Kaylene Johnson

Canyons and Ice, The Wilderness Travels if Dick Griffith, by Kaylene Johnson (pp 277). Published 2012. When I bought this I was concerned it would be a hodgepodge of self-laudatory adventure stories. I could not have been more wrong. The subject of the book, Dick Griffith, was a true adventurer and what he accomplished almost defies imagination. Adventures include rafting trips in the late 1949s and early 1950s on the Green, San Juan, and Colorado Rivers, including a pirate (unpermitted) pack raft solo from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek. He also floated the Grand Canyon in 1951, starting at Green River Wyoming and ending at Hoover dam. He also made multiple runs down the San Juan River through now-submerged Glen Canyon to Lees Ferry. After completing many river trips, including with his equally adventurous wife, he moved his sights southward, running the previously unrun Barranca del Cobre’s Urique River in 1952. After several years respite he headed north to Alaska where, until he was in his seventies, solo skied and hiked thousands of miles in wilderness Alaska, including skiing the Northwest Passage over the course of many years. Griffith was extraordinarily fit and survived many Arctic winter mishaps, including encounters with polar bears, ripped tents, lost gear, and more. This book is illustrated with many high quality photos, and they add a lot to understanding his various excursions. The writing is drawn from journals, and suffers a bit because of it. Otherwise, it is a compelling read.… (mere)