Get Excited for Your Adventure by Reading All About Grand Canyon!
by Beth Henshaw
Your trip is booked, you’re counting down the days until you set sail on the Colorado River. The rapids, shooting stars, camp stories, and delicious meals are all you can think about. No need to wait- travel to the Grand Canyon through the pages of these 5 books to read before your Grand Canyon trip recommendations to get excited for your upcoming adventure!
1. The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko
“If there is a point to being in the canyon, it is not to rush but to linger, suspended in a blue-and-amber haze of in-between-ness, for as long as one possibly can. To float, to drift, savoring the pulse of the river on its odyssey through the canyon, and above all, to postpone the unwelcome and distinctly unpleasant moment when one is forced to reemerge and reenter the world beyond the rim-that is the paramount goal.” -Kevin Fedarko
This is one of those books that everyone who loves Grand Canyon knows about- and for good reason! It’s a thrilling adventure rich with history of the Colorado River and the dams that have altered the Colorado River’s flow. The story is focused on the year 1983, after record breaking rains brought floods that are still famous today, known as the fastest and scariest white water the Grand Canyon has seen. This book will take you down the flooded river with Kenton Grua as he broke the speed record for traveling 277 miles down the Colorado River in just 36 hours and 38 minutes! You can find this book in AZRA’s online shop.
2. Woman of the River: Georgie White Clark by Richard E. Westwood
“I fell in love with the river, married it, and I don’t plan no divorce”- Georgie White
Georgie White is a Grand Canyon legend. She was the first woman to row the full length of Marble and Grand Canyon and didn’t stop running rapids until she was 80 years old. A rapid “Georgie” is named after her boisterous legacy, known for running rapids with a beer in one hand. This book explores her life story as well as the innovations she brought to the rafting industry. You might see guides and guests sporting leopard print in the canyon as a head nod to Georgie’s vibrant life in the canyon. This book can be purchased on the University Press of Colorado’s website here.
3. Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell’s 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon by Edward Dolnik
“The men had two favorite modes of speech, wild exaggeration and ludicrous understatement. Ideally, both were delivered deadpan. Time and again, the accounts overflow with an offhand vitality that reminds us that we are listening to Mark Twain’s contemporaries.”- Edward Dolnik
This one’s for the history buffs. Dolnik tells the story of John Wesley Powell’s journey down the Colorado River with nine other men in 1869, an unmapped and unknown area at the time. Dolnik includes journal entries from Powell and his men on the expedition to share a well-rounded look into the trip. Dolnik also includes modern takes of the river and rapids in the Grand Canyon that zooms out and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the Grand Canyon as we know it today. This book is available for purchase in the AZRA online store.
4. We Call the Canyon Home: Indigenous Peoples of the Grand Canyon Region by Stephen Hirst
“Long before the countless numbers of explorers, prospectors, railroad men, and entrepreneurs came to explore and exploit the Grand Canyon, the canyon had a place in the lives of many of the Southwest’s American Indian people.” -From the Foreward
Indigenous tribes have inhabited the area we know as the American Southwest since time immemorial. Discover the deep cultural, traditional, and historical connections between these peoples and the Grand Canyon. The Indigenous peoples of Grand Canyon tell their own stories, in their own words, and in their own way. Contributing Editor, Stephen Hirst, collected the stories, historical backgrounds, cultural traditions, and tribal government proceedings from the 11 Traditionally Associated Tribes of Grand Canyon in We Call the Canyon Home. Reading this book will give you a broader understanding of the history of human ties to the Grand Canyon. This book can be purchased here on the Grand Canyon Conservancy’s website or in AZRA’s online store.
5. The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons by John Wesley Powell
“The Grand Canyon, is a land of song. Mountains of music swell in the rivers, hills of music billow in the creeks, and meadows of music murmur in the rills that ripple over the rocks. Altogether it is a symphony of multitudinous melodies. All this is the music of waters.” -John Wesley Powell
Read direct words from John Wesley Powell himself, a famous explorer and one armed Civil War veteran who plunged into the unmapped regions of the Green River and the Colorado River. This book is considered both a Grand Canyon and nationwide classic, published in 1875 and still widely read today. Don’t miss the illustrations inside that depict life of a canyon we don’t get to see today due to the dams upriver that have altered Grand Canyon’s ecology and the rapids themselves. Lake Powell, which sits upriver from the Grand Canyon, is named after Powell and his explorations that led to a greater understanding of this region. This book is also available for purchase in the AZRA online store.
Whether you read one or all five of these books, you will be transported down into the canyon with red walls rising above you until there is only a ribbon of sky overhead. The history and legends of Grand Canyon wait in these pages while you wait for your trip down the Colorado River. We hope you enjoy reading about the canyon and we can’t wait to see you this summer!
About the Author:
Beth Henshaw is a writer based in the desert southwest. She is currently pursuing her M.F.A. in creative writing at Western Colorado University. She is published in the latest anthology of Four Corners Voices as well in Canyon Voices Lit Magazine. More of her work can be found on her website www.empathicadventurers.com and on her Instagram @blog_by_beth.