. What a jolly life!” “By it and with it and on it and in it,” said the Rat. It appealed to two of my interests: engineering, with its descriptions of how the personnel at the Glen Canyon Dam dealt with the huge water inflows from the El Nino event and the damage caused to the spillways, and whitewater rafting, with its descriptions of the fastest ride and how rafting companies, their customers, and the river rangers dealt with the dang. He rowed them straight into and beyond the break of day. Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.com. Cart All. His descriptions brought every scene to life for me - even when (or especially when) he goes off on a lyrical tangent - e.g., "... And peeking over the cliffs like a Chinese lantern was a swollen, yellow globe that draped the folds of the surrounding plateau in moonbeams..." sigh. They did not know how many turns the river would make, how many rapids there might be, or whether their supplies would sustain them through the time it would take to negotiate these obstacles. Refresh and try again. This book had a lot more to it than I expected. Eloquently written and well researched the boom covers many facets of the Grand Canyon all focused through the lens of the "speed run." The Emerald Mile Quotes Showing 1-30 of 30 “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. You decide… Clear a weekend to curl up with The Emerald Mile as soon as possible. The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon Without quite realizing it, he was emerging as a ferocious and rather prescient expositor of a white-hot, no-surrender brand of environmental purism: the unyielding, unapologetic (and, his critics would later charge, unreasonable) defense of wilderness. Excepting when the melting snows send their annual torrents through the avenues to the Colorado, conveying with them sound and motion, these dismal abysses, and the arid table-lands that enclose them, are left as they have been for ages, in unbroken solitude and silence. “People often tell me not to be extreme,” he would repeatedly declare. The Emerald Mile ties together a clear line through the tumult of the high water 1983 flood on the Colorado River of a dory’s speed run through the Grand Canyon. It was an. There is a section of the book toward the end that is, but the majority of it is quite the opposite. A horrifying uproar, all things considered. This book is full of adventure, chronicling the fastest journey through the Grand Canyon on a watercraft. The first portion of "The Emerald Mile" focuses on the discovery and history of the Colorado River, starting in Utah and highlighting the Grand Canyon portion. This book had a lot more to it than I expected. The author’s writing style was very cumbersome and he seemed to take two or three sentences to say what could have been said more simply with one. In the midst of this crisis, the decision to launch a small wooden dory named "The Emerald Mile" at the head of the Grand Canyon, just fifteen miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam, seemed not just odd, but downright suicidal. Be the first to ask a question about The Emerald Mile. I almost didn't finish this book. By dint of his own experiences as a refugee and a wanderer, Petschek found the notion to be strangely naive and immature—especially here at the bottom of a chasm whose ramparts offered such irrefutable testimony not only to the smallness of human affairs but also to the universe’s implacable indifference to those hopes and longings.”, “Three generations later, viewed from the standpoint of the digital age, a structure such as Hoover can appear to suffer from a kind of vulgarity of size—a thing so enormous and monolithic as to seem preindustrial, almost primitive. —EDWARD ABBEY”, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. So great! Author: Kevin Fedarko. And you won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough. Start by marking “The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon” as Want to Read: Error rating book. On”, “Out there in the middle of the maelstrom the Eater awaits, heaving and gulping, its mouth like a giant clam’s . In the midst of this crisis, the decision to launch a smallwooden dory named the Emerald Mile at the head of the Grand Canyon, justfifteen miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam, seemed not just odd butdownright suicidal.The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, wasrescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, whointended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic … Fedarko informs the reader about the importance of the preservation of the river, the building of dams and … The movement that he and David Brower helped build is not only in retreat but finds itself the target of bottomless contempt. A magnificent waterway had been sacrificed on the altar of a technology that enabled people to prosper without limits, without balance, without any connection to the environment in which they lived—and in the process, fostered the delusion that the desert had been conquered. Hello Select your address All Hello, Sign in. Read more about our Walkthrough Library experience. In addition to his travel narratives in Outside, where he worked as a senior editor, Fedarko’s work has appeared in Esquire, National Geographic Adventure, and other publications, and has been anthologized in The Best American Travel Writing in 2004 and 2006. 05 Sep 13. That”, “And to say that the citizens of those rival domains did not always see eye to eye was a bit of an understatement, because each represented the antithesis of the other’s deepest values. But if you cocked your body at just the right angle, you could detect a faint thrum, a kind of basal tremor. Well-told, deeply-researched, engaging to read book. The book provided the exploration history of the Grand Canyon, and while interesting, was a struggle to read through. Yet one only need page through the dam’s elegant blueprints to realize that this is a machine that, in its own way, is as sophisticated as a Boeing 747—a marvel of engineering, of mathematics, of human thinking, of vision, and, yes, of art. The book was well-written, informative, well-structured, and interesting, but it was not as advertised. He believed that whatever was false and ephemeral would be exposed for what it was when set against that mass of geology and light. But - still a fascinating story. Author Kevin Fedarko, a former senior editor for Outside Magazine and part-time river guide, has delivered us one of the best adventure books of our time. Having only read an excerpt in Outside magazine a few months ago, I thought the book would be entirely about the story of the speed run of the Emerald Mile; it was so much more. At this point, they had no clear idea how far they had come or how much canyon lay ahead of them. Welcome back. Here’s our review. A really brilliant work that encompasses both the natural and man-made history on the Colorado river. Kevin Fedarko lives in northern New Mexico and works as a part-time river guide in Grand Canyon National Park. I was in the mood for a fast-paced, non-fiction, tale of daring-do, and instead got a masterwork in conservation-minded natural history ending in a quick tale of individuals engaged in an illega. Hardcover May 2013. We have an unknown distance yet to run; an unknown river yet to explore. Despite lots of friends recommending this book, it took me a while to get to it. At first it just seems like it's about some dudes trying to break a speed record for running a river, but it turns out to be a history of the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, the Glen Canyon dam, conservation ... and then the adventure aspect of running the Colorado in flood stage. I was not roughing it, I was experiencing life!! The Emerald Mile is so much more than the epic tale of the 1983 dory speed run through the Grand Canyon, though that adventure is brilliantly told. The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon This is almost a perfect book... it combines the story of an event (a speed-run through the Grand Canyon in a dory) and backstory, both near and old in an extremely readable way. Clearly he interviewed everyone from river guides to Bureau of Reclamation and National Park Service officials, but he never really seems to take sides. 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.”, “But they have preserved an aspect of the American persona that is uniquely vital to the health of this republic. Info/Buy Search for Another Book. The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko, 9781439159866, available at … The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. I knew almost nothing about the Grand Canyon or the Colorado River watershed when I picked up this book, now I’m swimming in information and loving it! Glen embodied the glittering inspiration and the tenacious drive of the American century—a spirit that in other contexts had been responsible for harnessing the atom and putting men on the moon. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Less than a sixth of the book told the "epic story" while the remainder described the grand canyon, its history, its dams, the politics behind the dams, and a variety of stories of other river rafters. The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. While some visitors undertake back-country hikes, most people are content to enjoy the views from the South Rim, and do not venture much below the rim. Moreover it is a great history read about the cause and effect of man damming up the Glen Canyon to tame and use Mother Nature. The Emerald Mile from Dymocks online bookstore. But even the most jaded observer an concede that, every now and then, a man or woman steps up to the plate and takes a mighty swing that clears the bases and fundamentally changes the game.”, “Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed. Which is why part of him sometimes rebelled at the very restrictions he sought to enforce, if only because rules—even rules that were universally accepted as necessary and good—seemed to cut so directly against the spirit that the river had once embodied. This is a great story interrupted for most of the book by endless meandering. The Emerald Mile The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon (Book) : Fedarko, Kevin : From one of Outside magazine's Literary All-Stars comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever, down the entire length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, during the legendary flood of 1983. I learned so much about the history of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon, the historical and modern day explorers, and more than I ever thought I would know about dam construction and river hydraulics. Oct 1, 2014 - Kevin Fedarko -- "The Emerald Mile" | at Boulder Book Store 10.10.14 Yet”, “The more a man can achieve, the more he may be certain that the devil will inhabit a part of his creation. Highly recommend it. We’d love your help. He juxtaposes the Glen Canyon Dam engineers' race to avoid catastrophic failures during the huge 1983 spring runoff with what was happen. ISBN 10: 1439159858 / ISBN 13: 9781439159859. Almost five million people visit Grand Canyon National Park annually. What”, “Out there in the millrace, the rush of water was broad and powerful, and as the current pushed past, it did so with an eerie silence. That is not at all accurate. We spent the past year living on the road full time and exploring all of the National Parks in the lower 48 states (you can watch our videos from the trip below). List Price: $18.99. B. Priestley once said that if he were an American, he would make the final test of whatever men chose to do in art, business, or politics a comparison with the Grand Canyon. A historian's love of the Grand Canyon. . You decide… Clear a weekend to curl up with The Emerald Mile as soon as possible. —NORMAN MAILER”, “Historians often minimize or discount the impact that any one individual can have on human destiny-and for good reason. View all copies of this book. This one is, and Fedarko’s book is as … Chasing A Dream, Speeding Down 'The Emerald Mile' Host Rachel Martin talks to writer Kevin Fedarko about his new book, The Emerald Mile, which tells … Published by Scribner Book Company, 2013. Fedarko's first book, The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, won the National Outdoor Book Award and the Reading the West Award, and was a New York Times bestseller. I believe “ The Emerald Mile” by Kevin Fedarko is a well written and thought provoking book because it explains both the stories of the river running guides of the Colorado River and the engineers of the Glen Canyon Dam in the dilemma of 1983 in the Grand Canyon, with descriptive information from the both ends of the spectrum. The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story Of The Fastest Ride In History Through The Heart Of The Grand Canyon Kevin Fedarko New York: Scribner; 2013 US $30.00, 415 Pages, Hardcover Unlike Many Of The Adventure Story Genre, This Book Packs In Both Thrill And Rich, Detailed Backstory. I didn’t expect it to be so dense looking! The book provided the exploration history of the Grand Canyon, and while interesting, was a struggle to read through. “It’s my world, and I don’t want any other. The Emerald Mile The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon (Book) : Fedarko, Kevin : The epic story of the fastest boat ride in history, on a hand-built dory named the "Emerald Mile," through the heart of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado river. It was truly spectacular! His 2013 release, The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, won a NOB. Once the book was talking about presen. Author: Edward Abbey, John Blaustein (Photographer), Martin Litton (Introduction) Paperback Jul 2015. . The Fangs. Kenton Grua and Georgie White, first professional river guide. His 2013 release, The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, won a NOBA- a National Outdoor Book Award. It's not really a story just about the fastest ride, which is a small part of the book. Author (s): Kevin Fedarko (Goodreads Author) ISBN: 1439159858 (ISBN13: 9781439159859) Paperback Jul 2014. For the son of a dory boatman from the Golden Age of Guiding it was a joy and vindication to read of the superheroes of my childhood in print. The Emerald Mile Fedarko, Kevin. Also unlike the Nile, whose discharge is generated primarily by rain, the engine that drives almost all of this activity is snow. Quotes By Kevin Fedarko. With the melt-out in late May and early June, however, the river’s flow can undergo spectacular bursts of change. All Quotes Having only read an excerpt in Outside magazine a few months ago, I thought the book would be entirely about the story of the speed run of the Emerald Mile; it was so much more. Impressively well-researched and very well-written. Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko. We need wilderness preserved—as much of it as is still left, and as many kinds—because it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed. In the tradition of Kon Tiki or Touching the Void, The Emerald Mile is a story of adventure that transcends most writing of extreme exploits. In addition to his travel narratives in Outside, where he worked as a senior editor, Fedarko’s work has appeared in Esquire, National Geographic Adventure, and other publications, and has been anthologized in The Best … List Price: $29.95 ... Kevin Fedarko, Fedarko, Kevin. Less than a sixth of the book told the "epic story" while the remainder described the grand canyon, its history, its dams, the politics behind the dams, and a variety of stories of other river rafters. But once I started reading I was enamored by the stories of the history of the canyon and those that experienced and changed it over the years. This was a trip of a lifetime for this decidedly no camping, I need to sleep in a bed at night, no discomfort, but adventurous soul, middle-aged lady. Best Sellers. Eleven of us had gathered for a book club-style talk about The Emerald Mile, a story of the fastest boat ride down the length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon during the flood of 1983 (fastest, that is, until 2016). Fedarko was a staff writer at Time magazine from 1991 to 1997, where his work helped garner an Overseas Press Club Award for a story on the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Sentimental, reverent style or dam it any other going on a Colorado river in the or. River running experience are stunning Introduction ) Paperback Jul 2015 Blaustein, Rudi Petscheck, Sylvester. For most of the Fastest Ride in history through the Heart of the Fastest journey through Heart. The Heart of the Fastest Ride in history through the Heart of the Grand Canyon Park... 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