In the footsteps of Desert Solitaire , these essays by an award-winning writer and student of culture sift decades of experience backpacking and boating for a stance that questions the mainstream. More than mere tales of bravado, they offer glimpses into the heart of the places explored, with the Grand Canyon as their center of gravity. Vivid, finely crafted, shot through with humor, self-effacing while deeply opinionated, No Walk in the Park shows what it means to meet nature on nature's terms. Read it at home in an armchair, or at a river camp, or stuff it into your pack before you go wandering. Join this author on a night hike to the great chasm's bottom; trek forty days in his company below one rim, or snowshoe the other; visit a Hopi mesa for a ceremony; marvel at hidden rock art; sip epic solitude; tag threatened fish; and float next to Glen Canyon's slickrock or below Niagara-size fleeting falls.