Colorado

Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers

John Fielder's Best of Colorado

Imagine what it would be like to take a trip through Colorado with John Fielder as your tour guide, or to be on location at a Fielder photo shoot. Now is your chance to do both! The celebrated photographer who has traveled the state for more than 20 years in search of its most beautiful vistas shares his love for Colorado's rugged beauty, as well as his knowledge of Colorado's historical, recreational, and cultural richness, in this extraordinary guidebook. Through lively text and spectacular images, John reveals more than 160 of his most treasured Colorado locations to photograph so you can work magic with your own camera. You can enjoy some of the state's prime offerings while you travel, as John profiles his favorite restaurants, hotels, hiking and biking trails, and area attractions. Local lore and cameos of influential Coloradans through the ages highlight the state's fascinating heritage. Whether you're a longtime local, a new resident, or an out-of-state visitor, John Fielder's Best of Colorado guarantees the ultimate insider experience!

Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire

Colorado and its neighboring states battle thousands of wildfires every year, scrub and sagebrush blazes often ignited by lightning strikes in the dry, hot days of summer. A vast, intertwined firefighting infrastructure combining local resources with agencies like the Forest Service and the BLM, reacts to these flare-ups as if going to war--and in theory, the coordination and communication ensures that fires are fought in the most efficient and safe manner possible. But while most wildfires in Colorado end up costing just over $60,000 on average with no loss of life, the catastrophic South Canyon fire of 1994 burned for 10 days, at the ultimate cost of $4.5 million and the lives of 14 firefighters. OSHA would later describe the coordinated action flatly as a "management failure," and concurrent investigations would reveal a tangled web of jealous rivalries, bureaucratic bungling, and severe morale problems. (One of the early on-scene supervisors would later tell investigators, "Leadership in this state sucks.")

John Maclean (son of Norman Maclean, who wrote both A River Runs Through It and an award-winning account of Montana's deadly 1949 Mann Gulch fire) skillfully unfolds that summer's foreboding blow-by-blow. Fire on the Mountain weaves together a tense narrative of almost cinematic action, starring ballsy cowboy smokejumpers, frustrated federal middle managers, seasoned "hotshots" flown in like commandos, pissed-off tanker pilots, and well-intentioned but spin-wary politicians. Maclean's well-sketched personalities bring the action on the ground convincingly to life--and knowing up front that many of his main characters won't survive South Canyon makes this tragic tale that much more compelling. --Paul Hughes

THE DRAMATIC TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE SOUTH CANYON

FIRE -- THE DEVASTATING FOREST FIRE THAT TOOK THE

LIVES OF FOURTEEN FIREFIGHTERS

In this acclaimed bestseller of investigative journalism, John N. Maclean chronicles the deadly 1994 Colorado forest fire that was wrongly identified at the outset as occurring in South Canyon. This misidentification was the first in a string of seemingly minor human errors that would be compounded into one of the greatest tragedies in the annals of firefighting as fourteen men and women firefighters -- experts in their field -- lost their lives battling the South Canyon blaze.

This stunning reconstruction of the fire and its aftermath, drawn from Maclean's exhaustive research and countless interviews, reveals fascinating insights into what went wrong, and how so many top-notch firefighters fell victim to nature at its most unforgiving. A page-turning adventure narrative brimming with action and intensity, Fire on the Mountain offers a powerful and indelible profile of a special breed of people who put their lives on the line as part of their daily jobs.

Speck -- The Life and Times of Spencer Penrose

The amazing story of one of Colorado s most intriguing and successful characters has never been told in its entirety . . . until now. On the pages of Speck the Life and Times of Spencer Penrose, author and artist Robert C. Olson uses words like brush strokes and captures the larger-than-life personality of Speck Penrose and the brilliant color and flavor of a time when giants rose from the mountains of America s West. During his seventy-four years on Earth, Speck went from a rich and shiftless son of the privileged class to a self-made prince of industry, society, and philanthropy. He made millions in real estate and mining during the boom days of Cripple Creek; literally moved mountains as the person most responsible for Utah s gigantic Bingham copper mine; and drew the world s well-heeled to Colorado with the creation of The Broadmoor, the premier resort still located on the side of Cheyenne Mountain just south of Colorado Springs. Readers will find that Speck not only features the life and times of a Colorado giant, but provides detailed glimpses into the lives of his many prominent associates.

The Quilt That Walked to Golden: Women and Quilts in the Mountain West-From the Overland Trail to Contemporary Colorado

Afoot & Afield Denver/ Boulder & Colorado's Front Range: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide (Afoot & Afield)

Afoot & Afield Denver/Boulder & Colorado's Front Range takes hikers throughout the Colorado Rocky Mountains and their foothills, rivers, and plains. Featuring more than 200 trips, from trails near the state's Wyoming border to Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs, author Alan Apt maps out hikes both long and short, exploring trails accessible from Denver, Boulder, and other Front Range communities.

Highlights summarize the best features of each trip. Easy-to-read maps, plus complete trip descriptions and hiking directions make sure that hikers find their way.

• More than 200 hikes ranging from short dayhikes to long weekend treks, each shown on a trail map.
• At-a-glance essential information--distance, time, elevation change, and difficulty rating.
• Additional trail-use data such as which trails are suitable for children, dogs, horseback riding, and mountain bikes.

Man of the Family

Oddball Colorado: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places (Oddball series)

A high-altitude alligator farm. A UFO watchtower. A monument to a headless chicken. While other travel guides tell you about tackling Pike's Peak, skiing the back bowls, or rafting down the Arkansas River, this quirky regional resource offers unusual travel destinations and little-known historical tidbits. Imagine regaling coworkers with unique Rocky Mountain adventures, like spending an evening at a drive-in movie . . . in a queen-sized bed, or visiting a vapor cave clad only in a towel. How about seeing a two-headed dragon made of car parts, or watching cliff divers while eating Mexican food?

Ghost Towns of Colorado (Pictorial Discovery Guide)

The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story

This important biography tells the true story of the only political leader in the country to welcome Japanese-Americans to his state during World War II. Colorado Governor Ralph Carr was an unwilling candidate who catapulted to the top of the national Republican Party and was even pegged as a possible future presidential candidate by the New York papers. But when he took a courageous, yet unpopular, stance on the internment of Japanese-Americans, Carr fell rapidly from favor. He resisted demands from his political opponents to call up the National Guard to keep the Japanese out of the state, declaring, "If you harm them, you must harm me first." Speaking out on the issue, Carr fielded thousands of insults and fought off threats of impeachment. A riveting biography, The Principled Politician is the story of a courageous man sadly forgotten by Colorado and never known by his country.