Sandstone Spine: Seeking the Anasazi on the First Traverse of the Comb Ridge

by David Roberts

Book Overview

On September 1, 2004, three middle-aged buddies set out on one of the last geographic challenges never before attempted in North America: to hike the Comb Ridge in one continuous push. The Comb is an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594850054
• ISBN13: 9781594850059
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 189 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Reliving the moments

I particularly enjoyed this book because I've canoed the San Juan River many times. It took me back to strenuous climbs up San Juan Hill, where the layers of rock are turned up, as one geologist states, "like layers of bedding." "Baseball Man" was also an often seen and photographed site. I hope all of the sites that he explored will remain protected from the collectors of artifacts, so that many generations will be able to see them and think on what life might have been like there, more than a thousand years ago.

Utah's Comb Ridge

This fine book is somewhat in the manner of a diary of a trek by the author and two friends who are the first to trek the 125 mile length of one of our country's most interesting geological features, a formation quite similar to Utah's Capital Reef, Waterpocket Fold. The author is a noted mountain climber and has the skills of a competent writer to describe the interest and difficulties involved in making the journey to traverse the length of the formation with its remarkable repository of ancient "Anasazi" ruins. Having seen parts of Comb Ridge on several occasions, I was very pleased to learn more about it.

Sandstone Spine - a great read

For anyone who loves to hike in the canyon country of the 4-corners area, this book will be a fun read. As a permit from the Navajo Nation is required to replicate this trip, most of us will never be able to visit many of the places desribed so well in this book by David Roberts. I have personally hiked in this part of Utah and find the descriptions very accurate and the personal parts of the story very intriguing.

The Comb Ridge

The Sandstone Spine of the title is the Comb Ridge, a 125 mile long crescent that crosses the desert of northern Arizona and southern Utah. Dave Roberts and two friends undertake to hike the Comb Ridge end-to-end while exploring the Anasazi ruins that are found there. No one has done the entire length of the ridge before. The youngest among them is 47; the oldest is 61. A local Navajo jokingly tells them "When I see the ravens circling, I'll know it's you guys." Hiking in the desert is not easy. The friends place water caches along the way and arrange for resupply. They carry sixty-pound packs while hiking up and down in ninety-degree heat. They have planned well. The worst that happens is that they occasionally argue about where to set up their camp. What makes this book special are the descriptions of the ruins and the recounting of the history of the Anasazi and the people who followed them into the region after their departure. The Anasazi, who lived throughout the south-western United States for millennia, suddenly abandoned their cliff dwellings around the end of the thirteenth century. There is still debate about what caused this to happen. To their credit, the hikers leave in-place or bury the artifacts that they find. Some of the photographs, taken by Greg Child, are absolutely stunning. The petroglyphs are terrific. I would like to have seen more of those included in the color photo section. Altogether, this is an easy and enjoyable book to read.

Vicarious adventure

Roberts narrates such a good story that anyone who has seen the desolate splendor of the country he writes about is instantly transported in time and space to hike with him. This book was a nice blend of history and adventure. Hopefully there are still plenty of secrets untold and undisturbed in Comb Ridge.