A triumph. Fedarko doesn't describe awe he induces it. The New York Times Book Review Passionate. memorable. Life-affirming. The Wall Street Journal From the author of the beloved bestseller The Emerald Mile, a rollicking and poignant account of an epic 750-mile odyssey, on foot, through the heart of Americas most magnificent national park and the grandest wilderness on earth. Two friends, zero preparation, one dream. A few years after quitting his job to follow an ill-advised dream of becoming a guide on the Colorado River, Kevin Fedarko was approached by his best friend, National Geographic photographer Pete McBride, with a vision as bold as it was harebrained. Together, they would embark on an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon, a journey that, McBride promised, would be a walk in the park. Against his better judgment, Fedarko agreed, unaware that the small cluster of experts who had completed the crossing billed it as the toughest hike in the world. The ensuing ordeal, which lasted more than a year, revealed a place that was deeper, richer, and far more complex than anything the two men had imagined and came within a hairs breadth of killing them both. They struggled to make their way through a vertical labyrinth of thousand-foot cliffs and crumbling ledges where water is measured out by the…