The best West Mountain United States Travel Books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

tell that to all the poor fools who died doing that. https://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1515963462. I remember reading this book at every gift shop I went to in yellowstone park. I never bought it, but if we were at a gift shop I would look for it read it while my parents browsed around and stuff. But I remember reading about people walking up to bears to take a picture with, and one woman who died after a bear put his paws on her chest ripping her breasts off.

Just to add, anyone who enjoyed this please read the book they referenced, The Indifferent Stars Above. Was fantastic from beginning to end.

Link to Amazon for the lazy

If anyone wants to listen to podcast coverage on this, Last Podcast on the Left covered it really well Spotify Link- LPOTL Donner Party

There is a book recommended in the podcast as well Amazon link: The Indifferent Stars Above

If you're talking about the 1981 David Kirwin incident at Celestine Pool in Fountain Paint Pots (and I suspect that you are), I feel obliged to point out that it wasn't his dog. It was his friend Ronald Ratliff's dog. Quick plug for <em>Death in Yellowstone</em> by my friend Lee Whittlesey, former YNP historian.

I've lived here for almost 20 years now and probably half the shows I've been to have been at the Roseland. I've always felt like there was something vaguely dark about it, so when I found out about the murder in its history it didn't surprise me a lot. It's definitely a story from the city's Drugstore Cowboy and Fugitives and Refugees days.

I loved Fugitives and Refugees by Chuck Palahniuk because it really set the tone for how strange aspects of Portland was, although I’m not sure how accurate it remains 15 years later. Still a great book though.

New to the offroading world. What's helped me a ton is AZoffroad.net and the Guide to Arizona Backroads &amp; 4-Wheel-Drive Trails Book by Charles A. Wells

I love (most) of the heavy hitters, Charlie Manson makes me laugh more than it should. Really anything that comes up as “part 1” (a series) you know is gonna be good!

Also the research and references are great. I’ve read a few books they’ve recommended. The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party is an amazing book.

Apparently some kid jumped into Grand Prismatic and all that was left of him were his shoes that he left on the boardwalk.

I lived in the park a bit. First thing I was told safety-wise was: forget bears. They want nothing to do with you. Falling off of and into things is the #1 cause of death in YNP.

There’s actually a book that gets updated regularly with some crazy stories, Death in Yellowstone .

Too many trails to list. Sunflower mine loop is one of my favorites. Martinez cabin, box canyon, Coke ovens. Or if you really want an adventure out of the way you can roll through the chirachouas not sure if I spelled that right. There's a couple really nice books with trails in Arizona that I use. I don't really use apps because the lack of cell coverage on the trail. But the books you can physically take with you.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1934838195?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1946494143?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Any suggestions? I'm filling up the kindle for a trip. I just wrapped up "The Indifferent Skies Above" and it was a great read. Plus as long as we literally do not have to eat our family members we're doing better than those folks0 Talk about a situation needing to be prepped for!

Here is a great book of Arizona trails. I have 4x4, not a huge off-road'r, but do my fair share when hunting. 4x4 is rarely required, more so when it is wet and muddy.

death in yellowstone

Also went to a live show a few years ago when I was a heavy listener. It was not my jam. Hard agree, their deep dives are great.

Second the Mormonism one. My intro was the series on Rasputin. Would also recommend the Donner party one, and if you're into it, definitely read their source The Indifferent Stars Above. Harrowing indeed!

The Indifferent Stars Above Crazy detailed story about the Donner party's trail out west in the 1800's.

Or anything by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker.

The book "Death in Yellowstone" will help understand the history of the place and a lot of the tragedies that have occurred there. https://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1570984506

When we visited the park I bought the enlightening book Death in Yellowstone at the gift shop. Great tent reading! And graphic!

Great book to read on the stupidity of humans out in the wild https://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1570984506/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=bf5d8777-02bd-4c3c-ba3d-05681fab874a

There is a book about the Donner Party that’s pretty good re: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061348112/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TQYSRBNGBB4NV4WWKHAD

One of many crazy events detailed in the book (Death in Yellowstone)[https://smile.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1515963462]

I have no connection to this book other than owning it, so don't think this is an ad. It's just a really interesting book.

A Climber’s Guide to Glacier National Park by J Gordon Edwards. 14 hikes later, created a foundation such that the rest is history.

Honestly I have a bit of a skewed perspective having worked there in the summers of 2009 and 2010. I wouldn't want to go unless I had at least a week to devote to visiting the park but a lot of it depends on what you want to do there. If you're into backpacking a weekend won't cut it. If you're just going to drive up to the viewpoints then you can get by with just a couple of days.

Additionally, if you're able to cross into Canada, the Waterton Park across the border (The combined parks are called Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park) is stunning as well. And if you really have some time to mess around in CA, Banff National Park is only about 3 hours away just outside Calgary.

Must See in GNP if you go (off the top of my head):

• Drive over Going to the Sun Road (with a stop and easy hiking from Logan's Pass)
• Glacier Park Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel (I worked at MGH). The views just from Many are amazing and it's an easy hike to multiple glaciers and Iceberg Lake.
• Two Medicine Lake
• Chief Mountain
• and many, many more

If you are into more than just basic trail hiking I highly recommend the Climber's Guide. It'll tell you exactly how to get wherever you want to go in the park and how difficult it is.

Chapter 1 in Death in Yellowstone recounts a guy jumping into a boiling hot spring to save his dog. Absolutely heartbreaking story.

Death in Yellowstone - Lee H. Whittlesey

I just read this book last month and couldn't help but think of it as you said "you won't see me going up to pet one in the middle of the forest". Oh man! Let me tell you. People are fucking stupid. There are stories in this book of people wanting to put their toddler child on the back of a WILD BISON so they could take a picture. Or the woman who would get a bear to stand on it's hind legs for candy. Ever been clawed by a dog or a cat as they try to slow their own decent after coming down off their hind legs? Okay now envision that was a bear. It was a really entertaining book but I absolutely had a bunch of WTF moments and I've been pretty jaded by the Darwin Awards long before this.

The book Death in Yellowstone has a whole section on people who landed in hot water that way. It's sobering.

The first chapter in the book Death in Yellowstone is about deaths in the hotsprings. No pictures but it's very descriptive. I don't believe this case is mentioned since the last edition was published in 2014. I could be wrong though, there were A LOT of deaths.

There’s a whole book about ways people die in Yellowstone: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1515963462/ref=nodl_

Pretty sure about half of it is bison and other wild animals.

In at least one case, a guy's dog fell in (jumped? Can't recall) and the guy's friend didn't hesitate to try jumping in after to save it.

And another was a child, if memory serves. I have a book on it, Death in Yellowstone if you're interested. I haven't read through it all yet but the hot spring related ones are generally people slipping/falling near one.

I highly recommend this book for Colorado. It brings you to some incredible camp spots along the way. I bought the one for moab too. Worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Colorado-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/1934838047

The guys over at Last Podcast on the Left did a great series on The Donner Party but I always warn people that they are a comedy/horror podcast so they are not for everyone. If they aren’t for you I would check out of their research books, particularly The Indifferent Stars Above.