Boater's Guide to Lake Powell: Featuring Hiking, Camping, Geology, History and Archaeology (4th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Best for heavy-duty hikers
Review: Overall this isn't a bad book. However, I do agree with other reviewers who feel it is difficult to use. Mr. Kelsey is an avid hiker and outdoorsman. The hikes in this book are all pretty intense and not for your average person. My major complaint about the book is that terrain at the beginning of most of the hikes up from the lake shore varies greatly depending on the water level. I know that this isn't Mr. Kelsey's fault and I certainly don't blame him, but he could give you a little warning. When we went (early May 2001) the water level was about 27 feet below full pool. At that point the beginning of some of his hikes may actually be 1/2 kilometer earlier than he states. In addition, getting to his starting point may be a whole lot more involved. (On one hike, it took us over an hour just to get to where he had the hike starting, due to low water level, lots of mud which was almost like quicksand and the need to hike up slickrock to get around all this).

Rating:
Summary: Warning- Lake is now a different place
Review: The book overall, is ok, and provides some good general information. However, in no fault to the author, the lake levels have dropped about 100ft since the book was written. Where there may have been a beach and a trail 4 years ago, you will now find a 50ft. cliff. Regardless lake powell is still an awesome place, check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Feet to meters
Review: Very informative book however the author (who was born and raised in the USA) has all measurements in meters. He must just be laughing at us complaining about it. I would not purchase the book because if you have hiked for decades and know how long a mile is and know how much ground in miles you can cover in a day and how much water you need for a lets say a 9 mile hike you will be totally frustrated by this book and if your wrong in your 7th grade conversion computation you could be for example out of water before you reach your destination. So you see it's not just annoying it could be dangerous.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent boating & hiking guide!
Review: We've used all 3 editions on 4 houseboat trips. From the descriptions of what to see, we decide on which canyons to visit. We use the detailed maps to navigate to the beach campsites. We use the trail descriptions to reach arches, waterfalls, petroglyphs, pictographs, ruins and narrow slot canyons. Things we used from the latest edition: new cost and time info on famous Antelope Canyon, more detailed directions on locating the petroglyphs in Llewellyn Gulch, and new info on upper West (slot) Canyon. I recommend this Guide to anyone boating on Lake Powell. Not recommended for extremists who want to drain the lake!