Read Online 100 Classic Hikes Colorado Scott Warren 9781594850240 Books

Product details Paperback 240 pages Publisher Mountaineers Books; 3rd edition (March 5, 2008) Language English ISBN-10 1594850240

100 Classic Hikes Colorado Scott Warren 9781594850240 Books Reviews

• This book contains many nice hikes, but it's organization makes it difficult to use. While I appreciate the author's attempt to group hikes into categories, the distinction between half-day hikes and short day hikes in the "trails at a glance chart" is unclear, with many half-day hikes taking only a couple hours. I'd like to see hiking times in this overview chart; distance and elevation change would also be nice. (These are included in the details, but that requires flipping through 100 hikes). Another useful addition would be a map at the front of each section, e.g. Central Mountains, showing more clearly the location of the hikes.
  
  Overall, I estimate that about 20 of the hikes are in my preferred 5-8 mile hiking range. About half are longer than eight miles.
• While this is a book about hiking, the first thing that struck me as I read this book is the quality and quantity of the photographs. Every hike has at least one color photograph, and given that they are taken in Colorado, the scenery is spectacular. The book's pages are bright-white-glossy paper, so the colors really jump out at you. The pictures really give you a feel for what you are going to see on the hike and are thus worth many thousands of words.
  
  The verbal content is excellent in its own right. The 100 hikes cover the entire state from the prairie in the east to Colorado National Monument in the west. Distance and difficulty range from a 1 mile nature stroll to 31.5 miles along the steep, rugged Continental Divide. The trail descriptions are not long, but words are used wisely and you will know about the area's history and what can be found on the hike when you are through reading. The hikes described in this book really live up to the "classic" in the book's title, as each one visits a special area, usually for scenery or geology, but sometimes for history. There are some very difficult hikes in Colorado (consider the mountains and elevation), but the author gives precise information (example trail gains 1000 feet in the next 0.75 mile) that should allow you to steer clear of hikes beyond your ability. I recently visited Colorado and took a couple of the hikes described in this book. When I got done, I wished I had time to hike more of them.
  
  As you can probably tell by now, I really enjoyed this guide. The book could be recommended for the pictures alone, but the hiking contents lives up to the title "100 classic hikes." Hikers planning to visit Colorado will find this guide a joy, but others might find it of interest as well. Enthusiastically recommended.
• The color photographs alone make this a "must have" guidebook if you enjoy hiking in Colorado. Each hike is described in some detail with a ranking of how strenuous each trek is considered. The text is concise and to the point, but gives an adequate feel of each hike. There is at least one color photo for each journey and the photos are simply superb. Many such photos were the sole reason I decided to hike some of these mountains and I was never disappointed. You can literally spend hours just pouring over the incredible photos.
  The quality of the book is superb. The pages are heavy glossy paper and the paperback binding holds up after major 1,000+ mile car journeys I've made with the book thrown in the backseat. If you buy one guidebook about hiking in Colorado, make it this one. I highly recommend it for the description of each trail and the stupendous photographs.
• I think it's a good way to look at ideas for hikes that aren't local. perhaps there are websites that have the same info, but I thought having an all in one resource to get started was worth the price. If anyone has a great trail website that is a good resource, would love to hear about it. Until then, I've got another 90 hikes to check off my list.
• Love this book! Lots of good information!
• My son was glad to get this to add to his other Colorado "hike" books.
• Arrived on time. Great book
• The book was referred to on some website I visited and was so useful that I checked out a copy from the publc library so I knew what I was getting before I purchased it. Excellent source for Colorado Hiking. Was shipped on schedule.