Trekking Washington (Backpacker Magazine) [Paperback]

Mike Woodmansee (Author)

Book Description

Series: Backpacker Magazine | Publication Date: July 2003

100 HIKES WA GLACIER PK REGION

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you are a backpacker's backpacker, this is your book. -- The Cascadian

The guide is well-designed and the essential information is concise and helpful. -- Washington Trails

Woodmansee writes with a knowledgeable, easy-to-read style. -- Sequim Gazette

Product Details

• Paperback: 301 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books; 1st edition (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898869048
• ISBN-13: 978-0898869040
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,230,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great ideas for great trips, February 27, 2006

By 

C. Ryan (Winthrop, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trekking Washington (Backpacker Magazine) (Paperback)

Trekking Washington is for people who want ideas for extended backcountry hikes, mostly in the Cascades but also some in the Olympics as well as across the northern BC boundary. By "trek" the author means multi-day mountain trail hikes, ranging in distance from 30 to 246 miles. The average length of the twenty-five treks is 65 miles. For the most part these are outings for people who want to immerse themselves in the landscape rather than just have a quick weekend getaway. I have covered a lot of the described terrain and find the descriptions accurate and the trips worthwhile.

For each of the treks author Woodmansee provides a difficulty rating ("easier" to "most strenuous"), a mileage and total elevation gain calculation, suggested seasons, general information about water availability, logistics and details for reaching trailheads. There's are suggested itineraries at three daily paces (10 miles per day, 10-15 miles per day and 20+ miles per day.). Some trips are obvious to anyone familiar with Washington's mountains (e.g., sections of the PCT and the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier) but several provide novel connections of trail networks or provide more information than just a map to give hikers a feel for what an outing will be like.

Each trek has a day-by-day description of highlights and a selection of high quality color photos (almost always bright sunshine!) to whet one's appetite for the trail or let you know what you missed if your trip is rainy. I dislike the multi-page color shaded relief maps. They take up a lot of space but provide little usable detail. In my opinion b&w sketch maps with more notations would be more helpful and, unlike, say, some of the excellent PCT guide books, you'll absolutely have to buy topo maps to follow these trips (not to mention that the book, printed on heavy coated paper, weighs in at nearly 1 ½ pounds!).

The author has a bias toward so-called "fastingpacking". He opines that the only way to complete the tempting "Cougar Traverse" in the Pasayten Wilderness is to cover the 246 miles in 10 days (25 miles and 5,000' of climbing each day!) due to supply logistics, but it's possible to cache some food with prior planning or slight detours and enjoy a more relaxed pace. In fact several trips require two cars anyway because they don't make complete loops and others have opportunities to lighten loads by caching some food, which the author never mentions. Years ago I routinely knocked off daily mileage in the high teens or twenties on these hikes with conventional - i.e., relatively heavy - gear, but in retrospect feel I missed a lot of details, side trips and just plain wilderness atmosphere in my urgency to keep to a schedule. Now I think, "what's the hurry", (not to mention I'm 30 years older with six extra inches under my pack's waist belt!).

Trekking Washington has a 20-page introduction and appendices with sample gear/food lists, a list of agencies administering the various jurisdictions (with phone numbers and web addresses), a summary of all twenty-five treks that rates them on a 1-5 scale for scenery (most are 5) and probable level of solitude (average about 3), a spotty index and an impressive photo of the super-fit author and a summary of his experience that indicates he likes to hike 25-30 miles per day.

Trekking Washington is highly recommended as a planning and "wish book" when, especially during mid-winter, a hiker's thoughts turn to the possibility of long summer days in the Cascades and Olympics.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for the ultralight backpacker, December 29, 2005

By 

David Robinson (Beaverton, Oregon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trekking Washington (Backpacker Magazine) (Paperback)

Its about time someone wrote a guidebook with the lightweight or ultralight backpacker in mind. While some reviews state that the suggested 20+ mile days are only for the "most fit" backpackers, I disagree. I'm certainly not the most fit and classify myself as a "weekend warrior" since I am only able to leave my desk job and get out for 2-3 extended weekends a year. However, I learned that after getting my packweight down to 20+ pounds and wearing trail running shoes, 20+ mile days are very obtainable. This book caters to the ultralight philosophy. Backpackers are finally starting to catch on to the benefits of ultralight gear and this is the first book I've read that takes this into account. The author points out that by definition, "trekking" entails a distance of at least 30 miles. 25 treks through washington are described, as well as an introduction to trekking and also an appendix of gear/menu suggestions that puts the reader on a path towards the lightweight philosophy. Reading this book left me hungry for a "trekking Oregon" verson!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Guide with Unreasonable Trekking Schedules, December 22, 2004

By 

Craig Parsley (Seattle, WA Earth) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trekking Washington (Backpacker Magazine) (Paperback)

This thorough guide provides excellent descriptions of the most stunning hikes in Washington. I have personally sliced out many of its pages and laminated them for numerous hikes. However, a caveat is in order when using this guide. The suggested trekking times are unreasonable for all but the most fit hikers (20+ miles per day in some cases).

While the author provides alternative trip scenarios which cover the same routes, albeit at a reduced pace, the timetables are still unrealistic. Use this guide as a reference only and plan your trips using a Topo map and string (for calculating distances). It is safer and wiser.