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Canyoneering tales sought

For those whose love for Grand Canyon might be more accurately termed an obsession, there is an oral tradition that avid backpacker John Gibbs hopes to capture for a special book he is compiling.

"Having backpacked the canyon, I began to read avidly on the subject," he said. "But the more I read, the more there seemed to be a gap in the literature."

While there is an abundance of material on canyon lore, such as "Death in Grand Canyon," and books dealing with logistics and route planning, Gibbs said he was surprised that there were few books reflecting the kind of storytelling he encountered on the inner canyon's trails and in its campgrounds.

"There is something so unique about the Grand Canyon in the degree that people become so obsessed with the place, going back over and over again," he said. "In backpacking the canyon you meet them and hear their stories. They have great stories that convey the magic of this place. I want to get them out there."

Gibbs grew up hiking in the mountains and foothills of Wales in his native England before moving to the U.S. when he was 18, and continued trekking when he moved to the west.

When he first viewed the canyon from the rim three years ago, Gibbs said the experience left him a little empty. Yet looking down at the Colorado River, he felt a pull and vowed to come back. A few months later he did and when he got to the bottom, he was able to absorb what was too vast to see from above.

"There I was on a beautiful, pristine beach at the bottom of the canyon and I felt such a level of certainty and excitement," he said. "I wanted to know this place, explore it, come back again and again."

Since then he has been below the rim about a dozen times, with each visit changing his life in a positive way.

"I think everyone's story is different but in many respects, it is the same experience," he said. "The place really got under my skin, and whenever I have time, that's where I choose to go."

His vision for the project solidified when, after a week in the canyon and before returning home to San Francisco, he spotted a book on a table at an outfitters shop.

That book, "There's This River," by Christa Sadler, is a collection of narratives and stories from Grand Canyon boatmen.

"I picked it up, and I thought there should be a comparable opportunity for backpackers to tell their stories as well," he said.

To that end, he is seeking essays from the backpacking public for a book that will be published by Vishnu Temple Press.

Submissions should be around 5,000 words long and convey what it is that brings people back to the canyon again and again. He is not looking for trip reports. There is no payment for submissions but those who are published will get 10 complementary copies of the book.

"My goal is that I want it to be a forum for Grand Canyon backpackers to tell their story," he said. "These would be the stories they would tell their grandchildren or tell around the campfire. They would be accessible to an audience that hasn't backpacked the Grand Canyon and is not really understanding what it is about this place that brings us back again and again."

Gibbs has worked as a research analyst for a division of the Library of Congress in Washington DC and has authored a number of published reports on issues related to national and international security and other topics.

This will be his first book. He expects it will run about 300 pages and he is aiming to see it out by this summer. Submissions are due Feb. 28. For more information, visit www.vishnutemplepress.com/submissions.html.

You can also e-mail Gibbs at gcstories@yahoo.com for more information.


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