Kevin Fedarko

The bulk of Kevin Fedarko’s memoir describes his near traverse of Grand Canyon National Park with his friend Pete McBride, which they completed in stages with help from experienced backpacking guides. They started off woefully unprepared, as the author freely admits and does not recommend. Several of their trips become treks of survival in the extreme heat with little water. In addition to the hiking, they must occasionally make excursions up to the rim and rappel back down.

The author show more provides side discussions of related topics, such as geology, history, weather, issues related to the region’s indigenous peoples, flora and fauna, environmental concerns, tourism, and stories of people who have made an impact on the region. Fedarko includes personal details such as how he became interested in the Grand Canyon, his previous experiences with Colorado River expeditions, and his family’s history. There are many stories of people who did not fare well during their treks. If you enjoy reading about walking trips in perilous terrain, this is one is excellent. As a bonus, you are guaranteed to learn something. I found it a most enjoyable read.

4.5 show less

This book was an unexpected pleasure. Several years ago I was fortunate to do two rafting trips through the Grand Canyon. Both highlights of my life. In discussing this with a photographer friend he told me I should read the Emerald Mile and I took his advice.
The book is far richer than I had anticipated. Not only is it the history of a particular trip through the Canyon, it is a detailed, thought provoking history of the Canyon and many important events in its history. It discusses history show more in a somewhat biographical way, picking out important individuals and discussing their involvement along with their background. As I reader I found myself feeling close to many of the actors, and wishing I knew them or had had a chance to get to know them. I had taken the time to read a lot about canyon history at the time I did my rafting trips and I have to say this is the best and most memorable of those books.
I went back and reviewed the pictures I took during my trips and am planning to review the jottings I made during the trips.
The author finishes the book making the point there is something quintessentially American about the canyon and he makes his point very well. show less

I've been wanting to learn more about the Grand Canyon since I visited a few years ago, so I casually picked this book up, having no idea how good it would turn out to be. The writing is excellent, full of vivid descriptions and feeling like a heart-stopping thriller at times. So I learned more about the Grand Canyon, as I hoped, and got an awesome story out of it too, which I didn't expect. The Emerald Mile's speed record has been broken since this book was published, but it's still an show more incredible story. Would make a good movie, too. show less

2.5/5

Perhaps my issues with A Walk in the Park stem mostly from my expectations not being met by the reality of what it is, which is a travel/adventure novel that happens to be set in the Grand Canyon, rather than a book that focuses on the canyon through the lens of an adventure.

If Fedarko is half as humble as he tries to convince you he is, he should be the first to tell you that his writing only occasionally comes close to being worthy of capturing the landscape that he walks through. It show more really wouldn't be so bad if he was able to eliminate the meandering pacing, and develop some writing tools outside of the simile. Like the grains of sand on a beach, the stars in the milky-way, or cells in your body, Fedarko uses so many similes that mathematicians may have to invent some new numbers to quantify them. No literary trick could be used to this degree without becoming insufferable. It's a shame that by far the best sections of prose were when he quoted Desert Solitaire.

I also had a hard time empathizing with Kevin and Pete's struggles in the canyon. Fedarko tries to paint the picture that they were under prepared and stupid for attempting the traverse with the limited amount of planning and training they did, while in the same breath talking about not only the myriad of other high stakes outdoor expeditions they had been on, and the number of sponsorships they had attained. Fedarko even admits that he took some liberties with reality to tell a better story, and while I don't think this is necessarily wrong, it certainly doesn't make me trust anything he says. The canyon doesn't need you to stretch the truth to make something compelling. It doesn't need a narrative forced on it. The best kind of nature writing acknowledges this, instead of fighting against it.

Underneath these gripes there are some moments of interesting detail. Growing up in Flagstaff makes any writing on the canyon instantly appealing to me, and it was a joy to hear about a lot of the places within it that I will never have the opportunity to visit. It's also important that Fedarko spent as much time as he did on the many issues currently facing the canyon, and the cultures that have called it home for untold generations, though I will admit that these sections were awkwardly placed within the narrative of their journey.

To be honest I've read better blogs that detail the Grand Canyon traverse. Clearly the motivation behind the writing wasn't where I wanted it to be. To each their own I suppose. show less