Great Bay Expectations

Pick up a copy of this month's Canoe and Kayak magazine to read my feature on paddling New Hampshire's Great Bay. One of my favorite places in my home state, Great Bay has been a great conservation success story. Protected primarily as a National Estuary Preserve and National Wildlife Refuge, it is one of New England's largest primarily undeveloped estuaries. The New Hampshire Nature Conservancy continues to buy and protect upland parcels surrounding this aquatic gem. Numerous hiking trails grace the shoreline. But of course, the best way to experience this natural wonder, is to paddle it. Read my piece and plan a visit there sometime real soon!

Behind the Scenes

Work coming along on latest guidebook

Guidebook writing is incredibly demanding, and tons of hard work. But, you can't beat the working conditions. Last week I was scouting hikes number 109 and 110 for my upcoming book, Day Hiking - Olympic Peninsula (Mountaineers Books Feb 2007 release). Since February of this year, I have hiked over 80 of the 125 hikes to be included in this book. I've got 15 yet to cover, and the other 30 were done over last summer. This book will be the most up-to-date and accurate guidebook on the Olympics on the market.

And it will be the most comprehensive guidebook to the region too, covering state, county, and tribal lands in addition to national parks and forest. The scope includes the Kitsap Peninsula, Grays Harbor and the Long Beach Peninsula. All day hikes-most within the 5 to 10 mile range. I've hiked nearly 500 miles in the last 5 months just for this book. (I'm not including hikes for other projects). I've been working my tail off. But, hopefully you'll be able to enjoy my labor once you get a copy and head out. The above photo was taken from Baldy in the Buckhorn Wilderness. Beautiful, uh? It's in the book! Check it out when it rolls out sometime around February.