No comments about Moon Virginia: Including Washington, D.C. (Moon Handbooks).

1 comments about Haboo: Native American Stories from Puget Sound.

1. A collection of 34 legends of the Coast Salish and Skagit Indians. Each story averages about three pages with drawings, sketches and maps throughout.

5 comments about Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast: Your Guide to the Lighthouses of California, Oregon, and Washington (Pictorial Discovery Guide) (Pictorial Discovery Guide).

1. This pictorial coffee table guide highlights lighthouse history and lighthouses of the Pacific Coast, revealing the development of lighthouses in three states. From the technological evolution of the lighthouse to how they were maintained and are today restored and preserved, Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast provides very beautiful photos spiced with descriptions and information accessible to both destination-bound and at-home enthusiasts.



2. This book written by Leffingwell and Welty is visually appealing and sets down historical facts in an engaging style. The beautiful photographs taken by Leffingwell are augmented by stories of the politics and history behind the lighthouses and their keepers. They include information about women lighthouse keepers, how the lighthouses were constructed, which have been de-activated, and most important - how to get to the various lighthouses for a visit in person.

   The most interesting story was that of a construction crew and Coast Guard team working nearly around the clock for five days to restore the Cape Flattery lighthouse near Neah Bay in Tatoosh, Washington. Also worth noting were the descriptions of life as a lighthouse keeper, the artisanship of making the Fresnel lights, and the automation that replaced the need for human presence in these remote outposts.

   As the Oregon Contributing editor at Suite101.com, I am always on the lookout for books my visitors will enjoy and will help them plan their next trip to Oregon. This one is a winner!




3. A beautiful book to add to your collection. The pictures are wonderful and to read the book is a joy. A great buy to learn more about lighthouses on the coast.



4. A beautiful book to add to your collection. The pictures are wonderful and to read the book is a joy. A great buy to learn more about lighthouses on the coast.



5. I was a little disappointed with the pictures. I was hoping for close up pictures. The photographer seemed to take distant photos. only one or 2 were a frontal view and up close, most were from odd angles.

4 comments about How to Rent a Fire Lookout in the Pacific Northwest: A Guide to Renting Fire Lookouts, Guard Stations, Ranger Cabins, Warming Shelters and Bunkhouses in the National Forests of Oregon and Washington.

1. Just astounding! I have stayed at three of the lookout featured in the book, and they are every bit as wonderful as the book illustrates. This book is a must for the nature lover. I'm not much of a hiker or skier, so fortunately this book tells you how difficult it is to reach each lookout. And most all the lookouts are a mere $25-$40 a night! My lookout trips have been the best vacations I've ever had. Please, please pick up this book if you plan to be in Oregon for any length of time and love great scenery...



2. How to Rent a Fire Lookout in the Pacific Northwest is a valuable tool for exploring the beautiful backcountry of the Northwest! Authors Tom Foley and Tish Steinfeld have given a great gift to those of us in search of outdoor adventure. As a seeker of Oregon Stories within the landscape, I am enjoying this book immensely. I will include it in preparation of future sauntering and discovery!



3. Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, How To Rent A Fire Lookout In The Pacific Northwest is the essential reference guide for anyone seeking to spend a weekend in a remote forest ranger lookout tower offering a bird's-eye view of the trees and clouds -- and an impressively memorable view of both sunrise and sunset. Covering a total of sixty-five cabins, guard stations, and fire lookouts available for rent in Oregon and Washington, the sites range from pleasant bungalows just off the road, to 60-foot towers deep in the wilderness. Travelers and vacationers can available themselves of lodging in these scenic, secluded and historic structures offering personal sanctuaries in private places. Information on rental procedures, cost, capacity, and dates of availability for all 65 locations are provided, along with website addresses for each property where available, detailed directions on finding them, tips on local attractions, cabin history, maps, and illustrations of each individual location. The collaborative work of Tish McFadden and Tom Foley, How To Rent A Fire Lookout In The Pacific Northwest is a unique, practical, and ideal planning resource.



4. This book is a great tool to locate outdoor shelters available to the public. This is the new updated version which has the latest pricing info. and great comparison charts between locations. However, I think it could use more maps and directions. Also, the older version of this book gave much better photos to help you understand what really to expect at these locations.

No comments about Outdoor Escapes Washington, D.C.: A Four-Season Guide (Outdoor Escape Series).

No comments about Monuments And Memorials of Washington, D.c..

2 comments about Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem (NY) (Images of America).

1. Mr. Washington has managed to summarize the rich, diverse history of a small yet fascinating section of the northern half of Manhattan which has consistently been ignored by virtually all writers on urban culture. His prose is terse and informative, and his photographs are truly stunning to anyone familiar with this neighborhood. This concise book is a precious piece of primary historical research which provides evidence on every page of the thought and effort that went into its creation. Whether you live in this neighborhood (as I have for twenty years) or are simply interested in the social and economic evolution of urban areas, this volume will provide you with a living, breathing history of an incredibly diverse slice of a continually evolving city. I urge you to read this fascinating tale of a truly unique part of our city and country.



2. Today, this neighborhood is mostly ignored. Who knew it had such a complex history? This book has great photographs. I live nearby. The web site morningside-heights.net has some pictures of this neighborhood.

4 comments about 100 Hikes in Washington's North Cascades National Park Region (100 Hikes In...).

1. The interesting thing about the 100 Hikes series is how well it integrates with Fred Beckey's books. Ira and Harvey get you to the base of the peak; Fred gets you up it. The series go hand-in-hand. Some of the most valuable information in the whole series comes in the form of the forewards and introductions. While opinionated, the views expressed are those of someone who has spent a lifetime exploring, protecting and enjoying the areas treated by the books. The route descriptions are accurate (more or less), and the small maps are clear and understandable. If you don't have this book, go get it. You would do well, in fact, to get the whole series. NOTE: hikes 10, 14, 33, 70, and 79 are awesome.



2. Sure, Harvey's opinionated, but it's excellent stuff. Nice, quick background on these amazing places, why they are still wild and protected, and just enough detail to get you in and out without giving away all the surprises. The best guide out there.



3. I've just purchased this book and I'm more than *delighted*! The photographs are ultimately enthralling, and the narration is so honest. I work for a non-profit striving to protect more public lands in Washington permenantly as Wilderness, and books like these that reach a large public audience and tell it like it is help us along our path to success... I love to hike and I love to see the areas that I hike in stay put! It's nice to be able to see which areas are protected and which are not before even exploring on one's own. BUY IT!



4. I really wanted to like this book, has maps, directions ,pics, but the book is old, and the writer is complaining too much about how bad it is in 1980! so I got out my hikes with children and gave this the heave ho.
   some new writer needs to make a new one with out all the fussing.

3 comments about Northwest Shore Dives.

1. The third edition of this book is an improvement on the previous and includes new dive sites, 55 in all. The dive sites are located in Washington State in Puget Sound and Hood Canal. All include a picture of the site which makes it easy to find them, the written directions are excellent. The tide and current table calculations are great, even going so far as to let you know if you should plan your dive for tides or currents. He even includes information on things to do for non-divers while they hangout waiting for divers to return. The maps are exceptional, most have depth measurements and all include ebb and flood current information that really makes it easy to plan dives at these sites. I have dived some of the sites listed in the book and the descriptions are excellent. Highly recommended for those diving in the Pacific Northwest.



2. The information is up to date and correct. I use this book exclusively to plan my dives. I have met the author and trust his knowledge of the dive sites and the information given in the book.



3. This book is highly regarded among divers in the BC/WA/OR area. My only criticism is the latest edition (3rd) wasn't really updated much in that it still lists the Edmonds Oil Dock as a "working" pier. This hasn't been a working pier for a long time. But other than that, it's still an excellent book, highly recommended.

5 comments about Hiking Olympic National Park (rev).

1. Olympic is a beautiful park with diverse terrain, serious vertical gain, rain forests, waterfalls, northern pacific coast, glaciered peaks and miles and miles of trails for both day hikes and extensive backcountry excursions. The falcon guide does a good job organizing the park, providing acceptable overview references, including compelling photography (for black and white) and selecting a diversity of hike distances. There short hikes, moderate and long day hikes and multi-day excursions (though the emphasis is on the latter two). You sill need to print out a map from the national park service web site to orient yourself in the park as you flip through the pages (I often felt lost with just the couple of overview maps) but in general it is a really helpful guide.



2. Although I am a huge fan of Falcon guides, this edition definitely let me down. Unfortunately it doesn't differentiate between Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest trails. This becomes a big deal when you spend a significant amount of time planning your trip only to arrive at the trailhead and find that you need an Olympic National Forest permit, because the trailhead parking falls in the national forest, not the national park, and you need to drive back 15 miles to get one. If you are prepared with a National Parks pass, not a National Forest pass, this is definitely frustrating. In fact, a significant number of trails in the book are in the national forest, not the national park. Because this is an older book (1995) it also doesn't include some of the nicer Falcon guide features found in the newer books like the trails being broken down into categories in the beginning based on the types of features the trail has (i.e. waterfalls versus alpine meadows). It also doesn't include any attempt at topo maps, which is a definite downside. I'm still a fan of the Falcon guides, but I think I'll stick to the ones that are more recently published from now on...



3. Decent overview but hard to comprehend if you've never been there. Poor maps, little on the visitor center and tourist areas. Great if you have a topo and have been there before. Not great if it's your first visit.



4. This book is the proverbial "can't see the forest through the trees." Way too much minutia and nothing close to the big picture. Long dissertations describe every step of the way about trees and plants - and then some more on the trees - on long (30-40 miles) hikes, but with very poor descriptions about the magnificent outdoors in the great northwest. Couple that with a serious lack of good maps, along with dreadfully vague information on where/what - makes for an aggravating read. I have 30 years of experience as a bush pilot but trying to navigate through this book makes hiking preparation a laborious chore.



5. This book was great. It gave us detailed information to the trail heads. We liked how the book was seperated into sections of the peninsula. This helped us plan our trip. We hiked 10 of the hikes. We couldn't have done it without the book.