Romano's Favorite Hiking Haunts No. 4

Great Bay National Estuarine Reserve

New Hampshire

The largest estuary in northern New England and one of the largest preserved ecosystems in rapidly growing southern New Hampshire, Great Bay is a great place to visit anytime of year. And I do. I try to visit the 10,000-plus acre preserve at least once a year. Wonderful trails grace its shores and the bay is a fantastic place to kayak too. Part of the national estuarine preserve system, Great Bay consists of lands managed by the federal government, state of New Hampshire, several municipalities and various conservation organizations like the New Hampshire Nature Conservancy and the Forest Society. One of the many aspects I find appealing to this region is its hickory forests-the northern limit to this attractive hardwood.

(photo-boardwalk at Sandy Point- may 2008)

Dog Days of Summer are here!

Hey dog lovers-are you looking for a great beach to take your furry friend to? Well then, consult the latest issue of CityDog magazine where you'll find my feature on the Pacific Northwest's Top 10 Dog friendly beaches. All of these canine cavorting coastline hot spots are located on the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound or some other saltwater type of feature. For freshwater frolicking for your splashed prone spaniel, wait until the next issue where I reveal the best lakes to take your pooch to-and how to get her or him into a canoe with you for a little dog paddling! And if you are in the North Bend WA area this July 19th, stop on over at the annual Trailsfest where I along with renown pup writer Lisa Wogan will be giving a seminar on hiking with your dog! Hope to see you there!

(photo- dog friendly beach on Georgian Bay-Awenda Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada)

On the Mountain Loop Highway

The View is Good-

but the Outlook is bleak!

This weekend over in Granite Falls and Darrington, Washington folks from the Forest Service, the local communities, local dignitaries and recreationists will be out celebrating the Grand reopening of the Mountain Loop Highway. It is about time this road which leads to so many fine trails and campgrounds is once again open and in full swing.

Unfortunately, what is not in full swing are that the trails radiating from this road. Nearly three-quarters of them are inaccessible! You heard me correctly- inaccessible! And no, I'm not talking about snow covered- I'm talking about washouts on spur roads leading to these trails that render them off limits to only the hardiest of hikers. Never in the history of local hiking are we in such danger of losing so much access to our backcountry. They are going fast! With no money to maintain roads and trails they are quickly being reclaimed to nature.

Just look at this partial list of incredible hikes off of the Mountain Loop Highway that are off limits right now due to washouts-

Bald Eagle Mountain
Bear lake
Big Four Ice Caves
Independence lake
Lost Creek Ridge
Walt Bailey Trail
North lake
Monte Cristo
Pass lake
Pinnacle lake
Squire Creek
Silver Lake
Crystal lake
Meadow Mountain
North Fork Sauk River
Red Mountain
White Chuck Bench
White Chuck River

So, head over to the celebration this weekend and corner a few government officials and demand that they support funding our trails. The cost of abandonment is high. It includes contributing to a nation of inactive beings and to a public land abandoned by legitimate users making it rife for neglect, crime and other nefarious uses. The current inaction of Congress when it comes to funding our trails represents a complete failure of our government to provide adequate avenues for recreation through our public lands that have been supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans from all walks of life throughout the ages.

(photo-the summit of Mount Pugh, one of the few trails off of the Mountain Loop Highway that is still acessible)

Radio Free Ontario

I love music! Italian Music. Country music. Folk music. Jazz. Blues. Classical. French. Seventies pop. Sixties classics. Eighties new wave. Nineties alternative. Motown. Basso-Nova. Practically all kinds-even Rap if its old school Grand Master Flash kind of stuff. But I HATE music when I am car camping! Trying to listen to the songs of warblers than the warbles of ding-a-lings putting down ales. I want to kick back by a fire and hear it crackle. I want to hear the breeze. I want to hear pine cones hit the ground. I want to hear tree frogs fill the air with their amorous ballads. I don't want to hear Toby, Carrie, Brittany, Ozzie, Mick, or any other hominid on a digital recording, airwave, cassette, or eight track (yep-there are still a few out there) wreaking havoc on my car camping slack packing back to controlled nature get-away! The Ontario Parks Department has the right idea. At a handful of their Provincial Parks you can car camp radio free! Entire loops devoid of treble and bass! Not a bad idea and perhaps one that other states and provinces should look at for their park-especially in this day and age of constantly wired humanoids. Now, if Ontario can lead with a cell phone free campground, too-I'm am so there!

(photo- Awenda Provincial Park no-spin zone!)

Happy Summer Solstice!

The longest day of the year is here! Yahoo! And here in the Pacific Northwest it is finally feeling like summer-kind of! It has been a cold wet spring. Just got back from eastern Canada where summer is indeed in swing and boy was I happy to enjoy that. Tonight I go for an evening kayak to welcome the solstice. Here's to a great summer 2008 despite the fact that I can barely afford to fuel my truck to get anywhere! Hey-great year to increase my bicycling! Enjoy the day!

(photo- Sand dunes Provincial Park Lake Ontario, Ontario)

Snake, Rattle and Roll!

I just returned from a one week trip to Ontario in which I was able to witness a fascinating and most unusual event- a rattlesnake roundup! Well, not exactly a roundup, but I was out with two Parks Canada biologists checking out a new addition to the Georgian Bay Islands National Park, when one of the guys, Scott Sutton nearly stepped on a Eastern Massisauga Rattlesnake. Now most people may have panicked and gone into a convulsion just at the thought of such an encounter, But not Scott- nor Andrew Promaine either- actually not me too- this was too exciting-because the Massisauga is a rare and endangered species- the only rattlesnake in eastern Canada and here in Georgian Bay at its northern extreme.

The guys caught this healthy specimen- and did some observations as well as drew some blood and placed a micro chip in it. What I found fascinating about the whole spectacle beside watching these biologists in action-was that this snake unlike the Pacific rattler is quite docile. Not a mean and ugly rattler like the ones out here in the Northwest! Its rattling too was more sedate. A very cool looking critter and one I was glad to meet up close and personal and when he was in a tube and couldn't get to know me better!

(photo- Scott and Andrew with an elusive Massisauga rattler on a little unnamed island in Georgian Bay)

Romano's Favorite Hiking Haunts No. 3

Ontario

Ontario, you say? The province of Toronto and over 1/3 of Canada's 33 million residents? The province of vast lakes, rivers, and the Great Lakes? A much better paddling than hiking option surely. Yes; but Canada's most populated province also contains hundreds of prime hiking spots. Granted, you won't find any big mountains here. But what you will find is classic Canadian Shield topography-some really rugged landscapes and some huge parks and wilderness areas.

Some of my favorite Ontario destinations so far have been Killarney Provincial Park home of La Cloche mountains, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on Lake Superior and the Bruce Peninsula National Park, a rugged escarpment that juts into Lake Huron. Next week I'm off again to Ontario for new adventures, among them a little paddling on McCrae Lake, the Georgian Bay Islands National Park, Petroglyphys Provincial Park, Awenda Provincial Park and Sandbanks Provincial Park. I'll be writing about all of these places of course. And if you want to read about some of my previous adventures, check out the Weather Network's Park Report and the July/August issue of Paddler magazine.

(photo- Killarney Provincial Park)

Stand Watch before its Gone

Just when you thought those crazy bureaucrats at the US Forest Service (with thanks and support from an uncaring president and congress) couldn't possibly let our public lands fall farther into disrepair-comes the Olympic National Forest Plan which purports to not only let scores of our trails fade into oblivion-but also-are you ready for this one-decommission the Kloshe Nanitch restored replica fire lookout. What the.. ?! Can you overseers of our public natural and cultural heritage possibly show any more neglect? Not since the liquidation of our old-growth forests has the Forest Service been so inept at managing our public lands. I am sick of this wanton disregard and mismanagement of our-my-your- public lands! Congress wake up! Fund our land! The heck with bridges to nowhere, welfare for people who don't even belong here, tax breaks for agri-business- Start funding our national forests! And Mr. President? Just how much have we spent on Iraq so far? What about our own lands? Dismal! Senator McCain or Obama whenever which one of you two takes office in January, do this country a favor and start reading Theodore Roosevelt's biography if you haven't done so already. After 16 years under the Clinton and Bush administrations, the Forest Service has to be revived. I'm counting on you guys. Actually the an entire country of public lands loving people are!

Kloshe Nanitch is Chinook for "stand guard" or "stand watch." We all need to stand guard and protect our lands! For a description of the great hike leading to this excellent site, click here.

Get out there and hike it-then demand that it be protected!

Snow Free in the Cascades

There's been a lot of grumbling around here lately among the outdoor types. Seems global warming hasn't lived up to its promise in the Pacific Northwest. We got buried in snow this past winter. Had a cold spring-and it continues to rain and just not feel like spring. But, don't despair, there are good hiking options out there for those who want to shun the snow. And I'm not talking about the usual coastal and island hikes-I'm talking about Cascades Hikes.

Most of them lie east of the crest. And yes at $4.25 a gallon it may seem like a tough burden to bear-just don't go over there for a day. I always spend at least one night at a campground enjoying 2 or 3 hikes each shot-and more like 4-5 hikes on a 2 or 3 night trip. You want snow free?

Try Theses:

1. Twin Lakes in the Glacier Peak Wilderness
2. Mission Ridge and Devils Gulch
3. Ingalls Creek for the first 6 miles
4. Chiwaukum Creek for the first 5 miles
5. Dirtyface Peak to the 5,200 foot line-easy snow walking beyond
6. Twin Peaks (Horse Lake Mountain) outside of Wenatchee
7. Burch Mountain outside of Wenatchee

I've already racked up miles on these hikes last month returning with dry boots (except for a few creek crossings). And if you want more information on these hikes, be sure to pick up a copy of Day Hiking Central Cascades, coming to a bookstore near you next spring!

(photo-Twin Lakes, Glacier Peak Wilderness May 2008)