You can only get it here!
Welcome to Loophikes.com. This website supports a new book, “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” the only book exclusively dedicated to 27 loop hikes in the Olympics. Six of the loop hikes are often published in trail guides and articles in magazines and websites. Many of the remaining loops have never, until now, been published as a book. The last loop is truly an original. It’s existed in the Olympic Mountains for over a hundred years but there is no record of it ever having been hiked; you could be the first. You can’t get this book until fall, but even with the wait, we can peek inside and get a feel for the book and the Olympic Mountains from which the book emanates.
Resources withing your reach
Ten miles up trail the inevitable strikes. All of us have forgotten to pack an item we always carry but it’s not in the pack today. You’re looking desperately for salve or antiseptic or both. Ta-dah, you’re ten miles up the Hoh and its late summer or early fall, the perfect time for finding a Pacific Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus). Why? You’re injured; it’s a minor injury, but painful and may become infected—something you could do without. The scrape or sores from Devil’s Club, or the rash that’s raised from nettles can be mitigated by reaching down and gently picking up Ariolimax and rubbing its slime over the area that’s bothering you. The thick slime, that Ariolimax travels on, is both antiseptic and anesthetic. In short order you feel the relief so don’t forget to gently place it back on the ground. Banana Slugs are plentiful in Lowland Forests, just waiting to crawl to your rescue, so be careful to step over them; it’s just the right thing to do.
If you can take care of a scratch with a slug, you’ll do wonders with a book. Not any book that you could read while you pass time in a tent. The Book that turns an unsolvable emergency in to a solution; “Edible Wild Plants: a north American field guide” by Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman.
When I needed the book, I didn’t have it with me! Barbara, my wife, and I were several days into a through hike. We’d found a campsite but there wasn’t a bear wire or a tree tall enough to hang our food. I put the food bag near my head and dozed off for the night. Morning broke and when I picked up the bag, I noticed a hole. More to the point, I found more holes within the smaller food bags. Mice! They had spoiled a good deal of the provisions. Short on food, we picked a lot of berries through the rest of the hike and lost a few ponds along the way.
“Edible Wild Plants” is a resource within your reach that should always be with you.
Stinging Nettles, (Uritca dioica) exist beyond measure in temperate lowland forests with deep soils and a lot of sunshine. If they’re not flowering, use gloves to pick the top-most leaves and boil them for a few minutes. Out of the pot, add a little seasoning and nettles, now absent the sting, will deliver a tasty treat and a load of vitamin A and C, page 79 of “Edible Wild Plants.” Nettles are just the beginning of what the book offers.
Water, in its many forms, is abundant in most places. The problem is that all of the water sources in the Olympic Mountains are riddled with Giardia and Cryptosporidium. There are two ways to defeat Giardia and Cryptosporidium: boil the water or filter it at 0.5 microns or smaller. Iodine or chlorine tablets are not reliable for Giardia and have no effect on Cryptosporidium. Boiling is effective on both but it requires fuel. Filtering at or below 0.5 microns requires a pump, straw or some type of a filtering mechanism.
There’s a lot of false information aimed at not using filtering or boiling in certain conditions. Don’t be fooled by, “alpine areas are water safe” or “fast running water is safe” or “off trail water is safe’” no, no, NO IT ISN’T. The intestinal disorder can last for weeks; a high cost for not filtering or boiling. Do you know someone who didn’t filter or boil and didn’t have any problem. If they stick to the idea that they’re smarter—they’re not: the cysts will get them in the end. “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains,” a resource in itself, is my attempt to provide you with information. Keep your resources, be they books, equipment or knowledge, within your reach.
All of the past articles beginning with March are accessible. Click here to visit the Archive page. Additionally, if you’re interested in what’s coming next, here they are:
May 1: “Animals you might see, won’t see and some to avoid”
May 15: “About Me, the Author”
Visit LoopHikes.com frequently. Photos, information and stories change periodically, but sharing information with you comes first. Questions? Contact me at LoopHikes@olympus.net. Your curiosity is the foundation of building a better understanding. Tell your friends.
The book is coming in August 2023