Book Review: Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey

Backpacking

This is the final book review of a series of three books that influenced me to venture in to deserts. The result of my first forays into desert environs has been a 50+ year love affair in these seemingly stark and inhospitable wastelands, which they are not at all. Not only are deserts my favorite places to hike, camp and backpack; I have lived in the Lower Colorado Desert since 1977.

The two previous “desert” book reviews can be found here:

Book Review: The Thousand Mile Summer, by Colin Fletcher

Book Review: The Man Who Walked Through Time, by Colin Fletcher

Desert Solitaire is a much different work than the two books of Colin Fletcher’s I just reviewed the past couple of days. Fletcher’s are woven around two long-distance hikes. The hikes set a structure for his prose, but in the end, he has to finish the walks. A multi-week or multi-month walk injects a schedule, or maybe better put, a focus on completing the trip itself where observations of nature must, at times, become secondary. Many of Fletcher’s books were about how to survive in the wilderness; Abbey’s is more about how to help nature and wilderness survive mankind.

Before we delve into Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, there are some comments and perceptions of the man himself we need to address.

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Book Review: The Man Who Walked Through Time, by Colin Fletcher

Backpacking, Book Review, ,

Yesterday I posted a book review of The Thousand Mile Summer the first book written by Colin Fletcher. In that post I shared that three books influenced me to consider venturing into deserts and I moved to a desert in 1977, where I still live. Each of these books have stood the test of time, and I have read them several times over the decades. Over this time I have changed as I matured, society has changed. The deserts have changed too. Deserts are constantly changing.

In Colin Fletcher’s second book, The Man Who Walked Through Time, we get a close up view of a changing desert as viewed through his eyes. The geological record in the canyon walls, abandoned ruins of cliff side houses built centuries ago, a river that has been tamed by man, invasive species such has equines introduced by early European adventurers, and more.

Just like Thousand Mile Summer, this book reflects an inner transformation of the author that comes with being immersed in nature.

The Man Who Walked Through Time by Colin Fletcher and published in 1968 is a thoughtful and skillfully crafted account of his 1963 journey through the Grand Canyon.

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Book Review: The Thousand Mile Summer, by Colin Fletcher

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Over 50 years ago, on a hot summer day, I helped one of my brothers move to the Mojave Desert where he was starting college. The heat was like a blast furnance. His car overheated several times, resulting in a blown head gasket. After unloading his belongings and a fitful night of sleep, I left, hitch-hiking back to LA.

I vowed to never enter a desert again.

Six years later, I moved to the desert. A different desert. A hotter desert. Why would I do such a crazy thing?

In the time, between my vow to never visit a desert again and my relocation to the desert, I read three of my now favorite books. They piqued my interest, and I began to visit, hike, and backpack in desert environs. The first book I read was, The Thousand Mile Summer, by Colin Fletcher.

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Is Your RV Water Faucet Sputtering Or Full Of Air?

Camper Upgrades, Travel Trailer

 

On a recent camping trip the faucets in our trailer started spurting out air and a significant reduction in the  volume of water. This was while using the water pump, because we almost never camp where there are water hook-ups. Out campsite was in the middle of the desert and not having water would be a big problem. A quick diagnosis identified the problem, but we weren’t close to a city where we could get parts. This is how I figured out was wrong, and the solution, given our remote location.

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The Adventurer’s Son: A Memoir — My Book Review

General Talk

 

“In the predawn hours of July 10, 2014, the son of legendary Alaskan explorer Roman Dial walked alone into the untracked rainforest of Costa Rica’s remote Pacific Coast. ‘I’m planning on doing 4 days in the jungle,’ he wrote his father before leaving, ‘it should be difficult to get lost forever.’

Then he vanished . . .”

This would be the last communication from Roman Dial’s son.

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Been Busy After a Dumb Mistake — Time to Plan our Next Adventure

House Remodel, Senior Moments,

Senior Moments

The original solar installation on our low slope patio roof.

Where has Nick been? I haven’t posted in a while. Been busy installing a new patio roof. And now it is time to plan our next camping adventure. Here’s an update of what I’ve been doing. What I have been doing is the consequence of a dumb decision I made four years ago.

Yeah, I had a Senior Moment four years ago when we had our home solar system installed. My “moment” was my poor decision to install the panels on our patio roof. It was a mistake. In this story I’ll relate several steps that can be applied to many decision making situations; even for backpacking or camping. It has to do with researching products.

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New World 45 Gallon Fold-A-Tank: 10 Year Review

Camper Upgrades,

Imagine. You’re at a campsite with no water available and your camper is getting low on water and you still have a week of your trip ahead of you. What can you do?

One option is to close up the camper and drive to a water source: pack up any loose items inside, retract any slide outs, roll-up your awning, disconnect any items such as a propane grill, hitch up the tow vehicle and drive to a water source. Once your campers water tank is full, you will drive back to your campsite and set up everything again.

There’s a better way.

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Organizing Backpacking Gear and/or a Camper

Backpacking Gear, Travel Trailer
Backpacking gear stored in large plastic bins located on the shelves at the right of the picture.

Organizer all my backpacking, camping, boating and other gear has always been less than ideal. The biggest issue was the bins were large and it was a hassle to locate the one item I needed.

As it turns out, the solution was simple.

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I’m Done With DCF (aka Cuben Fiber)

Backpacking Gear, ,
Six Moon Designs Deschutes Carbon Fiber Shelter (April 2015)

Cuben Fiber (now called DCF) is a non-woven laminate fabric developed by the Cuben Tech Corporation in the early 90’s for the sails on racing yachts. In 1992 America3 won the America’s Cup Race using sails of Cuben Fiber.

In the mid to late 2000’s a few cottage industry backpacking gear companies started selling shelters and backpacks made from Cuben Fiber. The fabric has high tensile strength and is extremely light. But it has some important disadvantages. Most of which is my concern that  it really isn’t very durable and has a short lifespan.

So the question becomes, is DCF worth the cost?

I’m not throwing away my DCF gear, but when items wear out, which they will, I will be replacing them with something else.

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