"Russ and Blyth Carpenter have been partners in adventure for forty years. They got to know each other when they were college students, during a backpacking trip to Asia. Both of them completed their degrees at Stanford and went on to Harvard for their graduate education. During the next phase of their lives, Russ worked as a business attorney and management consultant, and Blyth taught Asian history.

They continued to visit remote areas of the world - as scuba divers, hikers, and earnest students of non-Western cultures.".

"The authors now live in a log house in a Douglas Fir forest next to Oregon's McKenzie River. In addition to publishing books on natural history, they are active in many forms of public service.

Their connection with Bhutan began with a trek and cultural tour in 1996 and quickly expanded into public service projects ranging from assisting a desktop publishing company and serving as the Internet publishers for the Centre for Bhutan Studies, to promoting silk and wool textiles and managing the construction and installation of two-way radio transceivers for one hundred remote Himalayan villages."--BOOK JACKET.