When author Doug Alderson was perusing several old family scrapbooks, one worn leather-bound volume drew his interest-maps, photos, sketches, brochures and humorous commentary from his grandparents' 1939 "trip thru the Golden West." Highlights included Pike's Peak, the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Sequoia, Yosemite and Yellowstone. Alderson set out to retrace his grandparents' route with a burning question: are the panoramic landscapes of the West, especially those found in carefully protected national parks, as relevant and captivating today as they were in 1939?