Exploring the ACFL on a beautiful November day

 

 

What a gorgeous November day today! I had to turn the computer off early and head outside. There aren't too many good sunny days left in the Northwest between now and the New Year. It was a perfect day to sneak over to Anacortes to continue researching Anacortes Community Forest Lands(ACFL). There are  over 50 miles of trails within this 2,800-acre protected recreation haven on Fidalgo Island. I intend on hiking many of those miles and including the best of them in my upcoming Day Hiking San Juan and Gulf Islands book which  will have an entire chapter on Fidalgo Island. Today's line up included the loops around Little Cranberry Lake and Big Beaver Pond! Have you been on them? What's your favorite Fidalgo hike(s)?

The Hike-A-Thon is On!

 How many miles will I hike this month?

I started the Washington Trails Association's 2012 Hike-A-Thon with a bike trip! It was actually a car-free hiking research trip to Sidney, BC on the Saanich Pensinsula north of Victoria. There I hiked 10 miles in the John Dean Provincial Park and 10 miles on Sidney Island in the Gulf Islands National Park Preserve. It was a research trip for my upcoming book, Day Hiking San Juan and Gulf Islands and the first one  I did car-free. I took my bicycle over on the  Anacortes-Sidney Ferry and stayed right in Sidney (at the waterfront Sidney Pier Hotel) from where I biked to John Dean Park and took a passenger ferry to Sidney Island. I then biked part of the Lochside Trail researching it for my book as well. You see this will be my first book that also explains how to get to trails and campgrounds by bicycle and whether trailheads and campgrounds and lodging are bike friendly. The Sidney Pier Hotel is-they'll lock your bike in a secure room.

The San Juan and Gulf Islands and Victoria-Saanich Peninsula are ideal for bike touring and bike-hiking options. Big advantages aside from not using gasoline is the convenience of getting on ferries. No reservation needed. No long line ups and only a fraction of the expense to get to the islands. Try it!

Now about the Hike-A-Thon. SPONSOR ME! (please!). I'm hoping to raise $1,500 for WTA this year to help protect and enhance the trails that we love so much! To give you an added incentive to sponsor me, I will be giving away some of my books and thanks to the generosity of Green Trails Maps, I'll be giving away a few special series maps too!

Anyone who sponsors me at $25 or more will have their choice of a special series Green Trails Map (a $12 value).

Anyone who sponsors me at $40 or more gets a map and a membership in WTA (if you're not already a member).

Anyone who sponsors me at any level is eligible to make a little wager as to how many miles I will hike in August. Make a guess (send it to me at Craig@craigromano.com or on my facebook page "Craig Romano Guidebook author) and the person who comes closest to my August total without going over will win his or her choice of two of my guidebooks! How cool is that?

Finally, because I want to pay-it-forward; if you help me make my $1,500 goal I will personally donate $100 to the Skagit Land Trust’s Barney Lake campaign. WTA and Skagit Land Trust have partnered in the past on such great projects as Guemes and Vendovi Islands (both appearing in my new book, Day Hiking San Juan and Gulf Islands).

So, what are you waiting for?! Make a donation today!
Ready to get started? Just click "Sponsor Me" to make a donation.
Thank you in advance for your generosity!

I Love to Tell a Tale of a New Trail

I am often asked how I find trails for my guidebooks. A legitimate question, for after all folks buying my books are trying to find trails too. Okay, this is how I do it-incorporating any one or more of the following methods per trail.

1. General Knowledge/Life Experience- I already know the trail exists
2. Maps of all degrees and from various agencies
3. Old guidebooks and competitors' books
4. Websites of land agencies, trail advocacy groups, hiking forums, and non-profit land trusts
5. Word of mouth from other hikers and explorers
6. Word of mouth from locals of the area that I am researching
7. Scouting roads and parks and forests firsthand while researching a different trail
8. By accident-driving by and noticing what appears to be a trail!

Now, those of you who use my books (and I thank you for your support) know that one of the things I pride myself in with my books is that I hike every mile of every trail that I write about. And in almost all cases I hike them within a year or so of when the book highlighting them is ready to go to press. The best part of writing hiking guidebooks is the research. And the best part of my research is when I stumble upon "new" trails--both new to me and new in their existence. My recent scouting trip to Orcas Island for my upcoming Day Hiking San Juan and Gulf Islands book yielded several "new" trails-both new to me and in their existence. I found and hiked new trails at the Turtleback Preserve and Obstruction Pass State Park--both allowing for new loop options and both destined to be well loved hiking options for many. I can't wait to share them with you--and the many other new trails that I have yet to discover. Next up--Saturna Island--I can hardy contain my enthusiasm! Of course if you have a "new" trail for me, I'd love to hear about it!

(Photo: Lost Oak Trail is lost no more now that I found it!)