Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula: The Best Trails You Can Hike in a Day [Paperback]

Seabury Blair Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Series: Day Hike! | Publication Date: May 16, 2002

Most hiking guides are written by backpackers who occasionally day hike. But most people are day hikers who occasionally backpack! So Sasquatch Books has created a series from the ground up just for them. Written for people who want to get out and sample the vaunted Northwest lifestyle with as little hassle and unpredictability as possible, the fresh style, content, and design will also win sales and loyalty from more experienced hikers. Since the book is organized in the way that people travel -- by major roads and highways -- it's easy to find trails without having to cross-reference three or four different guides. Also included are complete trail descriptions; easy-to-read USGS topo maps with elevation profiles; clear and up-to-date driving directions; overall trail ratings; mileage and estimated hiking time; elevation gain; trail conditions; difficulty level; best season; map references; exploring options; access; permits required; special notes on dogs, bikes, and kids; and where to find more information. A quick-reference chart to season and difficulty level as well as sharp, contemporary black-and-white photographs round out the guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books (May 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570612870
• ISBN-13: 978-1570612879
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only way to day hike the Mount Olympic Peninsula!, September 26, 2004

By 

Charles D. Brannaka "Chuck Brannaka" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula: The Best Trails You Can Hike in a Day (Paperback)

I purchased another book about hiking Mount Olympic, which was good but not really what we needed since we were doing all of our hiking as day hikes. If you don't buy this book and you plan to day hike Mount Olympic you will surely be wasting your time. You will spend most of your time on trails that were designed for backpackers. I know that you may not understand this comment but, if like us you backpack and day hike most of the time, you will understand the comment. Most of the trails in Mount Olympic are very long trails. The are not loop trails and some are 40-50 mile long through hiking trails. A day hiker cannot possibly cover 80% of these trails on a day hike. This book gives you just what you will need to make a decision on which trails to hike. It gives you a difficulty rating along with a beauty rating of 1-5 backpackers, meaning 5 is the best. I found these ratings to be very accurate discriptions of the beauty. Also it tells you each trails elevation gains. Which is very essential to this Floridian. You may have mountain goat legs but I don't. The ratings of easy to extremely difficult make for easy decisions. My son's who are late teenagers always choose the more difficult trails where my wife and I tend to choose the easier trails. This park is very diverse and without this book we could have wasted lots of times driving. Instead we spent our time just where we wanted to go. Happy hiking!!! The trip was worth it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't Recommend, July 30, 2006

By 

R. Church (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula: The Best Trails You Can Hike in a Day (Paperback)

Just returned from the Olympic Peninsula and found this guidebook to be less helpful than expected. Perhaps things have changed their since the 2002 publication so double check info on hikes before heading out. Had trouble finding trailheads for #61, specific distances would have been helpful in the "Getting There" section, wasted 1 hr and lots of gas trying to find #59 Big Flat,never found it. A confusing time trying to locate #35 Mount Angeles Saddle, trailhead signage doesn't include this name, located it nearly a mile in. Recommend a more current publication.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What planet does Seabury Blair live on?, July 9, 2003

By 

Doug Nutter (Port Angeles, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula: The Best Trails You Can Hike in a Day (Paperback)

Although well written and generally humorous, the hikes described in this book are often not day hikes, or barely on this side of being day hikes. It seems Mr. Blair doesn't include looking at flowers, trees, animals, views, etc. on hikes, but instead sprints as fast as possible from point to point. A hike estimated at a "conservative" 7 hours took a triathlete and a disance runner NINE HOURS to complete. One hike he describes as a day hike (High Divide) is described in EVERY OTHER book as a 2-4 day hike. Fast and light is one thing, but Seabury Blair is living in a fantasy land. Be forewarned: unless you are a VERY strong hiker who doesn't enjoy hiking for reasons other than for a good workout, this book downplays the difficulty and potential seriousness of these hikes. I strongly suggest a book such as Wood's "Olympic Mountains Trail Guide." Don't waste your money on this one.