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The Mountains Are Calling

Year-Round Adventures in the Olympics and West Cascades

Author Nancy Blakey

Paperback

$22.95 US

Sasquatch Books

6.06"W x 8.98"H x 0.68"D | 18 oz | 28 per carton

On sale Apr 05, 2022 | 240 Pages | 978-1-63217-321-8

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Looking for easily accessible yet off-the-beaten-path outdoor adventures you can do year-round in the mountains near Seattle, Portland, and Bend? Look no further!

Imagine escaping to old-growth forests, snow-capped peaks, waterfalls, and hot springs. This beginner-friendly guide will show you where to go, what to do, and what to look for while you’re there.

Covering the Olympics and West Cascades (Olympic Peninsula, Mount Baker, Central Cascades, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood, Deschutes National Forest, and Crater Lake) the book features a robust basics section with tips, gear guides, nature ID, geology, and safety info. Each mountain location includes background information, getaways (to campgrounds, cabins, lodges, fire lookouts, and yurts), and activities (green season and snow season). Green season features spring/summer/fall hikes and backpacking trips, while snow season includes downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, winter hikes, and more. Activities are coded with icons (accessible, near campground, wildflower, berry picking, bird watching, dogs allowed, wow-factor, waterfall) and are indexed by icon at the end. This book will inspire you to get outdoors all year long with beautiful photography and illustrations, evocative descriptions, maps, and all the basics you need to know to go.

"[A]n easy-access guidebook to the trails, plants, and wildlife that give the Pacific Northwest's mountains their majesty. . . filled with illustrations, packing tips, hiking trails, and mountain cabin getaways. You’ll also find plenty of sumptuous photographs. In short, it’s a vision board for anyone who wants to spend more time in local mountains."
—KING 5, Evening Magazine

NANCY BLAKEY grew up on Bainbridge Island, WA. She spent summers in Bristol Bay, Alaska, working for her family's salmon processing business, where she became an avid outdoor enthusiast who paddles, hikes, forages, and explores the great Pacific Northwest rain or shine, believing adventure can be found outside the back door. She has written five children's activity books for Ten Speed and has contributed to numerous anthologies. She is the founder of the parenting website MudPieMamas.com. View titles by Nancy Blakey

“The mountains are calling and I must go . . .”
--John Muir

Introduction

The mountains are calling. Did you answer with a maybe or a no, waiting for better weather, for more time, or for the kids to grow up? Waiting for the right gear, a companion, or to get more fit? Not to worry. This is your book of yes, of now--whatever shape you’re in or whatever the weather. Bring the baby, pack a picnic, put on your walking shoes, and head out the door. You don’t need to be über fit, own high-tech equipment, or enjoy roughing it. You need only the hunger for more than screen time and a willingness to get out of your comfort zone and explore with family and friends, or perhaps alone. For some that may mean your first car-camping trip, for others a solo wilderness hike. No matter your threshold for adventure, it all takes risk, and it all brings reward. The glorious Pacific Northwest is full of mountains and lakes and rivers--some right outside the back door or a short drive away--and now is time to enjoy them.

This book is your invitation to hike woodlands or plan an epic multiday trek, to enjoy lodges and campgrounds, to see waterfalls and wildflowers, to soak in hot springs. The Pacific Northwest is studded with mountain ranges that would take volumes to cover in depth. Instead, this book offers a taste of the Coast Range and the western part of the Washington and Oregon Cascades for people starting to hear and heed the call of the mountains but not sure where to begin. The activities emphasize car camping and using the campground as a launchpad for multiday activities. The parks and recreation areas covered were chosen for their proximity to the urban centers of Seattle and Portland for easy weekends away, for the availability of easy to moderate hikes, and for the Scenic Byways taken to reach them. I also chose them out of my own love of hidden gems. This is a book of ideas to spark your Pacific Northwest mountain adventures.