Peter Stekel - Best hikes near Seattle

Peter Stekel is a professional writer and avid backpacker and mountaineer who has hiked throughout the intermountain West as well as, the Pacific Northwest, California, the Appalachian Trail, eastern Australia, west and northern England, and southern France. He is the author of the best-selling nonfiction book Final Flight: The Mystery of a WWII Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra as well as a novel, The Flower Lover. Peter has also published over 700 magazine and newspaper feature stories about science, adventure travel, sports, history, forestry, natural history, recreation, travel, theater, and entertainment, including articles on the Sierra Nevada of California, with a focus on Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. His articles have appeared in such publications as Sierra Heritage, American Forests, High Country News, Canoe & Kayak, Paddler, American Whitewater, Sea Kayaker, Wild West, Appalachia Trailway News, AAA TravelCho-ices, EThe Environmental Magazine, and EarthFirst! Visit him at peterstekel.com.

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Copyright 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield

Maps: Tim Kissel Rowman & Littlefield

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Information available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stekel, Peter.

Best hikes near Seattle / Peter Stekel. -- 2nd edition.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4930-0824-7 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-4930-1435-4 (e-book)

1. Hiking--Washington (State)--Seattle Metropolitan Area--Guidebooks. 2. Seattle Metropolitan Area (Wash.)--Guidebooks. I. Title.

GV199.42.W22S427 2015

796.5109797772--dc23

2015009125

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

The author and Rowman & Littlefield assume no liability for accidents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities described in this book.

This book honors my parents, May and Ed Stekel

HELP US KEEP THIS GUIDE UP TO DATE

Every effort has been made by the author and editors to make this guide as accurate and useful as possible. However, many things can change after a guide is publishedtrails are rerouted, regulations change, facilities come under new management, and so forth.

We welcome your comments concerning your experiences with this guide and how you feel it could be improved and kept up to date. While we may not be able to respond to all comments and suggestions, well take them to heart and well also make certain to share them with the author. Please send your comments and suggestions to the following address:

Reader Response/Editorial Department

246 Goose Lane

Guilford, CT 06437

Or you may e-mail us at:

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Thanks for your input, and happy trails!

In wildness is the preservation of the world.

Henry David Thoreau

I walked every one of these trails. No doubt about it. Dawn Meekhof and/or Michele Hinatsu walked nearly every one of them with me. My thanks to both these friends for helping make the miles pass with good company, good humor, and good conversation. Jennie Goldberg, Laurel Hansen, Victor Kress, Boo Turner, Neil Gitkind, Karen George, and Peter Hesslein also accompanied me on some of the trails for this book.

The best part about hiking is hiking with a companion. Thanks also to all my hiking partners over the years, especially Rich Stowell, Gregg Fauth, Tommy James, Michele Hinatsu, Alice Goldberg, Bill Tweed, Scott Atkinson, Katie OHara, Susan Buis, Jim and Bronwyn Buntine plus replicates Dougal and Kate, Dawn Meekhof, Victor Kress, Ken Corathers, Steven Jacobs, Margaret Hill Stowell, Bob Specht, Ronnee Helzner, Garrett Munger, Les Chow, Peggy Moore, Sylvia Haul-tain, Nate Stephenson, Peter Hesslein, Janet and Ken Cermak, Elizabeth Hurley, Lois Charles, Susan McGrath, Stan Bluhm, Sheri Margolis, Laurel Hansen, Rich Christian, Dan Rucci, Dixon Davis, Boo Turner, Sylvia and Peter Jones, Jim Meadowcroft, and everybody at Camp Wolverton BSA and Post 90Pacific Palisades, along with scientists and naturalists at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. You have made thousands of trail miles fun, exciting, and educational.

Thanks to David B. Williams for tossing this gem my way.

Every writer stands on the backs of giants. Therefore, I want to acknowledge those writers of previous guidebooks. They came first and did most of the hard work: Ron Adkison, Joan Burton, Bob Dreisbach, Harvey Manning, Mike McQuaide, Marge and Ted Mueller, Craig Romano, Jeff Smoot, Bob and Ira Spring, Bryce Stevens, Karen Sykes, Andrew Weber, Robert L. Wood, and John Zilly. Forgive me if I have forgotten anyone.

Also, thank you to Garmin and Magellan, manufacturers of handheld GPS units, for giving me such a good deal.

Without the people who pushed Congress to create the Wild Sky and Alpine Lakes Wilderness Areas, many of the trails in this book would not be very attractive for hiking. The same goes for the Issaquah Alps. Thank you, all of you, for your time, effort, and vision. Also, thanks to American Whitewater for their work in helping extend protection to the Wild Sky Wilderness.

Thank you to Tom OKeefe and Scott Silver for your contributions to Best Hikes Near Seattle.

This book would never have happened without the love and support of Jennie Goldberg.

The grace of a second edition is that it allows an author the opportunity to recognize and correct any errors occurring in the first. In this edition of Best Hikes Near Seattle, I was able to correct typos and misspellings, and update trail parking pass requirements (for the Northwest Forest Pass and Discover Pass), phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and website addresses. Some factual errors have been repaired as well, and the resource list in Appendix A has been updated, as has the Further Reading list in Appendix B. Important information about the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road project and the new Wild Sky Wilderness have also been added.

Owners of the previous edition of Best Hikes Near Seattle should consider upgrading to this one. The text of the entire book has been reviewed and updated as well as rewritten in many places. The introductory text has been enlarged, and the section on wilderness restrictions and regulations has been updated. A new section covering the Northwest Forest Pass and Discover Pass has been added. Though trails are unlikely to change in any significant way, trail access, trailheads, and roads