Discovering the Outlaw Trail: Routes, Hideouts & Stories from the Wild West

by Mike Bezemek

Welcome to the outlaw trail! During the days of the Wild West, this network of rugged routes linked remote hideouts across the desert Southwest and Rocky Mountains. Today, that same impenetrable terrain―where bandits fled and lawmen feared to tread―offers some of the greatest outdoor adventures in the country. With this story-packed guide, you can hike, bike, paddle, and drive along the paths of rustlers and robbers to alpine ghost towns, dizzying slot canyons, winding rivers, scenic roadways, fascinating museums, and hidden hideouts.

304 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 2023

About the author

Mike Bezemek is an award-winning author of books and articles with an adventurous spin. His publications include Outside, Smithsonian Magazine, Blue Ridge Outdoors, Men's Journal, National Parks Magazine, Paddling Magazine, Terrain Magazine, Sourcebooks, Mountaineers Books, U. Nebraska Press, and more. Links to his work can be found at mikebezemek.com.

Reviews

[Eric Copeland]

This was an interesting blend of travelogue, history, and outdoor activity guidebook. I got it partly because I do enjoy a bit of history, but also I've been trying to expand my horizons vacation-wise. On vacation, I don't particularly go for scenery or relaxation -- those things are nice, but I need things to DO, or I'll just sit in whatever space we've rented and hang out the same way I do at home... just paying extra for the privilege.

This book dealt mostly with an area I haven't explored much -- Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and connected states and regions, where the Old West outlaws roamed. Well, this Old West is not THAT old, with the main focus being on the exploits of Butch Cassidy and his contemporaries, close to the end of the 19th century. While I have been to Colorado, it was mostly in the Denver area with a few side trips -- and it was nearly 40 years ago. So reading this book gave me a few ideas about things we could do if we ever vacation out that way.

I will admit, though, that while I read the history bits pretty closely, I mostly skimmed parts of the "adventures" that Mr. Bezemek outlined. That's partly because I don't actually have any trips coming up and it seemed silly to pay too much attention to the details that I would most likely forget before ever hitting the road, but it's also partly because while I don't mind a little walking, I'm not really the backpacking, camping, whitewater rafting type. It's great that some people are, but I am not, and it's a little late in life to start training for such things.

Anyway, if you're planning a trip out west, or you just like reading about the history connected to such places, there are much worse points to start from than this book.

[SoulGlobe]

　　儘管礙於紙質挑選上的書墨味道，以及非英文母語人士的閱讀問題（平常嗜好多半是傳記體裁），導致並沒有太認真刁鑽於字海裡，但不妨礙我耽溺在《Discovering the Outlaw Trail》這本充滿熱情愛意的旅遊書籍裡：符合美國中西部、簡約卻不單調的排版風格；拍攝得驚人漂亮、可數量不至於佔據版面的照片；以及經過詳細考察的景點介紹，彷彿就像獻給the Outlaw Trail最美麗的一封情書！

　　相較《Digging Up Butch and Sundance》是記錄考據上的旅途，《Discovering the Outlaw Trail》更像是綜合體，將強盜們與相關者的故事和旅遊緊密地結合，閱讀前面的人物生平事蹟與後頭的景點介紹，是可以跳躍翻閱的，這使得閱讀上充滿了更多的樂趣。

　　當然仍有疏失：一、我猜是紙質的關係？明明是新書，卻有三處類似髒汙的痕跡。二、布屈與幫派、或關係人的生平，幾乎跟隨作者於前面推薦過的經典書籍們走，尤其布屈明顯參考《Butch Cassidy: A Biography》，選擇Richard Patterson的傳記是非常正確的選擇，但畢竟成書已有一段時間，或許可以斟酌參考其他歷史學家們的書籍。

　　缺點並不多，所以下面來誇讚優點的部分：一、據作者所言，他是《虎豹小霸王（Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid）》的粉絲，在旅行與閱讀傳記之後誕生這本旅遊書籍——實屬難得，我接觸過的電影粉絲，多半不再繼續深入認識歷史中的強盜本尊，可作者卻辦到了，且寫得洋溢熾熱的愛，甚至讓人從文字中感覺得到活潑雀躍的心情，非常可貴！二、旅遊前的叮嚀、中途的介紹與末尾的補充，都給予很詳細的資訊，確實可以當成指南。三、作者的幽默感非常恰當，不會讓人產生冒犯的不舒服感，邊看邊笑了好幾次。

　　透過此書，我也才意識到，自己對於美國中西部的認識只是大範圍而已，作者透過實際踏察，讓我更加認識有趣而尚未被所知的景點，沒有真實的體驗、憑靠網路撰寫不出來如此豐富的書籍！非常推薦這本書，無論是體驗被作者灼燒的熱情愛、或是想瞭解強盜與旅遊二者，都是非常良好的體驗。

　　能在閱讀布屈與幫派的生涯碰上《Discovering the Outlaw Trail》的出版，是萬分與一生的殊榮！