The majesty of the Grand Canyon can be seen from its rims. The magic, however, lies at the bottom. Floating down the Colorado River in a wooden dory brings its history and geography alive in a way no other encounter can. I can vouch for that, having just completed a dory trip last month. The next best thing to experiencing the canyon in a dory is to read this engaging book about the discovery of the canyon, its exploration throughout the ensuing years, and the men and women who have tried to tame its powers. ( )

I've been wanting to learn more about the Grand Canyon since I visited a few years ago, so I casually picked this book up, having no idea how good it would turn out to be. The writing is excellent, full of vivid descriptions and feeling like a heart-stopping thriller at times. So I learned more about the Grand Canyon, as I hoped, and got an awesome story out of it too, which I didn't expect. The Emerald Mile's speed record has been broken since this book was published, but it's still an incredible story. Would make a good movie, too. ( )

When I start a new book I make it a point to avoid knowing too much about it ahead of time. I prefer my reading to be pure discovery whenever possible. But this proved a bit of a stumbling block while reading The Emerald Mile, which is a thrilling and detailed work of non-fiction after a slow, detail-heavy buildup.

For starters, I didn't know what the Emerald Mile was. I initially thought it was some legendary section of the Colorado River, perhaps an area of especially dangerous rapids. But no, it's the name of a boat. And not just any boat. It was a rebuilt McKenzie River dory that a team of 3 expert enthusiasts raced to a Grand Canyon speed record back in 1983. And other than a non-descript introduction, the book doesn't mention the Emerald Mile until the halfway point.

It also didn't help that I'm not really a boating guy. Nor am I all that familiar with the world of river rafting or the landscape of the Colorado River. Far too often early in the book I often felt out of my league, but I'm happy to report that author Kevin Fedarko brought every backstory and each the informational threads together for an emotionally satisfying climax.

This is the best kind of non-fiction. I was an outsider when it came to this particular subculture, and by the end I felt like I belonged. ( )

What a story! I read it before going down the Grand Canyon myself in 2022. A river guide recommended it to me. In fact, all of us on our raft trip of 28 folks in 2 motorized rafts read it to get a realistic idea of what was ahead of us. We experienced our own amazing tales. But what these folks did is beyond belief. Kevin Fedarko won the Waterson Book Award in 2022. He came to the ceremony with a brilliant talk and slides. What a privilege to be with him. His writing is so captivating and it really enriched our whole 8 day trip of 280 miles down the canyon. I would never do it in a dory, but I highly commend these folks for doing so. It is a book that all Colorado River guides read and relate well to the experiences. ( )

Emerald Mile is my new favorite book! Fedarko spends 10 years writing and the many years of research is evident in the plentiful details of the story. At first I was wondering why go back so far in the history of the Colorado River. But as the book continues on, all the history that he lays down is definitely for a reason and is relevant to the story. I held my breath all through chapter 19 and needed a walk-around after it was over. I cannot express how exciting this book is!

If you read this book, you MUST watch this web clip from dirt bag diaries:
http://dirtbagdiaries.com/the-threshold-moment/
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