In the early 1970's I read Colin Fletcher's "The Man Who Walked Through Time" and thus became aware of the man named Harvey Butchart. The most memorable aspect of Butchart was his maps, which Fletcher described as having lines of Butchart's hikes traced all over them. I had just completed my first long hike, 100 miles in the Sierra and written accounts of longer journeys began to fascinate me. In the fall of 1972 I began attending the School of Forestry at Northern Arizona University and the university's hiking club soon became the center of my extracurricular life . I remember, just like the authors of this book related, being in awe when I saw Harvey Butchart seated at the back of the lecture hall above me. He would occasionally drop in for part of the meetings and gave a slide show now and again. As Thanksgiving approached a number of us planned to hike the four day weekend somewhere in the canyon and chose the Nankoweap trail as our destination. We had a notion to climb Nankoweap Mesa as it looked like a good "empty spot on the map" and the green color shown on top of it on the topo map looked intriguing. After a hiking club meeting prior to the trip we asked Harvey about how to climb it. We went to his office where he pulled out the east half Matthes-Evans map of the Grand Canyon. There, just as described by Fletcher, were the multitude of lines on the map. Butchart pointed out to us the route to reach the base of the climb. He leaned his head back and thought for a long moment and then pointed to a spot on the map, telling us to look up toward the mesa here and carefully look for two junipers in the chute to the top. He instructed us to look at the left one and notice the shadow it would cast in the early morning sun. In that shadow, he told us, was the crux of the route. I wasn't the only person in our group to react in awe after our meeting with Harvey. One member of our group did not plan to return via the Nankoweap trail, rather he planned to swim the river 2-3 miles below Nankoweap rapid, with his pack mounted on an inner tube attached by a rope that gave the whole setup an umbilical cord appearance. Harvey told my friend that he had walked the entire route, from the crossing to the Tanner trail, with the exception of about a mile or less along the river. He related his observation of one portion being a bit challenging as the shear walls of Marble Canyon abutted the side of the river. Butchart gave my friend some direction as to negotiating this section, relating that if it could not be done by walking but could be swum safely. My friend followed Harvey's advice and made it to the Tanner trail with little difficulty. We didn't climb up to the Mesa as our priority was getting my friend down to his planned crossing. We had some less experienced people with us slowing us down resulting in a lack of time for climbing it. On our way down an older student spoke of Harvey's ill fated journey down a canyon to our north and the epic hike out following his mishap on the fixed rope he needed to exit the canyon he had hiked down. We were covering only a portion of his nighttime exit and I was awed as we were taking the better part of a day to cover only half of his exit hike. The conversation we had with Harvey about our Nankoweap trip was the only time I spoke with Harvey directly other than an occasional hello and my thanks for some great slide shows.
I never knew the man behind the legend as Harvey did not say much about himself when giving presentations or in conversations after hiking club meetings. I did not think through how much time he had to spend gaining his incredible knowledge of the canyon. I never knew he had children. I had yet to think about how a person balances their time between hobbies, activities, marriage and family. My "grand obsession" was my career, which involved a few thousand hours of unpaid overtime trying to solve every problem and trying to gain the best knowledge of the land I was assigned to.
Now in retirement I've just finished reading "Grand Obsession." Now after four decades since meeting Harvey Butchart I've now gotten to know the man. This book is incredible! The research and depth of this biography is not only incredibly complete but written in a manner that you don't want to put it down. I either met or knew of so many of the people mentioned in the book. I've heard from others and at times from Harvey, many of the stories the authors relate. While reading the book I felt like I was returning to my time in Flagstaff, taking many of the hikes I wanted to take, but could not because of school demands and starting a demanding career. There are many places where I followed Harvey's footsteps that I assume the authors did not, gaining their knowledge of them via Butchart's logs and from interviews with the hundreds of people they sought out. Their descriptions are accurate causing me to think about places, times and people I haven't recalled for almost four decades.
I never knew the entire story of Harvey Butchart and the trade offs he made to the detriment of his family and marriage. I related to the costs of having an obsession. Looking back I wonder how he found the time to share so much time for his students given the time it took for him to explore so much of the canyon. The authors covered this very well as they not only described his travels well but the waning years of his life as well, after age prevented him from visiting the canyon anymore.
The only criticism I have of the book is the portion where the authors outline the "Canyon's Grip" on other individuals, especially that of George Mancuso. This chapter explained how others were bitten by the bug of the Grand Canyon as if to explain that Harvey wasn't the only person to have an obsession, however, I did not find it valuable in learning about Harvey Butchart's life.
All in all, this is one of the best books occupying space on my bookshelves. For people with an active interest in what lies below the rim of this magnificent canyon, I recommend this book as a way of finding out.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
