Lost in Colorado
by Thomas Seidel
Two worlds. One impossible journey.
No way back.
Some trails don't lead home.
Every trail has a story.
This one has a door.
Walk through it, if you dare.
Deep in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, two lifelong friends follow an elk trail into the unknown, and step into something that doesn't belong to this world. What follows is a fight for survival in a savage, prehistoric land, and a desperate search to find a way back home.
Lost in Colorado
Some trails don't lead home.
Deep in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, two lifelong friends follow an elk trail into the unknown, and step into something that doesn't belong to this world. While they fight to survive in a savage, prehistoric land ruled by ancient predators and a brutal natural order, a desperate search ignites back home. In the mountains, weather turns deadly. Every clue leads nowhere. And something is hunting them.
A lifetime of trails, one after another.
From a reservation marina in Arizona to a carnival lot, an Army post, a bucket truck, and a stage built from driftwood: the real road that led to Lost in Colorado.
Follow the full story-
San Carlos, ArizonaBoots before books
Born in Gassville, Arkansas, to a single mom and adopted at birth by his grandparents, Everett and Velma, who ran the Coolidge Dam Marina on the San Carlos Apache reservation where he was one of the only Caucasian kids in his school. When his grandmother came down with MS, they relocated to Tucson for better care, and when the medical bills ate through their savings, he and his grandfather became fruit tramps up the West Coast: picking fruit, cutting asparagus, picking strawberries and zucchini.
-
Age elevenRunning off with the carnival
As his grandfather's grief over losing his wife turned to a drinking problem, life got hard, and at eleven Tom ran away and joined a traveling carnival. Tall and tough for his age, he worked several concessions and was treated like family by the Siebrand Brothers Circus and Carnival owners. By thirteen he was driving a semi-truck hauling a small roller coaster from town to town.
-
1966-1975Answering the call
In 1966 Tom moved to the Salinas/Monterey area of California, where he found his biological mother working at a truck stop and briefly attended Alisal High School. In 1969 he enlisted in the US Army, serving active duty until 1972 and reserves for three more years, through the Vietnam era.
-
Seven summersTouring the Maritimes
Tom's life kept moving: he toured the Canadian Maritimes with the Bill Lynch Shows, owning and operating multiple carnival concessions every spring and summer for seven years.
-
1975 onwardWheels up
Tom built his first aircraft, a ROTEC ultralight, and never really stopped buying and flying real airplanes, flying airshows on the West Coast, and eventually floatplanes into the backcountry.
-
1982
Sparks and steel
Tom got certified as an electrician and opened Seidel Electric in Salinas, doing industrial and commercial work primarily for the big produce companies. His youngest son, Chase, still runs it today.
-
Many stints, many trailsAdventures in between
Alaskan fishing guide, gold dredge operator, working the mines of Wyoming, and in 2006, a trip to Louisiana to help with the Katrina disaster relief: just a few of the stops along the way.
-
A partner for the trailHis wife
Somewhere along the way, he found the woman who'd share every mile of the adventure that followed.
-
After retiringA song and a stage
Tom built a resort on Idaho's famous River of No Return, sponsored a music venue on the Driftwood Stage built from logs he dragged out of the river himself and added a boutique RV park at the entrance to Idaho's Hells Canyon. Most nights, he's still the one behind the mic.
-
TodaySome trails don't lead home
He spent twenty-five years writing Lost in Colorado and is already deep into book two of the trilogy: a new adventure in the twilight of a life full of them.
Still behind the mic.
When Tom's off the water and off the page, he's usually got a guitar in hand on the Driftwood Stage, the music venue he built from logs pulled out of Idaho's River of No Return.
Disappearance
Ethan and Wes follow the elk trail above Snowball Creek and vanish into a hum in the pre-dawn dark.
Read the bookMissing
Back in Pagosa Springs, the men don't come home, and their families start to fear the worst.
Read the bookThe Search
An Archuleta County sheriff's department combs the San Juan Mountains for any trace of them.
Read the bookThe Walk Down
Every hour off the mountain narrows the odds, and the search party knows it.
Read the bookFirst Reports
The first radio calls come in from the trailhead, and none of them add up.
Read the bookWe can't stay Mara. We have to find a way back to our world. There are others who depend on us, who love us. We must return.
Bring the trail to your library, festival, or club.
Thomas is glad to speak with book clubs, libraries, veterans' groups, and outdoor festivals about wild country, survival, and the long, strange trail that led to his first novel.
Invite Thomas to speakFollow the trail with us.
Sign up for news on the book's release, signed copies, and speaking dates. Or send Thomas a note directly. He reads every one.
- Emailinfo@thomasseidel.com
- Based inIdaho, on the River of No Return
- ForSigned copies · Speaking · Hello