Ordering your copy of “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains”
If you haven’t ordered your copy of the Book yet,
I recommend:
- Port Book and News, Port Angeles, WA
- Pacific Mist, Sequim, WA
- Dungeness River Nature Center, Sequim, WA
- VillageBooks.com, Bellingham, WA
Or online
“Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains”
OR, buy your book at the events below.
Book Signing and Sales Events:
As it stands right now, book signing and book sales will start again in late February or early March 2024. Most, if not all, events will take place in Kitsap County.
My Response to the Reader:
Readers have been consistently positive about the book. I haven’t received a negative comment, as of this writing.
J. “I like the book but I wish it was available as an eBook.”
I purposely avoided publishing “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” as an eBook; this is the reason why. Overseeing the marketing involved, increased the administrative effort to set up the eBook. Screen technology doesn’t fare well in the wilderness; drop it once and you could be isolated in the unforgiving wilderness without a map and any of the additional information the book contains. An eBook is not on my radar.
N. “I like your book because it has helped me to learn about all of the natural features (rocks, animals, trees, rivers and plants) within the Olympic Mountains. I am new to the area and I didn’t know, before I read your book, the biodiversity you described.”
I’m happy that the more you see, the more you’ll understand a wilderness, immense as it is, will teach if you are willing to pay close attention to the unending lessons the wilderness gives.
Recent Questions and Answers:
Q: Do Cougars hibernate in the Olympic wilderness winters?
A: The short answer is no. Only Olympic Marmots truly hibernate from late fall to late spring generally. All other animals don’t hibernate, with another exception sort of. Black Bears use “carnivore lethargy”—it’s more like a series of prolonged sleep sessions. Bears in the Olympic Mountains will find an appropriate place to rest and fall into a kind of sleep that can be two weeks or more. In this sleep most of their body systems go into a degree of suspension, just short of hibernation. They wake from their long sleeps and start foraging for food, mostly vegetation and water. When they are satisfied, they start the sleep cycle again over and over until winter in the lowlands gives way to spring.
As spring flows into summer bears forage higher and higher into the sub-alpine regions. When fall arrives in the higher reaches, the bears star working slowly down to the lowlands where winter sets in and bears start their sleep cycles.
Q: Which hikes have the “famous” oldest and biggest trees?
A:
The North Fork Quinault River – Three Lakes Loop includes the largest Alaska Cedar, page 74.
Cameron Creek – Gray Wolf, where upper Cameron Creek holds the biggest Engelmann Spruce, Page 87.
Hoh – Bogachiel Loop, 2.5 miles down stream from Flapjack on the Bogachiel to 200 feet up
Hades Creek on the south side of the river is the Pacific Silver Fir, page 113.
Three Passes Loop – gives you access to Mountain Hemlock and Western Hemlock, page 121.
For more information check the two websites, below.
https://www.visitportangeles.com/8-gargantuan-trees-olympic-peninsula/
https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/upload/record-trees-printer-friendly.pdf
.
Previous Q & A
Q: Will you write a book with easier loop hikes in it?
A: Currently I don’t believe I will write another book. If you are looking for easy loop hikes, go online and search. I did so and came up with 6 or 7 that were relatively flat, short mileage and in the lowlands that surround the Olympic Park and Forest.
Q: Are the loop hikes in your book mainly backpacking hikes?
A: Yes. The first 5 hikes are day hikes. The following 22 hikes in “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” are certainly backpacking and include longer and challenging itineraries.
Gated Roads, restricted Trails, and seasonal book Sales:
February can be a fun month, if you are interested in winter sports, such as: snow shoeing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding. On the other hand, if you want to hike, the weather and snow will restrict you to a few trails.
Trailheads are usually accessed by roads. Many trailheads are at or above 1,000 ft. of elevation. Even if you can get to the trailhead, the trail’s elevation gain will be buried in snow within a short distance. Many of the roads that service the trailheads are generally gated at the first snow in fall and generally stay closed until spring. Gated however doesn’t eliminate snow shoeing or cross-country skiing. Trails on the western part of the Olympics are accessible later into fall and winter and are usually the first to melt out.
Unless you are a veteran hiker of the Olympic Mountains and know where the trails are, in spite of the snow, you should reconsider hiking in the snow. Any flat spot between two trees could or could not be the trail that you think it is. Getting lost in the Olympics is bad enough during the hiking season and can be worse if not terminal in the snow season.
Where to buy "Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains"?
Sequim and Port Angeles:
Pacific Mist
Dungeness River Nature Center
Port Book and News
The Internet:
VillageBooks.com
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
I’ve been writing about some of the elements of the book since March of 2023 and I will continue to do so. If you or your friends haven’t checked Loophikes.com lately, finally the book has been published and is on the shelves. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. There is no better time to order your book. I’m certain that you’ll be pleased. The book is one-of-a-kind, informative and explores loop hikes that haven’t been published as a book. The “Grand Loop of the Olympic Mountains” is a loop that may not ever have been hiked. Whether you’re new at hiking or you’re an expert hiker, the book will be useful and helpful—and it will expand your collective experience.
Loophikes.com provides you with information about the book and information that is not in the book but is relevant to your understanding.
Loophikes@olympus.net provides you the ability to ask me questions and get answers to the best of my ability. All the answers will be available at loophikes.com without identifying the person who submitted the question.
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:
February 15: Is winter when animals hibernate in the Olympic Mountains
March 1: Day-Hiking trails that begin at or below 1,800 Ft.
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.