No comments about Benchmark Washington Road & Recreation Atlas (Benchmark Map: Washington Road & Recreation Atlas).

5 comments about Top 10 Seattle (EYEWITNESS TOP 10 TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. If you need a quick answer for places to go and enjoy in Seattle, this book will be a good and low cost reference guide. Am planning to go to Seattle, will take it with me.



2. We have been fans of all the Top 10 books...Washington DC, NYC, et al
   
   It provides money-saving tips for budget-minded travelers of one, two or family with children(food, accomodations, etc). The book helps you be time-wise for sightseeing for one, two or family with children. Definitely recommend to all travelers. We look forward to our Seattle trip. Will be our first time in the great North West!



3. Seattle is a great cosmopolitan city. The books in this series are usually excellent. This one is sub par, it doesn't do the city justice. It's o.k. if you want info concentrated on one city, but you'll gleen as many insights from the Chamber of Commerce visitor information.
   
   I was disappointed in the book, not the city.



4. Invaluable tool for our trip to Seattle over New Year's. Helpful info and pictures, fit our tastes to a tee.



5. I purchased this for basic information and highlights of Seattle. That's what I received and I'm happy. It gave me good food recommendations, history overview of the areas of interest and a great map to get me around the city.
   
   I would recommend this for anyone looking to get the flavor of Seattle without reading through paragraphs of details. 4 stars out of 5 because sometimes you want more detail as you're reading it.

3 comments about Fodor's Around Washington, D.C. with Kids, 5th Edition (Around the City with Kids).

1. I purchased this book after getting a great deal on a hotel in a posh DC neighborhood. While I was excited about the hotel, I was quite concerned about finding affordable, child-friendly places to eat in the area. I chose this guide because along with descriptions of kid appropriate attractions, it recommends nearby eateries. The recommended places to eat were just what I needed to keep our daytime food expenses reasonable. Be warned that many of the recommended attractions are either seasonal or too far from public transportation to reach on foot (we traveled pre-Memorial Day and swore not to drive in DC traffic after parking our car at our hotel). Also, you'll need a separate map because only street addresses are provided. Otherwise, it was a helpful, compact travel book that paid for itself in meal money saved.



2. My 10 year old son loves this book and so do I! It tells us the important stuff, location, contact info, prices, ages & hours. It also gives us little things like places to eat and fun other thing to notice and do while we are at each place. We LOVE this book!



3. This book gave us great ideas for places to take our 6 year old. Most importantly, he is allergic to everything and autistic. This translates into an extemely picky eater. With it's recommendations for kid-friendly eating, Around Washington, D.C. with Kids is a God-send!

5 comments about 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Seattle: Including Bellevue, Everett, and Tacoma (60 Hikes - Menasha Ridge).

1. This well structured hiking book fills a gap in the suite of similar books that cover the Olympics and the Cascades in Western Washington. This volume does a good job identifying interesting hikes close to the metropolitan Puget Sound Basin--the title says it all. The book also adds features that many other hiking books lack, most notably good hike maps and hike profiles. You can do all the hikes in this book without supplemental maps.



2. This is one of the best books I have found for the newbie hiker in seattle. If you have a GPS it is even better as you can just the coordinates in the book to find the starting point for each hike. The Maps are great! The descriptions are great!



3. The other day I found myself in the passenger seat of my own car for an extended trip. Miles from nowhere with not much left to talk about and nothing but scratchy country music on the radio I noticed the guidebook I had received as a gift, stashed in the sidepocket and promptly forgotten. Raised on the Mountainers "100 Hikes" series, I knew guidebooks to be invaluable on the trail, but as reading material dryer than Central Oregon scree in mid-August.
   
   As I thumbed the pages of "60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Seattle," I quickly moved from bored to engaged to engrossed. This book was good! In addition to finding dozens of previously overlooked trails within a short drive of my Seattle home, I learned many new and fascinating details about the places I've been hiking for years. The trail descriptions are accurate and appropriately detailed. The navigational instruction are clear and include useful visual landmarks in addition to the usual distance cues. What's best though, is that into the brief trail write-ups Weber and Stevens manage to weave bits of local history, trivia and entertaining lore that greatly enhance the hiking experience. I even found myself reading several sections aloud to my travelling companion. Finally, the authors also understand that sometimes the best hiking tip is not the trail itself, but the location of the local frosty mug or renowned double deluxe burger at trails end!
   
   Whether you are new in town, just visiting, or a soggy Seattle native like myself, "60 Hikes" makes a great addition to your recreation library.



4. An awesome book, very detailed descriptions, good maps, elevation profiles with every trip, GPS, driving instructions. This is far better than all the mountaineers books. Go get a copy today.



5. What I like:
   
   * I love how it features hikes *within* Seattle, Kirkland and Bellevue. Many guidebooks skip hikes within the city altogether. The one you can kayak to is pretty neat! I expect that these trails will be good for the colder months, when trails in the Cascades are snowed out. I'm looking forward to using this book more and more later in the year.
   
   * The descriptions are quite thorough. The details help me visualize the hike, and this can be motivating sometimes. This has some cons though -- see below.
   
   * It has a section for nearby activities. I find that useful when planning side trips/activities.
   
   * It provides the GPS coordinates of the trailhead.
   
   
   What I don't like:
   
   * Each page has a header that is a black area with white text. On the left page it says "{hike #} 60 hikes within 60 miles" and on the right side, "Seattle including Bellevue, Everett and Tacoma". I think this space could be used better if it displayed the name of the hike and the general area instead of the same text over and over.
   
   * Key at-a-glance information is shown in a black box with small white text. This information is quite important to me when deciding which hike to do, and I would rather have it in a more readable form. Better yet, have it in a form that I can actually digest "at a glance" (!) instead of having to read the small white-on-black text. Other guidebooks show some of this information graphically, with stars or hiker icons to indicate difficulty and/or rating. At the very least, I think the font should be the same size as the descriptive text.
   
   * Driving directions and GPS coordinates are printed as black text over a light/dark gray background. Bad contrast!
   
   * The descriptive text is loooong. I appreciate that sometimes, but I it's too verbose for my taste. The font size is rather small, which for me makes reading the description even less appealing.
   
   * Whether or not I need a forest pass or some other permit is buried deep in the description. This is important for avoiding tickets, so it should be more prominent. The sheer verbosity of the text compounds this problem.
   
   * Whether or not dogs are allowed is also in the description text. Since I have a dog, I'd like to know this immediately, so again, I think it should be displayed more prominently.
   
   * It would be nice if it had a topographical map for the longer trails. I find it hard to reconstruct the lie of the land from the map and the elevation graph, especially since the map doesn't have mile markers along the representation of the hike's trail. [Yes, I really ought to have my own topo map of the entire area, but a small one that I can carry with the trail description is convenient as a adjunct to a larger map.]
   
   
   All things considered, I have mixed feelings about this book. It has good content, but I think there are better ones out there. Call me superficial, but I'm a weekend hiker, and the difference between an engaging/beautiful versus so-so/mediocre presentation can have a big effect on my enthusiasm for a particular hike :)

5 comments about Foghorn Outdoors Washington Hiking: The Complete Guide to More Than 400 Hikes (Foghorn Outdoors).

1. Great book. Very thorough and informative. I actually bought one for a friend who was moving to Seattle, but I liked it so much I kept it for myself!



2. This is the best hiking/camping book for Washington. It is small, just the right amount of information to get me there and get me excited. Great descriptions, it has definantly helped with my spring hiking and camping choices. Perfect for ever glove compartment!



3. You need to get this book. It's indispensable in helping you choose what to hike, what to bring, what to leave at home, and what to expect when you get there (especially the little annoying hidden things, like parking fees). Seeing the maps of the hiking trails helped me a lot too. I hope you get this book before you go hiking because you might regret it if you don't.



4. While I would like to see a quick map of where I am considering hiking, it's nice to have a thorough guide for the whole state in one book.



5. I spent a year hiking and exploring the entire state of Washington for this trail guide. I hiked many of the trails, visited the trail heads, and talked to many local rangers and hikers. I made sure to include the best, most accurate information to help you pick a hike and hit the trail, from short day hikes to week long backpacking trips.
   
   I believe a variety of hikers will find this guide helpful, whether you are looking for new hike ideas, enjoy exploring new areas of the state, or need information on that out-of-the-way trail you've been meaning to hike. And I think backpackers will find this guide indispensable.
   
   Cheers, Scott

5 comments about Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire.

1. I read this book while flying for business this fall. I found that about 80% of the stories interested me. Some of them seemed to be the same story repeated about people wandering in the snow. Other stories were much easier for me to visualize and to really become involved with.
   
   I have hiked Mt. Washington from Pinkham Notch to the summit twice in the summer and I have skied Tuckerman Ravine twice. I would reccomend this book to anyone who has considered going on the mountain during the winter but has only spent similar low-risk time on the mountain like myself. It definitely makes you think twice about preparation if you are heading up into the whites, even in the late spring and early fall.
   
   I took two major thoughts away from this book.
   
   1. The danger of hiking in the Whites if you are not prepared. The White Mountains are a beautiful place that anyone who enjoys the outdoors would enjoy. You just need to be adequately prepared with the right equipment and sound judgement.
   
   2. The history of the White Mountains, the AMC, and Joe Dodge. The focus of the book was clearly more on the dangers of hiking in the Whites; however, it was interesting to get a short history lesson about the first people to make the area more accessible for recreation.



2. Not Without Peril details the deaths and mishaps that have claimed over a hundred lives of hikers on Mt. Washington and the surrounding Presidential Range Mountains.
   
   I bought this book in the Mt. Washington Observatory bookstore at the top of the mountain - fresh from the thrilling views observed on the way up to the 4,000 foot level and the cold enveloping mist of the ever present fog at the peak (one wonders why so many flock to a mountain top whose view is obscured 300 out of 360 days a year on average - but the views on the lower levels are spectacular). And I have to agree with one reviewer who stated that this book will primarily be of interest to those who know the Presidential Range. I would add avid outdoors types to this list, also.
   
   The author writes an interesting book about death and mayhem on the mountain. The chapters cover a hapless (nearly always) hiker or hiking party who met usually with death at the place billed as having the world's worst weather (and the highest ever recorded wind speed of 231 miles per hour). Mt. Washington is the convergence point for three jet streams and its altitude combined with location produces wild, cold, and snowy weather with high winds very consistently.
   
   Most of those who died did so because they ignored warnings or were foolish in estimating their ability to survive in extreme weather or took very bad risks. That central theme runs through nearly all the stories. This book is in some ways a warning to those who would take risks in the outdoors - don't; and even if the weather reports are fine, be prepared with shelter and food and most importantly let others know your route. The writing is fine, though some of the stories picked are very short. The author also fills in the stories with the history of exploration of the mountain, its weather station and important personalities who have figured in rescue operations over the last century. There is one very interesting and contemporary case where a man was left to die near a shelter based on the judgment of the shelter manager and the perceived risk to rescuers with a night time rescue attempt. Although the author is sympathetic to the judgment of the shelter manager, I'm sure lots of people will continue to debate whether or not she made the correct call.
   
   If you enjoy this book, I'd recommend another one just like it called "Death in the Grand Canyon." This is an enjoyable book that highlights the dangers of taking Mother Nature for granted on Mt. Washington.



3. Nicholas Howe's "Not Without Peril" is a unique sort of travel book, in that his focus is on the hazards of travel instead of the benefits. Howe has done some extensive and fascinating research dating back to the 1840's, when people first started to travel voluntarily and for pleasure around Mount Washington in the magnificent Presidental Range in the heart of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This unique alpine landscape has been tempting travelors for over 150 years, but is also home to some of the most variable and sometimes dangerous weather conditions in New England.
   
   Howe's narative details a stream of visitors who often exercised poor judgement in traveling too high, with too little equipment, under less than favorable weather conditions, and with insufficient knowledge of the terrain. The stories are a reminder that man is still a visitor to this mountain realm, only hours walking time from more civilized streets. Some of the stories end well, thanks to the efforts of rescuers; others end badly. The effect of the whole is to place what may seem like casual travel in proper context as an adventure "not without peril". Howe also manages to convey a sense of history about travel around the Presidentials, from the first travelors to the region on foot and horseback to more modern visitors who take advantage of the Mount Washington Auto Road or Cog Railroad.
   
   This book is highly recommended as a set of cautionary tales for those who would explore the Presidential Range, and for those interested in mountaineering in New England.



4. Great book, full of history and mountaineering stories on one of the world's most dangerous mountain!



5. Those who say "If you know the area, you'll love this book" have a point. I answered "yes" to all of the questions in another review. In fact, I bought the book while in New Hampshire to receive my award for climbing all of the 4000-foot peaks, including Mt. Washington and its neighbors. I started it on the way back to Illinois, where I presently live, and my attention drifted a bit in the early chapters. But lately I've been reading it more intently, and the story near the end about Don Carr was worth the cost of the book. It bears a striking similarity to the tone of "Into Thin Air," John Krakauer's narrative of the 1996 tragedy on Everest. So many bad decisions by the hiker (and so many chances to change course)! The college-age crew and other rescue workers had to make hard decisions in short order, and acquitted themselves admirably.
   
   The annotated maps are an asset, as another reviewer mentions.
   
   If you're not interested in hiking or the White Mountains, and if you've never pushed on when perhaps you shouldn't have, you won't be interested in this book. And yes, there are run-on sentences and comma splices. But if you are at all interested in the subject matter, you've probably had to decide whether to continue a hike as conditions deteriorated. Most of us, most of the time, either make the right call or are lucky. The exceptions make for high drama, and that trumps perfect prose for me.

2 comments about WineTrails of Washington.

1. You get the standard maps (which are excellent) and contact information for about 200 wineries but you also get the author's lively prose that helps you get to know the winemakers before you arrive. I decided to ask each winery to sign their page in Mr. Roberts's book! So many wineries, so little time! Rumor has it that a volume on Oregon's wineries is in the works! Note: I am no relation to the author. Roberts is a common name in these parts!



2. Great wine country information. - and wonderful "stacation" ideas, especially if you live in the Washington area. It was nice to see our favorite vineyards listed, plus lots of helpful information about each!
   Don't miss this book if you are a wine enthusiast like we are.

4 comments about Not for Tourists 2008 Guide to Washington, D.C (Not for Tourists Guidebook).

1. I can only speak for the Silver Spring section of the book, as that is area I live and am intimately familiar with it. But if it is any indication of the quality of the rest of the book, beware!
   
   The book contains listings of many companies and stores that have been closed for 5+ years, the map included is at least seven years old (many roads have been removed to make way for larger buildings), and many stores, bars and clubs have opened in the past five years that are not listed. The book fails to mention a shopping mall in the shopping section. Also, it lists Gold's Gym twice with the same address, and places Tastee Diner at the wrong location on the map (the location it was moved from about 7 years ago), even though the correct address is supplied. The text tells drinkers to be aware that bars in Silver Spring are few and far between, but many new bars and restaurants have opened up in the past several years that the editors are obviously unaware of. While Silver Spring has not become an Adams Morgan, there is certainly some good nightlife: Jackie's, McGinty's, Galaxy, Gallery, Piratz.
   
   If the book was a 1999 or 2000 edition, it would be acceptable, but too much has changed recently for this book to be considered a valuable guide.



2. The NTF series of guide books is terrific. It has absolutely everything you need and my friend who now lives in D.C. loves it.



3. I live in New York, and am a committed fan of NFT's NY edition. I still carry it everywhere, and I lend my older copy to visiting friends. That said, the Washington D.C. version seems amateurish by comparison. First of all, it's huge. It's the size of a DVD case, and thicker. It will not fit in your coat pocket. Second, the text written about various locations can read like bad blog-posts by some people who really hate DC, dripping with facile, simplistic sarcasm and snark. It can get a bit hard to read. It looks as if NFT's editors or marketing team decided to emphasize "attitude" in its DC edition, rather than the intelligent presentation and informed guidance that made the NY edition so great. On the upside, the maps' format and presentation are as clear and useful as ever, and are certainly better than the maps of most other guides.



4. This book is so helpful for folks like us who are moving to DC shortly that my wife said "hands off", she was keeping this copy and that I should buy my own! Enough said...

2 comments about Hidden Washington: Including Seattle, Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, Olympic Peninsula, Cascades and Columbia River Gorge (Hidden Travel).

1. [...] One of my computer-side companions has been Hidden Pacific NW and now Hidden Washington. I've seen a lot of the state and know Eric Lucas knows Washington, so his book is a great reference when needed. What I really like is his "hidden" finds at different places. If you want a book that portrays a true picture of what you might find in Washington and is easy to use, Lucas's book fits the bill. I would recommend it for all visitors and newcomers to the state.



2. The guide was a great reference for our recent vacation. We used it successfully to locate interesting sites as well as lodging and food by area. I recommend it to anyone as a guide to pick out how to spend limited vacation time.

5 comments about Beyond Mount Si: The Best Hikes Within 85 Miles of Seattle.

1. This is a great book for natives of the region who are into intense, strenuous hikes. I however, am more of a novice hiker and found only a few hikes in here that were of my skill level. There aren't too many hikes to pick from if all you want is an afternoon hike along the water or an easy day trip with the kids.



2. I just started hiking this year and so i wanted a guide that would help me.
   This is the one i chose. It gave me exact directions, difficulty level, hike conditions, best season to go , whether fees are applied, whether kids or dogs can be taken, what to see, what all to take along, time for a round trip, how many miles to walk etc.
   
   I think that was the sufficient information for us. We have taken many of them and had a wonderful time in seattle.
   
   Give it a try, its a good reference book.



3. This book does a great job of describing so many of the wonderful hikes the greater Seattle area has to offer, rating them for difficulty and scenery and giving useful hints and directions.
   
   We took our nine year old on several of the hikes and it was nice to know which ones would be most difficult and to tell him what to expect on the hike.



4. This book is by far the best of the bunch. It offers a concise overview, turn by turn directions and the best maps.
   
   One of the issues with other books is the maps look more like a bad b&w copy of a USGS topo map. Not this book!
   
   The maps in this book show the general area and most other trails in the area. Plus it highlights the exact route mentioned in the book. While this may seem basic, some other local books simply show the trails or have a topo like map without the trails highlighted.
   
   Its critical to have good maps as many local trail systems have confusing interconnecting routes.
   
   The other major bonus of this book is that it is really up-to-date and keeps to routes most folks can enjoy. Plus it gives honest comments about crowding and parking.
   
   I have taken seven hikes in this book this year and have enjoy each of them.
   
   This book is MUCH better than the Day Hike! series.



5. My wife and I are new to the area and wanted to start hiking. The book was a great resource. It has a ton of great hikes with really good directions on how to get there. I highly recommend it.