Romano's Favorite hiking Haunts no. 7
Spain's Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido

Or in English, Ordesa Canyon and Lost Mountain National Park. Yes, it's the rainy season once again and I am spending inordinate amounts of time in front of my computer working on two new manuscripts and organizing photos. My computer recently crashed and now I am organizing my photos once again. Note to you procrastinators- BACK UP ALL OF YOUR IMPORTANT FILES! I'm so glad I did as my life's work in writing and photos could have been lost forever. Anyhow, boy do I miss Spain's Ordesa Canyon and Monte Perdido. An amazing area in the Spanish Pyrenees bordering France, this park has some of the most amazing hiking in all of Europe. I believe I visited this park on 7 separate multi-day excursions and I never tired of doing the long grunt into Ordesa Canyon, one of the most spectacular places in the world. The topography here is spectacular from Utah like canyons to Appalachian like hardwood forests-and the wildlife- isards, bone-breakers, and fire salamanders! I'd go back to this place in a small vertebrate's heartbeat!

Good Friday

in the Apennines

While most of the Christian World observes Good Friday today, in L'Aquila in the Apennines of central Italy, the city buries its dead, victims of the recent earthquake. Ironically, an earthquake struck Jerusalem on this day nearly 2,000 years ago. But its aftermath was one of affirmation not despair. This is a time for reflection and renewal-and the city will rebuild and renew again. But for the families who lost loved ones in this natural disaster, renewal will be a long and difficult road. Nature is an awesome force that doesn't take into consideration whether man is secure within its confines. Man often looks to God for answers on why nature can sometimes be so cruel. The answers are there-they're just not understood. While it would be smug to suggest that people should just not live in such a disaster prone area-I would point out that most of us would have to leave our residences. But to where? No place is totally secure from the forces of nature. Without such awesome displays of nature's wrath, how could we possibly appreciate nature's soothing displays? Her sunsets, bountiful prairies and forests, awe-inspiring landscapes, and life sustaining waters? The cities and villages of the Apennines will continue to flourish-just as they have for thousands of years. The sun will rise once more over L'Aquila. Earthquakes shatter our sense of security. If Terra firma isn't so firm, what is? How about our human spirit?

(photo- a lone chamois (Camoscio d'Abruzzo (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata))in the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo. I hiked up to this basin to see them. The Abruzzo National Park ranks among my favorite places on the planet)

Romano's Favorite Hiking Haunts No. 6

Italy's Apennines

It saddens me to hear this morning of the news of a 6.3 earthquake rattling central Italy. The epicenter is L'Aquila (the eagle) situated right dab in the middle of the Apennines. The capital city of the Abruzzo Region, many my fellow paesani here in America have family from this gorgeous mountainous region of Italy. Several years back I took the train from Rome to L'Aquila and caught a bus to Pescasseroli in the Abruzzo National Park. I spent one week here hiking in one of the most beautiful places in all of Europe. Old-growth beech forests, wolves, bears, eagles, and excellent food and vino afterwards. Hardly any Americans venture to this part of Italy. They need to now to help rebuild L'Aquila's crumbled buildings and the region's shattered villages. Nature is a powerful force and in the Abruzzo region she has once again shown man that it is she who is in charge. A prayer to Sant'Emidio couldn't hurt right now-nor can your support.

(foto- Vado a piedi en il Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo)

Romano's Favorite Hiking Haunts No. 5

The Salmo-Priest Wilderness

I love the mountains and backcountry of northeastern Washington. From the Okanogan River to the Idaho border some of the wildest and loneliest terrain left in Washington state can be found here. A sparsely populated and lightly visited region, I love venturing to the mountains of Washington's northeast-its Columbia Highlands-for solitude, reflection, rejuvenation and to experience a Washington not found west of the Cascade Divide. Here in the Kettle River Range and Selkirk Range-and especially in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness, some of Washington's rarest and most fascinating fauna roams. Wolverines. lynx, mountain caribou, wolves, and grizzly! The only wilderness area in the state's northeast and within the 1.1 million acre Colville National Forest, the Salmo-Priest must be enlarged to ensure the protection of these wild denizens. And to assure me and other seekers of solitude that portions of our ever-growing Evergreen State will forever remain wild and untrammeled. I'm doing my part to help get this area into wilderness. I'm introducing hikers to the wonders of this region so that they may take an active role in protecting it. I urge you to join Conservation Northwest which is leading the movement for an Eastern Washington wilderness bill. Come visit. Need ideas? My Columbia Highlands book will give you plenty. So will my Best Hikes with Dogs Inland Northwest Book. And my new backpacking book that I am currently working on will also showcase some mighty fine eastern Washington wilds. I'll see you over that way this summer-and in the Blue Mountains too-but that's another story-and one I'll save for a future blog entry.

(photo- view east into Idaho from Round Mountain in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness, Oct 08)

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)