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Pacific Northwest Hiking : The Complete Guide to 1,000 of the Best Hikes in Washington and Oregon
Devoted campers, hikers, anglers, bikers and golfers Foghorn Outdoors guides are essential for anyone who wants to spend less time planning and more time enjoying the outdoors. Each book is an excursion guide packed with the latest information on a variety of adventures near and far. Includes 12 new hikes Added tips on gear, safety, low-impact hiking and climate New Keynotes describing the hikes in each region New "Best of" lists highlighting the top hikes in various categories
- GenresNonfictionReference
432 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 16, 2010
I found this book used and thought Wow! I'll never need to buy another hiking book again. The fact that it was labeled used without the spine even being cracked led me to believe I had found the holy grail of hiking books for a reasonable price.
I soon found out the reason the book was both used and "never used". This complete guide is like a clinical textbook on brain surgery that offers no pictures or diagrams but short narratives for the surgeon. The black and white maps are vague and badly separated at the beginning of the randomly geographical chapters, resulting in having to turn back and forth from the text of the hikes to the actual non-detailed location (a dot on the gray background showing neither hills, mountains or rivers). The hikes themselves are narrative descriptions followed by phone numbers, map numbers from the GIS, and directions; but are not laid out anywhere near each other on the map (numerically they are in order, but geographically they could be twenty miles apart). There are also glaring absences of national recreation area hikes (for example--Saddle Mountain and Mt St Helens are one the maps--but hikes around there are unlisted or not near the actual parks.)
Honestly I was disappointed, as what I was looking for in a hiking book was one that geographically made sense and laid out where I could go on any weekend, close to Portland or any location; a quick and dirty manual with which I could get my walk on. What I got instead was an encyclopedia of hikes in the Pacific Northwest that I can use at night perusing in my easy chair next to the fireplace wearing my smoking jacket whilst my golden retriever sits obediently by my side as we plan our next excursion to the savage outback. Useful sure, but hardly helpful for what most hikers want, a book of hikes to hike.
I soon found out the reason the book was both used and "never used". This complete guide is like a clinical textbook on brain surgery that offers no pictures or diagrams but short narratives for the surgeon. The black and white maps are vague and badly separated at the beginning of the randomly geographical chapters, resulting in having to turn back and forth from the text of the hikes to the actual non-detailed location (a dot on the gray background showing neither hills, mountains or rivers). The hikes themselves are narrative descriptions followed by phone numbers, map numbers from the GIS, and directions; but are not laid out anywhere near each other on the map (numerically they are in order, but geographically they could be twenty miles apart). There are also glaring absences of national recreation area hikes (for example--Saddle Mountain and Mt St Helens are one the maps--but hikes around there are unlisted or not near the actual parks.)
Honestly I was disappointed, as what I was looking for in a hiking book was one that geographically made sense and laid out where I could go on any weekend, close to Portland or any location; a quick and dirty manual with which I could get my walk on. What I got instead was an encyclopedia of hikes in the Pacific Northwest that I can use at night perusing in my easy chair next to the fireplace wearing my smoking jacket whilst my golden retriever sits obediently by my side as we plan our next excursion to the savage outback. Useful sure, but hardly helpful for what most hikers want, a book of hikes to hike.
August 12, 2008
too many hikes! too many errors and misinformation. lack of information on each individual hike. if you've already been hiking for 50 years and you've done all the good ones and you only want to do ok ones now than this ones for you. otherwise there's much better hiking guides for the area.
November 1, 2011
This is not a pocket book guide, rather it's a sort of "hiker's bible" for Pacific Northwest excursions. Use it as a handy reference tool for top rated day hikes or when planning extended backcountry trips in the region.
March 9, 2007
Very comprehensive hiking guide, especially for WA state.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews