(For Profiles of the authors, please scroll down.)
The Mountaineers Books’ has released the first three of an all-new next-generation hiking guidebook series—Day Hiking—that has been designed from cover to cover to meet the needs of today’s hikers.
The series replaces guidebooks from Washington’s seminal outdoor activists Harvey Manning and Ira Spring, both whom have died in recent years. Released last May, the titles include Day Hiking: Olympic Peninsula, Day Hiking: South Cascades and Day Hiking: Snoqualmie Region. The series will eventually include six area-specific guidebooks for Washington State, plus a backpacking guide. These new titles replace approximately 30 other Washington guidebooks published by Mountaineers Books.
“We spent the past four years asking hikers what they wanted in a hiking guidebook, organizing the content into sensible regions for people to explore, adopting the best features from across all types of guidebooks, and writing and producing the most compact, accurate, easy-to-use hiking guides ever published for Washington,” said Helen Cherullo, Mountaineers Books’ publisher.
Written by Washington authors with impressive hiking resumes, these guides provide accurate information in attractive, high-quality packaging and are infused with the environmental ethic that distinguishes The Mountaineers Books from other outdoor publishers. One percent of sales from these books will be donated to the Washington Trails Association to support trail stewardship.
Some of the features included in the Day Hiking series that distinguish them from previous guidebooks include the following:
- Reorganized hike selection conveniently arranged by highway and travel corridors in areas that hikers love to explore
- More day hikes, with options for extending the trip: more hikes close to urban centers; more year-round hikes at low elevation
- Super-clear driving directions to the trail head
- As many as 125 hikes presented in each guide
- Smaller, more portable size that’s convenient to carry
- Two-color maps, charts, and elevation profiles that are easier to read and follow
- Full-color front section with area map and stunning scenic photos
- All trails rated for difficulty level and overall experience/quality of hike
- Easy-access trailheads, located by regional and area maps and trailhead GPS UTM
- Sidebars on flora and fauna, historical highlights, trail advocacy, and endangered and reclaimed trails
- 1% of sales goes back into trail maintenance in Washington
- Day Hiking: Olympic Peninsula, Craig Romano.
- Day Hiking: South Cascades, Dan Nelson, photographs by Alan Bauer.
- Day Hiking: Snoqualmie Region, Dan Nelson, photographs by Alan Bauer.
Each: 384 pages, 5½ x 7½, 140 black & white photos, 12 color photos, 120 maps, elevation profiles, paperbound, $18.95.
Author/Photographer Profiles
 Craig Romano was raised in New Hampshire where he fell in love with the natural world. He has traveled extensively, from Alaska to Argentina and Sicily to South Korea, seeking wild and beautiful places. He ranks Washington State, his home since 1989, among the most beautiful places in the world and he has thoroughly hiked it from Cape Flattery to Puffer Butte, Cape Disappointment to the Salmo-Priest. But he still misses the East Coast, especially when it comes to getting a decent Italian meal.
Craig holds a BA in history, a master’s degree in education, and an AA in Forestry. He teaches part time in the Edmonds and Shoreline, Washington, school districts and works part time in Europe’s Pyrenees mountains as a guide for Walking Softly Adventures.
An avid hiker, runner, kayaker, and cyclist, Craig has written about his passions for many publications, including Backpacker, Canoe and Kayak, Northwest Travel, Northwest Runner, AMC Outdoors, The North Columbia Monthly, and Northwest Outdoors. He also writes recreational content for Hike of the Week (www.hikeoftheweek.com) and Canada’s The Weather Network (www.theweathernetwork.com). He is the author of Best Hikes with Dogs: Inland Northwest and Columbia Highlands: Exploring Washington’s Last Frontier, and he contributed to Best Wildflower Hikes in Washington, all published by The Mountaineers Books. Craig’s solo backpacking trip on the High Divide back in 1989 still ranks as one of his most memorable and cherished life experiences.
 Dan Nelson’s personal and professional life has long focused on the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. After a short stint as a newspaper reporter, Dan joined the staff of the Washington Trails Association (WTA) where he worked and played for 11 years as the editor of Washington Trails magazine. Currently, Dan serves as the public information officer for the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency—an agency charged with ensuring the air remains clean, clear, and healthy on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. In addition to loving to walk the wild country, Dan is an avid fly fisher, canoeist, snowshoer, telemark skier, and paraglider pilot. If he’s not out enjoying the backcountry, he’s indoors writing about it.
In addition to his past work at the WTA, Dan continues as a regular contributor to the Seattle Times and Backpacker magazine. He specializes in Northwest destinations and outdoor-equipment reviews. He is also author or editor of several outdoor guidebooks published by The Mountaineers Books. He lives in Puyallup with his partner Donna and their yellow lab, Parka (co-researcher for Best Hikes with Dogs in Western Washington).
 Alan L. Bauer is a professional freelance photographer specializing in the natural history of the Pacific Northwest and coverage of local history. He is a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, having grown up on a large family farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and now calling Washington State his home for the past 20 years. Much of his love for the outdoors can be traced back to his life outside on the farm working and playing—an experience he wouldn’t trade for anything!
His work has been published in Outdoors NW, Backpacker, Odyssey, Northwest Runner, Oregon Coast, and Northwest Travel magazines as well as numerous publications and books across 14 countries. He regularly provides images for projects including CD covers, textbooks, websites, presentations, research, and corporate materials. Prior to his involvement with this new book series he was co-author of Best Desert Hikes: Washington and Best Dog Hikes: Inland Northwest with The Mountaineers Books.
He resides happily in the Cascade foothills east of Seattle with his caring family and Border collie. For further information and to see samples of his work, please visit www.alanbauer.com.
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