Searching for Tao Canyon
Pat Morrow, Jeremy Schmidt and Art Twomey Rocky Mountain Books
In the first pages of Searching for Tao Canyon, there is an allusion to the dilemma of wild places. Do we document them in descriptions, words and images, showing them to the world but inviting too much use? Or do we keep these discoveries private and anonymous, and thereby attempt to protect them? It is a theme touched on directly or indirectly throughout this wonderful new book, which contains a blend of thoughtful text by writer Jeremy Schmidt, and spectacular images by legendary climber and photographer Pat Morrow, and the late Art Twomey, an accomplished climber, geologist, and environmentalist. It was Twomey, starting in the early ’70s, whose passion for the mysterious world of desert slot canyons led to the trio’s regular adventures and explorations over the years.
Slot canyon exploration naturally involves many of the ropework and techniques of rock climbing, and climbers who thumb the pages of this book will appreciate the spirit of adventure required when you rap down an unknown crack in the desert with bulky photo gear in the hopes of finding something. But it was and still is its own discipline and craft, and the authors show how it was just as much the seeking of new terrain as it was a quest for the specifics of shadow and light; an interplay between sounds of water and stone, the stories of indigenous peoples, the dramatic features of thousands of years. And just like the mountains, these are places that can change dramatically simply by a shift in clouds, a break of sun. And when they’d drop a rock to sound out a response from the depths, sometimes there was no real answer the darkness of places unknown and best left alone.
This book is part spectacular photo essay, part nostalgia and documentary. It is part celebration of wilderness and “fun hogs”, part cautionary tale, part call to action and activism, and part tribute to Twomey who died in a helicopter crash in the late ’90s. The images, many shot on slow-speed Kodachrome film in difficult lighting, are breathtaking and required an approach and patience that paid off. It is often a labyrinthine landscape of twists and turns, shifting colours and trickling water. You can almost hear the sounds and smell the air in these photos.
The consequences of overuse of wild places is well known, as are the results of the upstream dams – I think here of Glen Canyon and Lake Powell, or the Hetch-Hetchy Valley. Morrow told me the intent of this book was to “show people what it was like before the Gold Rush”, and it was a long time in the works. The timing is certainly right in today’s climate where the environmentally protected status in some places is directly threatened. In this way, it is my hope that while Searching for Tao Canyon may generate interest from adventurers, it will draw wider attention to the wild beauty here, and ensure its protection for years to come.—Jon