Customer Reviews

Best Wildflower Hikes Washington (Best Hikes)

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1. In the olden days, the Mountaineers really was a pioneering organization in the NW, while also producing some excellent and unique books.

2. I've had this feeling for a while now, but this book really brings home the impression that the Mountaineers, specifically their once great hiking books are now a thing of the past. Instead of writing new material from the ground up, this book is largely a partial rehash of data from the countless prior Mountaineers hiking books. All you need to do is get a hold of some older Mountaineers hiking books and compare the two; they're very similar.
Furthermore, as the other reviewer noted, some very very obvious wildflower hikes aren't in this book. I know, no book can have every single hike, however the content of this book exposes the lack of knowledge of the author. I mean, when you're talking about famous wildflower hikes around Mt Baker, #1 is going to be Skyline Divide, then you have to include Heliotrope Ridge, both of which aren't in there.

3. Bottomline: unfortunately, it appears that the Mountaineers books have really gone downhill in regards to their quality and integrity. If you're looking for a good book re: wildflower hikes in WA, check out Charles Gurche's book; not perfect but much much better.

I love this book; I was disappointed in prior reviewers' opinions, because while I do agree that many of the hikes are a compilation from other books (or similar enough to be so), this book compiles them all into one resource. I wasn't sure why a reviewer was expecting photography advice- as a fellow photographer I never had any such expectations- this is a hiking guide, not a wildflower photography guide. I've used this resource for several of my local hiking group's hikes (PNW Leisure Hiking), and my hikers, my family, and I all have enjoyed the amazing flowers, and also the details within each hike description of what to look for. We typically tote along a wildflower guide as well, and using these two resources together has been a joy as well as a fabulous learning opportunity for my children. So if you own every hiking book out there, and know every hike in them by memory, then don't buy this book; however, if you're interested in having a one-stop resource for some of the most fabulous Washington Wildflower hikes, without having to flip through all of those hiking books, then this is a great resource for you. Even with my extremely extensive hiking-realted library (more than 40 books), this is still a book I reach for.

I looked forward to getting this book; after all, I've been an avid freelance nature photographer and hiker in this area for many years and had yet to see a title like this. Alas, after buying and reviewing it, I was a bit disappointed. Although it is well-organized (characteristic of "Mountaineers Books" publications) and has a thorough appearance, the photography and image-print quality, some incomplete or inadequate descriptions of locations listed, and the absence of any real photography advice was not up to what I felt could have been better standards. It feels like the Mountaineers took references from their other books, added (35 of 50) chapters written by Karen Sykes, (an avid hiker-journalist writing trail articles for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper and possible source material for the core of the book), used some older general location photographs (taken by Spring) and repackaged it under a new title / approach with enhanced text. See for yourself - wouldn't you expect the photography to be representative of the best wildflower areas being hiked ? Not so here. Instead, there are some general hiking trail shots, or photos of small flower patches, individual flower subjects, even critter portraits. But for most of it, nothing that visually justifies many locations being listed as the "Best Wildflower Hikes". Examples of choices I particularly question are the Rialto Beach, Burroughs Mountain chapters (these are largely barren of wildflowers, yet are listed among "Best Wildflower Hikes"?! and their representative photography leaves alot to the imagination). And why not "Skyline Divide" at Mount Baker? I also know of wonderful wildflower areas in Mount Rainier National Park not identified, even in chapters for those areas! It is sad thing, because although the book justly credits (the late) Ira Spring's historical contributions to other Mountaineers books, this book does not itself justify its own title. Nevertheless, the book is a decent reference to have.
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