Olympic Mountains Trail Guide: National Park & National Forest 3rd Edition

* Completely redesigned for easier use

* Includes five new hikes, more photos, and expanded route descriptions

* "The best book for trail descriptions in the Olympics." - The San Francisco Chronicle



With its moss-draped rain forests, alpine meadows brimming with wildflowers, and snow-capped mountains, the Olympic Peninsula is a hiker's paradise. Explore the Cat Creek Way Trail, a high-country route to a view of Oyster Lake, or trek along the Appleton Pass Trail where you might spy a fat marmot perched on one of the boulders along the path. This new edition of a tried-and-true classic to hiking the Olympic Peninsula contains all the facts for both day hikes and overnight backpack trips.

You'll find information on 177 hikes in the Olympic Mountains and extensive material on history, geology, native plants, and wildlife. Also find in this hiking guidebook numbered hikes for quick reference; detailed information blocks for each trail; and weather information for each section of the Olympic Mountains.

Whether you're planning an actual trip to the Olympic Mountains or searching for the vicarious thrills of a smart guidebook, Robert L. Wood's encyclopedic knowledge of this enchanting wilderness at the edge of the Pacific will inform and enthrall. This is not a quickie job: the author has hiked every one of the trails he details here (over a hundred) backwards and forwards, most of them more than once, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Before you know it you'll be an expert too--rattling off, for instance, peaks visible from Dodger Point (Rainier, Olympus, the Bailey Range), and the name for the "noisy chatter" along the Putvin Trail (Whitehorse Creek). Divided into two main sections--Leeward and Windward--this handy guide covers the bulk of national forest and parklands worth venturing into. Concise yet thorough, it includes all the necessities--elevation, mileage, maps, landmarks, vegetation, and possible wildlife sightings--in an easy-to-read format. A must for the would-be visitor and armchair adventurer both.