Stone Desert

by Craig Childs

This new edition of a Craig Childs classic includes his original journal entries and pen-and-ink drawings inspired by the redrock desert of Canyonlands National Park.



Originally published over twenty-five years ago, Stone Desert brings the wonder and wildness of one of our nation's most geologically and culturally unique national parks to readers everywhere. With a new introduction by the author, this edition includes Craig Childs's original journal—written over a winter in Canyonlands National Park and complete with pen-and-ink sketches—from which Stone Desert originated. Join Childs as he hikes the high mesas, navigates the winding canyons, and witnesses the ancient rock art of Utah’s most inscrutable and remote slickrock desert.

Genres: Nature

333 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 22, 2022

About the author

CRAIG CHILDS is a commentator for NPR's Morning Edition, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Men's Journal, Outside, The Sun, and Orion. He has won numerous awards including the 2011 Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award, 2008 Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure, the 2007 Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award, and the 2003 Spirit of the West Award for his body of work.

Reviews

[Emma Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the author’s perspective and the mix of descriptive imagery with scientific fact. His respect for the land and all of its inhabitants, past and present, is refreshing and admirable. I think he describes his outdoor experiences in a reckless manner, giving off some bro-y vibes. Other wise I was entertained and intrigued about the unique landscape of canyonlands.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 35 of 2022: Stone Desert by Craig Childs (2022, Torrey House Press, 160 p. plus original journal)

Originally published in 1995 and long out of print, Stone Deserts (subtitled "A Naturalist's Exploration of Canyonlands National Park") tells of Childs' wilderness musings in a series of forays into the wilderness of Canyonlands. These explorations took place between late fall 1992 and early spring 1993.

Canyonlands is one of my favorite parks, having discovered it, along with Moab, in the 80s and 90s while attending Colorado Mines. I've been returning ever since.

Childs is a gifted writer, not only able to set the scene or mood of the canyons, but to deftly explain the geology, botany, geology, and archaeology encountered during his explorations. Like everything I've read by him, this narrative was a joy with its thoughtful prose and its ability to evoke the presence of place that is Canyonlands.

What sets this re-issue apart is the inclusion of Childs' original journal he carried on his explorations. It is a work of art with mature and thoughtful writing (sentences are directly lifted from the journal for the published account). His prose is thoughtful and emotionally powerful. His sketches of the landforms, animals, and plants he encountered are exquisite. It looks like he largely used a stipple pattern technique that was reminiscent of many sketches I made of microscopic life in Mr. Barr's biology class in high school. The combination of Childs' words and art makes the journal part of this book worth any purchase price.

I HIGHLY recommend this book.

[Trevor Kerber · Rating 3 out of 5]

For someone who's spent a little (compared to Childs') time in the desert, it's better to be out there in the silence appreciating it than it is to be reading about it. Not a knock on Childs, more a knock on the medium's ability to capture what it's like to be far out there.
The tone was a little bit prideful at times, which felt odd when mixed with discussions about respect for the land. Some of the text felt like reading a d*ckswinging match of Childs vs. people who don't "get" the desert like he does, don't get as deep into canyons as he does. I've felt that way too, like my way is better than your way, and while it isn't a huge part of the book, it still made me feel like I wasn't good enough to even think about being where he's been. I think that part of that comes from the fact that Childs was young when he wrote the journal and did the exploring transcribed in this book. It's forgiveable, since the pictures he paints are intriguing, and because there is something to be said about a general lack of appreciation for nature, littering, and taking/destroying artefacts. The parts about ancient peoples and their history are enthralling, but no words will capture the feeling of being out there, looking at a pictograph panel. That's a testament to the beauty of the desert, not a knock on the author or the writing style. Read it? Don't? I'd say spend the money on a tank of gas instead and go get slightly lost somewhere in a sandstone semiarid climate and sleep under the stars. Take only pictures, leave only footprints, and come back changed.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reprint of Stone Desert from 1995 but also includes a facsimile of the journal Craig Childs made during his travels described in the book. I had already read Stone Desert and ordered this edition mainly for the journals because I wanted to see if I could understand his writing process, how he goes from making notes to creating a more polished and publishable book. The journals were different than I expected, more complete, less like notes and fragments than I had imagined they might be. It looks as though he composed and recorded completed thoughts in the field. It also reads more like a field notebook than a personal diary or journal. It's almost exclusively about his observations of the environment, the landscape, weather, plants, and geology. He included almost no observations about the people he was traveling with, with a few exceptions, and still less about his own state of mind which, it seems, is nevertheless revealed indirectly in the joyful descriptions of the desert he's traveling through.

Because the journals are printed in facsimile one has to read Childs's manuscript which at times can be very small but nearly always decipherable.

One surprise in the journals are the nice illustrations he made in the field. They make me think he should have illustrated other of his books, especially Tracing Time, his recent one on rock art, also published by Torrey House.

[Readersguide · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met someone who went on one of the expeditions in this book. He said, “he’s the real deal.”

[Jennifer Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The next best thing to being in the wild, during moments in life when I cannot be there myself, is reading Craig Childs. His desert exploration prose and insights never fail to stir the soul.