Written by the influential Bill Steele, Huatla, catches the imagination on a multitude of fronts. The sense and longing for discovery can be felt in Steeles words throughout the book and it is obvious caving and Huatla in particular are written about in a fervor only possible when one truly loves the subject matter.
The book recounts the exploration of the Huatla area and the life of Steele over the course of thirty years. Having these two separate foci enriches the experience greatly. On one side your following Steeles turbulent early life and catching small bits of Texas caver history. The opposite exists in that whole chapter(s) can deal with a single expedition focusing purely on the remotest of details such as the smell one experiences when exiting a cave after being starved from such earthly smells for so long. Another detail not so nice as the previous recollections is the number of times Steele faced death and only through his quick instincts or probably more so just luck avoided such horrifying ends such as plummets down pits, falling from free-climbs, or my personal favorite where at Steeles doing he was able to save himself and several others from certain death at the hands of Mexican Indians whom Christmas celebrations nearly included throwing our brave cavers to there death to the bottom of a sinkhole. Taking just the above summary into account one might feel the story embellished slightly. When one witnesses Steele in cowboy boots and black "flaming" tights most would certainly feel it was so embellished, and yet his accounts become glaringly believable when one reads into the middle and later portions of the book. It is with great courage and wanting of a truthful account that Steele writes about some of his personal reactions with others in our caving world. Many of these recollections are of a positive account though one will read other accounts and while subtle they build into a tumultuous tidal wave. I'd like to end this review in saying that many people throw the word "hero" around and yet after reading this book I can only state that on numerous occasions Steele acted responsibly and heroically in both his respect for the cave and his concern and care for his teammates, I think that fits my description of a hero.
