MY CANYONLANDS

Mr. Frost, presumably now in his seventies, has long been an explorer of canyons and rivers in the environs of Utah, and this unleavened account attests to what has obviously been a rugged, happy and rewarding life. During his youth in Utah (the family lived, for a time, on a mesa that ""jutted into Montezuma canyon 2,000 feet below""), young Frost trapped, farmed, raised dogies, learned about river running, performed odd jobs, and best of all, explored. He remembers Iris first trip to the ""Needles,"" immense stone columns with ""sculptured spindles, mushroom rocks. thin pillars, fat pillars, thousands of them. . . ."" Soon he was running the most interesting rivers and eventually he became a guide to fortunate tourists -- who have the advantage of exposure to Mr. Frost's high-humored enthusiasm of which this book is but an echo.