Utah is probably my favorite state (aside from Michigan of course!). Now, I haven't been to all 50 and there's definitely much more that I need to see. But, I was lucky enough to spend a decent amount of time in Southern Utah over the past decade. The landscape is like no other. Red rock canyons dive into oblivian and compete with the bluest sky you can imagine. If you've been here, you know what I'm talking about. Here are two books that take place and in around this area - very different subject matter - but highly recommended. Here's a little something about both.
Under the Banner of Heaven is a true account of the history of the Mormon religion and the evolution of the FDLS church - an extreme sect of people who continue to practice plural marriage - whereas the Mormon Church denounced this practice in the 1800's. In conjunction with the history lesson, is also the true story of a woman murdered by her husband's brother - due to her not wanting to live the FLDS way of life. This is all just scratching the surface. Read if you'd like. Onto the next book.
Between a Rock and Hard Place, by Aron Ralston is again the autobiography of a day hike turned struggle to survive when Ralston is hiking down a canyon and gets his arm stuck. He's there for 5 days before he cuts his arm off - and runs to safety. The cutting his arm off part is pretty hard to stomach - and the Phish and Grateful Dead song lyrics that got him through the ordeal might not be for everyone. Finally, the fact that he didn't tell anyone where we was going because he was too arrogant to believe that he needed to on such an elementary hike made me have less respect for him. The moral of this story is for sure call someone and tell them where you're going when you enter the backcountry - especially the extensive canyon systems of Southern Utah.
The part that really got me with this book, though, was Ralston's methodical decisions that for sure kept him alive. We have this running joke at work that I would drink all my water and die. Ralston was an engineer, and with his analytical mind, he deduced exactly how much water he could drink hourly- along with many other key decisions. It came down to him drinking some excrement as well - I would have never even thought of that. Of course, Hollywood has come calling on this story. James Franco is playing Ralston in the film 127 Hours, which opens on November 5th. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment