Tom Garrison's Blog (9)

I think we can all agree that nature and outdoor activity are winners. I’m fortunate that my hiking book, Hiking Southwest Utah and Adjacent Areas, Volume Three, recently won a Silver Quill Award (2^nd Place) in the non-fiction category of the 2021 League of Utah Writers Published Book Contest.

I believe this award is due mostly to the incredible areas my wife Deb and I hike. I’m occasionally able to capture nature’s wonders in words and photos. If you are…

Too Many Choices?

Modern American society is characterized by many things. One, which I suspect most people do not often consider, is the number of choices in our everyday lives. This rather obscure topic became the focal point in a recent discussion with a long-time, seldom-seen friend, Jeff. After a quick “how ya doing and how was the trip,” Jeff, my wife Deb, and I fell into our typical wide-ranging multi-hour friendly debate.

At one point, Jeff complained…

This guide is about hiking and generally exploring desert areas, specifically southwest Utah and adjacent areas (southern Nevada and northern Arizona). There is no better way to experience the ruggedness and beauty, the history of settlement by Native Americans and later pioneers, and the solitude than by simply hiking and exploring. The…

It’s that time of year again—time to give thanks. Like most people, I have many things for which to be thankful. Each year I compose a new list, my Thanksgiving Thankful List. I try to include items we tend to overlook. I hope sharing them brings a smile and acknowledgement that even the seldom thought of can be a source of thankfulness. Here is the link to my published story.…

Ha!  Ha! Very Funny is available in paperback. The book contains more than 500 (507 to be exact) jokes, riddles, and puns divided into 18 subject categories.

We all share a similar experience: standing in a slow-moving line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or Walmart, or at a popular restaurant. Most people find it the very definition of boring and a waste of time. However, with a bit of effort, you can turn this negative happening into an…

Encompassing nearly a quarter million acres, Capitol Reef National Park is one of the least crowded of Utah’s five national parks (third most in any of the 50 states). Capitol Reef features colorful cliffs, massive domes, serpentine canyons, miles of slick rock wilderness, and a 100 miles long bulge in the Earth’s crust. The western park entrance is about 220 miles from St. George. This is the first visit for my wife Deb and I to this relatively unheralded national park.

For our first…

Here’s what Dr. John Crossley, owner and publisher of the acclaimed The American Southwest website and Facebook page says about the newly released Hiking Southern Nevada, Volume One:

“Hiking Southern Nevada is a detailed, well researched, and entertainingly written guide to the varied trails in one of the southwest’s lesser known scenic areas. Tom uses his wealth of local knowledge to highlight the best hikes in southern…

Since December 2010 I have had more than 100 hiking stories and political and humorous essays published (as of April 2018) in The Spectrum (St. George, UT daily newspaper), The Independent (St. George, UT), the Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), the Mesquite Local News (Mesquite, NV), The Sun Runner (Joshua Tree, CA), Moapa Valley Progress (Logandale/Overton, NV), and the Los Alamos Daily Post (Los Alamos, NM). My most recent book is Hiking Southwest Utah and Adjacent Areas, Volume Two.…

We all like to think our writing, however wonderful, also has commercial value. My recently published hiking book Hiking Southwest Utah and Adjacent Areas has a dozen or so online sales each month—not bad. Now, thanks to the Zion National Park Foundation, my hiking guide is available at Zion National Park Visitor Center.

Zion has approximately three million visitors per year. While they don’t all check out the visitor center, tens (hundreds?) of thousands do. I imagine…