Mountain Mysteries, by Marvin Gregory and P. David Smith

(0960876413)

This was published over 15 years ago, so I'm sure some of the descriptions and directions have changed since them. Still, it is a fairly concise, relatively well-written (self-published) guide to the jeep roads and hiking trails in Ouray County. I've been reading this since we got back from vacation--about 3 weeks. There's a lot of information in this book, and it's too confusing to read all in one sitting: Yankee Boy Basin, Wetterhorn, Dallas Divide, Imogene Pass, Red Mountains 1, 2, and 3 and Camp Bird Mine...it all runs together!

It was such a joy to read all about an area that I explored without the maps as a teenager. I wish I'd had a book like this then; I would have known what I was seeing! The downside, of course, is that I wish I could head back out there, rent a jeep and spend the summer jeeping, hiking, reading, taking pictures and generally being "unproductive." Except I know I'd still have lots to see, and I'd want to do it all again next summer...

I guess this is the point of travel books: to make you want to go there.