chapter Two: Adventures Beneath Desert Rims
Chapter Three: Descent into the Grand Canyon
Chapter Four: An Alluring, Icy Longs Peak
Chapter Five: Steep Trails in Rocky Mountain National Park
Chapter Six: High, Wide, and Windy: The Prairies of Laramie
Chapter Seven: Where Land is Mostly Sky
Chapter Eight: A Scramble up Tabeguache
Chapter Nine: Four-Corner High
Chapter Ten: A Windy Ascent of Guadalupe Peak, Texas
Chapter Eleven: Sand Dunes of the High Desert
Chapter Twelve: Climbing High in the Pecos and San Juan Mountains
Chapter Thirteen: A Close Call on Mount Princeton
Chapter Fourteen: The Solace of Dinosaur Ridge
Chapter Fifteen: Rambles Along the Mosquito Range
Chapter Sixteen: Multiple Ascents of Mount Evans and Pikes Peak
Chapter Seventeen: Paha Sapa Wakan (Sacred Black Hills)
Chapter Eighteen: Mountains Over the Desert
Epilogue: A Rock on My Desk
A Selective List of Informative Mountain and Desert Books
About the Author
A Note on This Edition
Index
