Romano's Favorite Hiking Haunts No. 2

Northwestern Connecticut

The state of my birth, where I spent the first eight years of my life, Connecticut is rife with trails, green spots and wonderful parks and forests. Hard to imagine uh?- Especially when you consider that the Nutmeg State is one of the most densely populated. But if you go beyond Hartford and Bridgeport and New Haven-head to the state's northeast and northwest corners, you'll find some of the prettiest rural countryside anywhere in America. Especially the state's northwest corner. Here the Appalachian Trail winds along the Litchfield Hills and Taconic Range (some of the oldest mountains in North America) and darts in and out of charming villages sporting church spires, inviting commons and inns and some of the most beautiful colonial homes in the country. The peaks aren't high, but the hiking experience is top notch. I recently spent some time hiking with my brother Jeff on the AT and in the Peoples Forest where the Wild and Scenic Farmington River makes a deep cut across rolling verdant hills. Jeff is completing work on his second book, Classic Hikes of New England (Mountaineers Books: spring 2009). You'll find some great Connecticut hikes in that book as well as great hikes in the other New England states, all among my favorite hiking haunts.

(Jeff overlooking Farmington River in Peoples Forest State Park-May 2008)

Memorial Day

Remembrance and Reflection

While many of you are taking to the trails today or firing up the BBQ-be sure to take a moment or two-or longer to reflect on the real significance of this day. To thank the thousands of soldiers who gave their lives to this country so that we have the freedom to hike in our public lands, have leisure time to gather with our friends and family, and be able to live in this nation that has provided us with so many opportunities. There is not a day in my life that I am not thankful for these freedoms. Our country isn't perfect. Our history isn't without its blemishes. Our priorities aren't always in order. But this nation is the greatest on the planet. A country where peoples of all ethnicities, religions, and ways of life have freedom and opportunity. Lets pray that we lose not one more soldier. But this country and lifestyle is worth defending. So fire up the barbecue, hit the trail-and remember our war dead and thank them for their sacrifice.

(photo-Centralia, WA)

Romano's Favorite Hiking Haunts No.1

Great Basin National Park

Nevada

No question about it that I live among some of the best hiking terrain in the world. The North Cascades and the San Juan Islands are right in my backyard. The Olympic Peninsula is a short skip (okay a ferry ridge actually) away and big beautiful British Columbia is a mere hour (when there are no border back-ups) away. But despite these great places being some of my favorite places to hit the trail, I have other favorites scattered about North America and the globe. There are some excellent places out there and they all offer different experiences than what I can find here in Washington. So let's begin with some of them, shall we?

Great Basin National Park in nowhere Nevada is a real gem! One of the least visited of the major national parks, you'll find lots of room on the trails here; and old-growth Bristlecone pines and spectacular Great Basin viewing from 13,000-plus feet Wheeler Peak, the second highest summit in the Silver State. You can car camp at 10,000 feet to beat the heat, listen to thunder boom all night in the distance (and occasionally right over you) and stare out at a night sky second to none. Remember not to drink too many beers though while sitting around the campfire, or you'll end up with a headache unsurpassed anywhere-except perhaps from one acquired from being out on the Vegas strip all night!

Wild Sky: Wasted Wilderness Capital?

Last week President Bush signed into law a bill that among other things created Washington's first wilderness area in 20 years. Bravo. But as much as the creation of the Wild Sky Wilderness in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is for the most part something to celebrate-especially when you consider that this administration doesn't exactly have a stellar record when it comes to land preservation-Wild Sky may not exactly be such a great thing after all to be cheering.

Let me explain. I am a huge proponent of wilderness. I don't care what numbers you throw at me- we don't nearly have enough protected wilderness in this country- especially so when you consider that many of our wilderness areas are in Alaska. In the Lower 48, shopping centers, housing tracts, and clear cuts far out number wildernesses-even in the supposed wild, wild west.

What bothers me about the Wild Sky creation is that the area now protected was really never under any great threat- motorized, development or other. Most of the new area is rock and rugged ridge. Yes, there are some large tracts of old-growth and that is a good thing to now have it protected. But a lot of this new wilderness simply wasn't under threat of development or extraction. There are very few trails into it, and access is difficult at best.

So why was this not the best idea to include in wilderness? Because there are far better tracts of land within the state that are under very real threats of being ravaged by motorized use and extractive industries. The Dark Divide and the Kettle Crest are two and perhaps the two most important unprotected large tracts of land in Washington deserving of wilderness protection. Both were left out of the 1984 omnibus Washington Wilderness Bill (and by a democrat mind you (Tom Foley)-not a republican) and both represent incredible wild lands with good access and trails for hikers and equestrians. The Kettle Crest represents the largest undeveloped roadless area in eastern Washington while the Dark Divide is the largest roadless area in heavily logged South Cascades.

Both of these areas will require quite a legislative fight to protect and perhaps that is why many a conservation and environmental organization went for the easy road and chose instead to protect Wild Sky. Unfortunately due to some obstructionists Republicans, chief among them Richard Pombo of California (arrivaderci Pombo), Wild Sky's passage was anything but easy. It involved a protracted four year battle and I believe it used up a lot of our wilderness capital. We need that harder-to-come-by capital for Kettle Crest and Dark Divide.

Like President Bush's Axis of Evil, he chose the perceived easy target, Iraq to begin his campaign. But Iran under Holocaust fan Ahmadinejad is far more of a threat to our national security than Insane Hussein ever was. Yet we used up an awful lot of our "fighting terrorist capital" on taking Saddam out and we are now in a real mess. I hope that our wilderness protection efforts don't end up going down a similar path (No offense to the men and women who lost their lives in Iraq-just trying to make a political point here). I hope we haven't spent our limited wilderness capital on fighting for Wild Sky. So while I support Wild Sky and am for the most part content to see it finally signed into law, I'd much rather be celebrating a Kettle Crest Wilderness right now. Wild Sky would have been just fine in that process.

(photo-Scorpion Mountain in new Wild Sky Wilderness)

The Moose is Loose

Lovers of scat (no, not the Cab Calloway type), but the type that's left behind on the trail from an animal's behind, take note. I know moose droppings when I see them. After all, I grew up in New Hampshire, one of the moose-densest states in America. In the Granite State we have signs on every major road tallying moose-car collisions (sobering) signs denoting moose crossings (nearly in every town) and special conservation plates bearing the moose! So, when I was recently hiking down the Stehekin River Trail in the Stehekin Valley in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area , I knew that the ungulate nuggets before me were not deposited by deer or elk; they could only be from a moose! And I was right-this large and lumbering member of the deer family is alive and well and hanging out in the Stehekin Valley. Cool! I have only seen a moose once in Washington State and that was in Liberty Lake just a mile from the Idaho border. I've had plenty of moose sightings in Idaho, Montana, BC, Alaska, Yukon, Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Vermont and of course New Hampshire. It's only a matter of time before I start sighting a few more here in the Evergreen State. The moose is loose and he's leaving his pellets behind to prove it. Good luck sighting one of these beasties.

(photo- evening along the Stehekin River April 2008)

You Snooze-get covered in ooze!
Got to love this warning sign! What no dilly-dallying? But that's one of my favorite past times on the trail. Unfortunately, this warning should be seriously heeded. Not only here along the Chelan Lake Shore Trail where recent wildfires have created a certain degree of slope instability-but also throughout the Cascades this spring as near record snowfalls assure there'll be some late avalanche activity this season. Heed the words of that sign. No sand-bagging in the gullies or risk being bagged by sand or worse!

The Snows of Stehekin

What a winter it has been this year in the Pacific Northwest! Near record snowfalls and way below average temperatures. And this spring-yep-still more snow and still below normal when it comes to checking the mercury. Last week Alan Bauer and I spent the good part of the week researching our upcoming Day Hiking the Central Cascades Book (Mountaineers Books due for release spring 2009) in the Stehekin Valley. They had quite a winter there too and there's still plenty of snow in the valley at 1,200 feet elevation. The entire 2.5 mile hike to Agnes Gorge was on 2 to feet of snow. Coon Lake? Buried! Stehekin River? Still patches of snow. Even the Buckner Orchard still had snow patches. But the Lakeshore Trail and Rainbow Loop were free from the leftover winter blanket. Still nice and cool so no need to worry about the rattlers. It will be quite some time before trails above High Bridge start melting out. Bring the skis! Have fun!

Skagit City?

I'm a history buff. I'm a bicycling buff too. Growing up in New Hampshire I loved bicycling all over the place in search of historic villages, buildings, bridges, sites, etc. I ended up riding my bicycle across America three times and halfway across Canada. Then I moved to Seattle and found the congestion, crowded bike paths and urban sprawl less than desirable for an enjoyable spin. But alas I left the city of hurried people who never say hello and uptight liberals who want to change the world but don't take the time to get to know their neighbors- Moved to Skagit County and I love it. It's a lot like New Hampshire, 'cept with a Northwest twist. Great place and with rural roads, an active population and lots of friendly people (and almost all of them say hi) its a great place to bicycle. One of my favorite rides is out to Fir Island and the site of Skagit City. Once one of the biggest communities in the county its now mainly a memory and an old school house. You'll have to check it out! And as far as Skagit County history, you'll have to check out the upcoming Skagit County Land Trust Book. I'm writing a chapter in it and it is heavily historically leaning.

(photo-old Skagit City schoolhouse on Fir Island)