Molvar - HIKING THE NORTH CASCADES: a guide to more than 100 great hiking adventures

Erik Molvar first came to the North Cascades just after high school, as part of a volunteer trail crew. He then attended the University of Montana, gaining a bachelors degree in wildlife biology with a minor in Native American studies. It was in Montana that Erik began to write hiking guides, the first two of which were Hiking Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks and Hiking Montanas Bob Marshall Wilderness . He obtained a masters degree in wildlife management from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, where he published groundbreaking research concerning the ecology and behavior of moose in Denali National Park. More books followed his return to the lower forty-eight: Hiking Olympic National Park , Hiking Arizonas Cactus Country , Hiking Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks , Scenic Driving Alaska and the Yukon , Alaska on Foot: Wilderness Techniques for the Far North , Hiking Wyomings Cloud Peak Wilderness , Hiking Colorados Maroon BellsSnowmass Wilderness , and Wild Wyoming .

Working as a volunteer ranger as he completed the field research for this book, Erik hiked more than 1,380 miles of trails in the North Cascades, encompassing all of the trails covered here. Erik is currently director of Western Watersheds Project, a nonprofit conservation group that works to protect watersheds and wildlife on western public lands.

Memaloose Ridge as seen from Goode Ridge (hike 81)

Thanks to Hugh Dougher and Kelly Bush for allowing us to volunteer as backcountry rangers and for providing assistance in a thousand small but crucial ways. Thanks to Robes, Tony, and Adam for their hospitality during our exile from the Marblemount compound. Jim Archambeault provided information concerning trails in the Okanogan National Forest. Rosemary Siefrit, Todd Johnson, Amber Deming, and Jordan Mammel provided valuable information for the revision of the book. Thanks to Marshall and Dawn Plumer for the logistical support and the rare treat of Hozomeen ice cream. The ranger staff at Stehekin provided much-needed assistance in helping us solve the transportation challenges in that remote corner of the world. Mikhail and Vladimir at Northwest Boot Repair in Bellingham did yeoman work in keeping our expensive but disappointing footwear going.

This book, as well as Hiking Olympic National Park , would never have been written without Donna DeShazos visionary handling of my Glacier manuscript. Background research was conducted at the North Cascades National Park interpreters library in Newhalem, park headquarters at Sedro-Woolley, the University of Idaho, the University of Wyoming Geology Museum, the Texas A&M University map collection, and the wilderness district office in Marblemount. We appreciate the curators of these collections of texts and maps for their diligence in keeping this information available. Archaeological information was provided by Bob Mierendorf, who generously shared some of the results of his survey efforts.

Thanks to Craig Holmquist, Eli Warren, Kevin Kennedy, Margi Gromek, Barry George, Jim Hammer, and Jim Archambeault of the forest service for providing mileage data, background information, and reviews for the trails that fell within their respective districts. John Rose, Jim Wiebe, and Kevin Wilson of BC Parks provided information and reviews for hikes in Canada. The park dispatchers, Gaylyn, Lynn, and Vicki, will always have a special place in our memories as the friendly voices on the other end of the radio each morning and evening.

Finally, I would like to thank Little Joe Manley for just being himself.

East of Puget Sound, a jagged range of glacier-clad mountains rises skyward, walling off the rainy country of the coast from the arid plains of the Columbia River Basin. This is not a lofty range from the standpoint of altitudemost of the taller peaks are less than 9,000 feet at the summit. However, because they rise from sea level, these mountains have a vertical rise similar to that of the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada. The northern end of the Cascades has always been the most forbidding and impenetrable, replete with sawback ridges and dense jungles of brush, vast icefields, and torrential rivers. This wilderness had never been conquered by civilization and offers a last retreat for those who seek to leave the encumbrances of the modern world behind and discover themselves in the simplicity of the untamed wilds. This is steep country, but the trails have been built along the same gradients as those in other mountainous parts of the United States, and most trails are suitable for intermediate-level backpackers.

North Cascades National Park is no tour-bus park. In contrast to many of our national parks, the scenic wonders in this part of the world cannot be reached by car, do not have paved sidewalks or boardwalks to them, and are not accompanied by interpretive plaques. To experience the raw grandeur and beauty of the North Cascades, it is necessary to shoulder a pack and travel into the wilderness by shoe-leather express. This is a backpackers park, with hundreds of miles of pathways that penetrate deep into the forests and climb to the barren tundra of the mountaintops. These mountains offer unlimited possibilities to solitude-seeking hikers, from short day hikes to two-week expeditions. Along with surrounding wilderness areas administered by the forest service and neighboring parks and reserves in Canada, the park is part of a vast and complete ecosystem that supports mountain lions, elk, mountain goats, and even a few grizzly bears along with its annual influx of human visitors. Enjoy the wilderness and help to preserve its pristine quality for future generations.