Standing atop the eastern escarpment of the Californian Sierra Nevada, looking down into the desert, Michael Checchio decided to get a four wheel-drive vehicle, some camping gear, and head out for the outback -- The canyonlands of Arizona and Utah and the uplands of New Mexico. He would revisit old haunts and explore new ones and in so doing rediscover a world he thought he already knew. His travels started in the Mojave Desert and ended in the highlands of New Mexico. Along the way he explored the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the slickrock wilderness of Utah, Monument Valley, the Hopi mesas, and the Four Corners world of Navajoland. He followed Jeep trails into the redrock desert and descended on foot into mysterious canyon labyrinths.
In Sundown Legends, Checcio offers up the American Southwest as a spiritual repository and source of inspiration. On his journey he talked to individuals whose imaginations have been shaped by the power of this desert landscape. Some of these people included Ken Sleight, the Utah wilderness outfitter who was the inspiration for the character "Seldom Seen Smith" in Edward Abbey's nov
