Desert Solitaire

 Desert Solitaire was published in 1968 by Edward Abbey. This environmental journal was based on the notes he kept when he worked as a park ranger in the late 1950's from April through September at what is now Arches National Park. When he worked there the park was called Arches National Monument. Very critical of the National Park system, Edward Abbey called it Arches National Money Mint. He lived in a mobile home alone out in the park far away from the roads and the campground. At that time Arches had no paved roads and was quite a rugged park. The author wanted it to stay that way. He didn't want paved roads and hordes of tourists coming to Arches. I have been to Arches National Park and the roads are now paved and there are hordes of tourists climbing around the hard rocks and looking at the arches. Most of the time the author was alone in the wilderness. He writes about being alone but he also writes about the nature. He writes about the constellations in the night sky. He is very knowledgeable about the wild flowers and the various ecosystems. When he wasn't working as a park ranger, he worked with a local rancher to round up cattle. He also went hiking with friends. He took a friend on a ten day raft trip through Glen canyon. He writes about the pictographs and petroglyphs he finds. He gives a detailed description about quicksand which can be found in the desert. Reading this book reminded me of my trip to Arches years ago. At one point all the mice in his mobile home draw the attention of rattle snakes. After finding rattle snakes under his home twice he decides to take care of the problem. He goes elsewhere in the park and finds a gopher snake. He takes the gopher snake  home and puts it in the house where it promptly takes care of the mice problem before crawling away to find a new spot to live. This author doesn't think in conventional ways and I think that is why I enjoyed this book as much as I did.