Desert Solitaire A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey

Summer Book Review

Becky Emerson Carlberg

In keeping with the dry, hot days of this summer, why not read a paperback written by an American author of 2 dozen fiction and non-fiction works, environmental activist, Fulbright scholar, Stanford University Stegner Fellow, seasonal park ranger for 3 years, married 5 times, died of cirrhosis of the liver and buried by his friends in the Arizona desert country “where you’d never find it.”

Inspired by Aldo Leopold and Henry David Thoreau, Abbey’s 4th book was his first non-fiction book-length piece of work. It has been compared to Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” and Thoreau’s “Walden.” With many cryptic comments I might add.

Abbey found his heart and soul in the canyons of the desert. The solitude and wildness spoke to him in his isolated setting at Arches National Monument near Moab, Utah. Abbey was there in 1956 and 57. Arches was redesignated as a national park in 1971. His desert was still undeveloped, with few paved roads, primitive camping sites and much fewer tourists. He did not understand why the Park Service pandered to the lazy or unadventurous who drove up in their metal coffins for a brief glimpse of the red formations before leaving. He felt many dehumanized Nature and destroyed the landscape.

That said, Abbey was a park ranger at Arches from April to October. His accommodations were a little tin green government house trailer and a ramada (open shelter with a roof but no walls) he constructed where he spent early mornings and late evenings when the desert heat was less intense. The cookstove and refrigerator ran on gas stored in two steel bottles in an outdoor shed. Running water came by gravity flow from a buried tank in a nearby hillside. His view was a vast panorama encompassing the Uinta Plateau, cliffs, the Colorado River, mesas, canyons…..a sea of desert.

In an early chapter he describes the plants and animals he saw around him. Juniper, pinyon pine, sand sage and one of his favorites, the cliffrose. This wild rose is found in higher elevations growing in dry, rocky soils and rock ledges. The multi-branched bush can reach eight feet in height. The white flowers have a lovely scent and will bloom midspring through early summer, then again late summer depending on rains.

He noticed the lack of large predators such as the mountain lion, bobcat and even the coyote. Deer and rabbit populations rose. The desert has hidden springs, pools of water, quicksand and surprising flash floods. Abbey talked about the uranium and heavy metal mines. He related an interesting story about Mr. Husk, wife, son and their involvement with uranium investor and pilot, Mr. Graham.

The Cowboys and Indians chapters were followed by the Moon-Eyed Horse who remained wild in his chosen canyon despite Abbey’s best efforts to lead the old tough coatrack out.

The sad saga of Glen Canyon is the longest chapter. The (was it 7 or 9 day?) “Dreamlike voyage” through the canyon by Abbey and his friend Ralph Newcomb was a travelogue of fishing, exploring, camping along the banks, plunging through white water or floating on the tranquil Colorado River in two small Japanese rubber rafts tied together. An owl, Canyon wrens, ravens and cliff dwellings high above in the rock faces garnered their interest. He felt they were some of the lucky few (but could have been thousands through time) who saw Glen Canyon before it was drowned. The place was an Eden… “a portion of the earth’s original paradise.” Impounded waters were to form an artificial lake named Lake Powell to (dis)honor Major John Wesley Powell, the first American to systematically explore the Colorado River and environment.

Abbey was offended by the trash, cigarette butts and bottlecaps on the way to Rainbow Bridge, a natural bridge and tourist attraction that will remain above the waters. He commented Slobivius americanus had been there first.

Abbey often peppered his recollections with reflections. “ If industrial man continues to multiply his numbers and expand his operations……(he) will….seal himself off from the natural and isolate himself within a synthetic prison of his own making……..an exile from the earth.” The captive Zia Indians made a song out of their sickness for home:

My home over there, Now I remember it; And when I see that mountain far away, Why then I weep, Why then I weep, Remembering my home.

The chapter about the dead man offered vivid descriptions about the manhunt at Grandview Point and the transport of the body out of the desert. The ending chapter describes Abbey packing out, winterizing his trailer and truck, and his last desert journey of the season in light snow. Because the airport was closed due to a blizzard, another ranger drives him to the train station from where he returns to New York City.

This is a different read, but offers a desert experience without the sweat, toil and turmoil. You’ll find Abbey is a fantastic writer and wordsmith able to weave together his many desert experiences to form a fascinating book. Just remember he wrote it ten years after his Arches stay and the book was first published in 1968.

Desert Solitaire is available through Amazon.