Showing posts with label top trails. Show all posts
Showing posts with label top trails. Show all posts

Hiker's Guide to the High Sierra Yosemite: The Valley and Surrounding Uplands (High Sierra Hiking Guide) Review

Hiker's Guide to the High Sierra Yosemite: The Valley and Surrounding Uplands (High Sierra Hiking Guide)
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Hiker's Guide to the High Sierra Yosemite: The Valley and Surrounding Uplands (High Sierra Hiking Guide) ReviewThe 7th edition of this book, like its predecessors, is essentially a guide to the Valley and southern half of Yosemite National Park. Originally conceived as a hiking resource for the old 15' topo maps of the Sierras, this book offers 25 fabulous dayhikes which range from 1 to 16.5 miles. The nice thing about this selection is that you can even experience brief moments of solitude on many of these walks, even on the Yosemite Valley Floor; not an easy trick. With its companion volume to Tuolumne Meadows one has a pretty good guide to the park. Schaffer also throws in 5 nice backpack trips for those who would like to further explore the backcountry.
There are, however, many hiking guides to Yosemite. What makes this one stand out is that Schaffer has done more original field research into the geology and topography of the park than virtually all other guidebook authors combined. His conclusions are that the Sierras are far older than previously thought, and that glaciers had only minimal impact in shaping the Valley as we see it today. Rather, the Valley's stunning cliffs are the result of millions of years of weathering and breakage along fault and joint lines. Much of his research is condensed into this volume and following his trail routes is also incidentally a natural history lesson on the origins of this stunning place. For this alone it is worth the read and well worth a five star rating.
But this book is also quite valuable for its maps. Schaffer has lent his expertise to the maps in several Wilderness Press titles, including the 3 volume set on the Pacific Crest Trail and the guide to the Tahoe Rim Trail. The map included in this volume is far more accurate than the old 15' topo maps, or even the new 7.5' maps insofar as the trails are concerned. Between the fascinating text and the separate folded map, this book is a bargain and deserves wide readership.Hiker's Guide to the High Sierra Yosemite: The Valley and Surrounding Uplands (High Sierra Hiking Guide) Overview

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Top Trails Lake Tahoe Review

Top Trails Lake Tahoe
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Top Trails Lake Tahoe ReviewMike White's contribution to the Top Trails series has some spectacular hikes. People who are heavily into the sport will really enjoy the book. Included are hikes up Mt. Rose, the highest peak in the Tahoe basin and long segments of the Tahoe Rim Trail. But this book is not for the faint of heart. Most of the route descriptions in the book exceed 9 miles and several exceed 15 miles. Moreover, these miles involve considerable elevation gain.
White does include some shorter walks. The Tahoe Meadows Whole Access Trail is the best of these. Sugar Pine Point also receives some much deserved attention. But the bottom line is that you will need to be in excellent physical condition to fully appreciate what this book has to offer. So if you enjoy strenuous all day treks that offer stunning scenery in return for your efforts, this is the book for you. But if you want a guide to the many pretty nature trails that surround Lake Tahoe, you will have to look elsewhere. Moreso than other books in the Top Trails series, this book is for serious hikers that like to push the limits of their endurance.Top Trails Lake Tahoe Overview

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Best Easy Day Hikes Reno (Best Easy Day Hikes Series) Review

Best Easy Day Hikes Reno (Best Easy Day Hikes Series)
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Best Easy Day Hikes Reno (Best Easy Day Hikes Series) ReviewBased on my experience with other books in this series ("Best Easy Day Hikes") I had expected some hikes that would be farther afield, longer, and more extensive. As the trail descriptions make clear, however, some of these trails are simply popular trails in public parks, and extend through suburban subdivisions. I did choose the hike that looked most challenging, the last in the book ("Fay Luther Interpretive Loop"), and was entirely happy with my hike (and I was able to continue much farther in the trail system than this specific hike). I was surprised to find that the trail was (a) better graded and maintained than the book suggested, and (b) much better shaded than the book suggested - which of course is not a bad thing, but just some extra information that I thought others might like to know. The Fay-Luther trail organization provides beautiful printed maps at the trailhead that you can carry with you or view online, which makes the experience all that much better. I'm curious why this book doesn't have any hikes in the Pyramid Lake area, which like the Fay-Luther area is not a long drive from Reno. Are there no trails at Pyramid Lake?Best Easy Day Hikes Reno (Best Easy Day Hikes Series) Overview

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Top Trails: Sacramento: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone Review

Top Trails: Sacramento: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone
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Top Trails: Sacramento: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone ReviewA lot of people think of Sacramento as a place that is "close" to everything -- the Bay Area, skiing, the Sierra -- but nothing to write home about. This book shows that Sacramento is a place in its own right for outdoor lovers. It has easy hikes for families and challenging ones for people who aren't shy about a little elevation gain. There are some Sierra gems -- after all, Sacramento is too close to the Sierra NOT to include some spots. But the book's great asset is in showing people what's close to home: where to go on the American River trail (on foot or bike), the Gold Country and in the flatlands.
The author is an engaging writer and his descriptions are lovely enough to make you feel like you've gotten a little exposure if you don't get beyond armchair exploration. There's also essential stuff, such as whether DOGS are allowed (yay!), and where to find waterfalls.
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Top Trails: Yosemite: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone (Top Trails: Must-Do Hikes) Review

Top Trails: Yosemite: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone (Top Trails: Must-Do Hikes)
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Top Trails: Yosemite: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone (Top Trails: Must-Do Hikes) ReviewWilderness Press originally conceived of the 'Top Trails' series as a set of hiking guides to the best trails in an area. This purpose sets these volumes apart from typical hiking guides which tend to fall into two categories: comprehensive guides to all trails in a region, or descriptions of short day hiking opportunities in an area. The idea was to give visitors to a region quick access to the best hiking and to facilitate ease of use. Perhaps no area of California needs a 'Top Trails' guide as much as Yosemite and very few authors are as qualified to write one as Jeffrey Schaffer.
This book is divided into seven chapters: one for each region of the park. Each chapter lists 5 to 8 hikes ranging in distance from the 1/2 mile walk at Bridalveil Falls to a 33 mile excursion among the High Sierra Camps. Obviously, some of these trails are more suitable for backpacking, a feature that distinguishes this book from others in the 'Top Trails' series. All the great hikes are included. Readers will find route descriptions for Half Dome, the Tuolomne Grove of Sequoias (my favorite grove in the park), Clouds Rest, Hetch Hetchy Resevoir, Glacier Point, and many more. In all, there are 45 trails and routes described here.
What makes this book so good are the standard features found in other 'Top Trails' guides and the expert commentary of Schaffer. Each chapter begins with an overview of the region, a trails summary page listing distance, difficulty, and some highlights of the trails, followed by detailed trail descriptions and carefully drawn maps. Schaffer is one of the top cartographers in the west and his maps are second to none. But in addition to these standard features, Schaffer also offers an extended commentary on the geology, geography, and plant and animal communities found in the park. His theory that Yosemite Valley's rock walls were formed by faulting and vertical fracture planes, not solely by glaciers, is explained in these pages, along with the evidence for it, so that non-specialists can easily understand what they observe as they hike. This sort of expert commentary adds immeasurably to the joy of hiking. That is why I strongly recommend this book by Schaffer. It can enhance any vacation to Yosemite.Top Trails: Yosemite: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone (Top Trails: Must-Do Hikes) Overview

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