Customer Reviews

Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing and High Routes: Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass

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If you aren't yet familiar with Fred Beckey's Cascade Alpine Guide series (3 volumes) but think you know the Cascades mountains-- well, think again! Until you've been through Beckey's 3 books inside and out, back and forth, at least 50 to 100 times, I doubt you could claim much overall knowledge, that is, unless you've been living in the mountains and exploring them continuously for the last 50 years or so!! His CAG series is, without any question, THE ONLY AUTHORITATIVE GUIDEBOOK series on the Cascades mountain range within Washington and British Columbia (doesn't cover the Olympics in WA state and only covers the Cascades to the Fraser River, no farther north as this area becomes other ranges in BC, the interior ranges to the NE, the Coast Range to the NW). This series does not cover Mt. Hood or anything in Oregon or California, but it does cover the Washington volcanoes completely: Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier are all in Volume 1; Glacier Peak is in Volume 2; and, Mt. Baker is in Volume 3. A good set of topo maps at the 1:24,000 scale, along with Beckey's books, is a virtual necessity in order to gain a full perspective on this amazingly complex and super-spectacular mountain range. I recommend you either buy the real USGS ones, or print them out yourself (or just study them on a big monitor) by buying and using one of about 3 or 4 good software packages that are all readily available (see http://www.rei.com for one good source of most of what I've mentioned) on the net or through many map stores, book stores, mountain, hiking and camping equipment stores, etc., etc., throughout the USA. Author Fred Beckey is the "King of the Cascades." Every decent mountain climber in the Northwest (and many from afar, too) knows this. He has put up more first ascents and new routes than any other three or four people combined that I know of (in many other places besides the Cascades, too). But, these books, my God, are they informative-- so much so that every hardcore backpacker or hiker, every geographer, every geologist, every landform scientist, every resource manager, every Forest or Park Service employee, every person who loves mountains and glaciers and on and on, they all need and want these guides. Why? They describe not just climbing routes but all the approach routes, highways, roads, abandoned roads, trails, valleys, glaciers, bivouacs, camping and transportation facilities, climbing and exploration history of each area, all the specific geology and geography of each peak and each group of peaks, all the glaciers and ice-climbing routes, plus anything at all that is a pertinent detail in any way relating to these mountains and anything in them. One warning-- be advised, the estimated hiking/climbing times listed in these guidebooks are listed accurately for very seasoned and physically-fit mountaineers and explorers under optimum conditions only. The rest of us must allow much additional time to accomplish the same given goal. Or if the conditions aren't perfect, allow for it. Do not confuse times listed in "hiking" books with anything described and written in these Beckey guides! If you do, you'll be very sorry and sadly deflated of motivation when you learn how far behind your "planned" schedule you really are. Oh, and here's one more "tip" for studying the Cascades, with or without the Beckey books and the maps I've described: download the Google Earth (the basic one is free) application for viewing the mountains in great detail and in 3D from any angle or elevation perspective. This for me is an absolute "must" as well as the books and maps. Also, Fred Beckey has written another book on exploring the Cascades (historical) called "Range of Glaciers: The Exploration and Survey of the Northern Cascade Range" which may be of interest to some people. Last time I checked it was only available in the hardback version, but I expect that at some point it will become available in paperback. The Cascade Alpine Guides are only available in paperback, to my knowledge. I personally own every edition of every volume of each of Fred Beckey's books, not to show my loyalty, but because I think they're worth it!!

There was a time when this was the only book for finding routes in the Cascades (Stevens Pass to Hwy 20) but times have changed. This is still the most comprehensive guide to climbs and has the best descriptions for the oddball, out-of-the-way, and esoteric climbs but there are much better guidebooks for the more popular climbs and routes. Fred Beckey's book has become the reference to check after you find your hike in another guidebook. It will give you detail that might not be in the other one, it will show alternative routes, and will frequently have nearby routes not in your other guidebook.

But buyer beware: This is not really the book for new or novice climbers. Fred Beckey is notorious for rating climbs easier than they are. He also has grand details on some things (check out his route for Mt. Garfield) yet will have comments like "just go up the spur to obvious ledge" on a mountain covered with spurs, ledges, and loose rock. I use Beckey extensively but it is my reference for climb information, not my guidebook.

This book belongs in every climber's library but it should not be the first guidebook you buy for Washington (which I would recommend as Jeff Smoots Climbing Washington's Mountains). Consult this book when you want to climb something no one else is or on a route that isn't in the newer guidebooks.

This is the hiking bible of the Cascades--it is for the mountaineer/avid hiker who wants to step it up a notch. Beckey always offers an in-depth historic perspective of each hike in the book (which is sometimes longer than the trail description). Harder technical routes have detailed directions, but the easier routes are sometimes lacking in detail (it would be obvious if you were Beckey). Although, I've found the lack of direction is sometimes nice for you are able to discover the hike on your own. I've also found that if there is a lack of direction, it usually doesn't matter what you do, you'll get to the top without much added danger.

If you're a hard-core hiker looking for a challenge, this book is for you. If you plan on getting this book to JUST climb the direct route of Mt Baker or the Disappointment Cleaver route of Rainier, the Becky series would be overkill. His series really lets you explore every peak there is, not just the big 'classics'

This book is not for the beginner. If you're not interested in mountaineering, alpine, or rock climbing, but still want to get outdoors, I HIGHLY Recommend the Foghorn Outdoors Wahington Hiking book instead of the "Beckey Bible". That is the best book, in my eyes, for Washington Dayhikes (plus many longer hikes too).

Basically, if you call yourself a mountaineer in Washington, this book needs to be on your shelf.

These series of books cover a substantial volume of information about the Cascade mountain range that cannot be found anywhere else. I believe Fred Beckey is undisputedly one of the foremost experts on the Washington Cascades. This is a Mountaineers book, so if you are a member of the club and going on club climbs, this book (and the other books in the series) will be frequently referenced as the main guide book.

The book provides detail on almost every peak, and almost every route. In many cases there are aerial photos of the range that point out the specific peaks, making it easy to locate smaller peaks that you may have never seen before. It also provides the first known ascent, navigation details and notes, and in many cases details about unmarked trails or roads. In some cases, these unmarked trails and roads are the only description of how to navigate. I wish there were more elevation references, distances, and even GPS coordinates provided for more effective navigation and trip planning.

I recently went on a climb of South Early Winter Spire in the North Cascades, and couldn't find as much information about the route on the internet as I would have liked. This is what prompted me to order this book on Amazon, hoping it would spell out all the details. Unfortunately when I opened it I was disappointed that the entire climb is summed up in only a couple of paragraphs, and doesn't "begin" from the trail head. Since many peaks can be summited from the same trail head, I had to flip back and forth several pages to find out how to drive to the trail head and then how to get to the beginning of this climb. I had to reference other material for the trail head elevation and distances. Most "distances" in the book are only described in terms of the time it will take to travel the route, and that time (as another reviewer pointed out) is subjective on conditions and your own fitness level -- and Fred Beckey was clearly in great shape when he logged these numbers.

While on this recent climb, another group of hikers and us got talking, and they joked that they were climbing the "Not Fred Beckey Route" of Liberty Bell. And yes, there is a Beckey Route up this peak!

Overall, this book is a must have if you are a Cascade hiker or climber.