Best Easy Day Hikes Yosemite National Park (Best Easy Day Hikes Series) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Best Easy Day Hikes Yosemite National Park is a perfect guide for those who want to sample the best of Yosemite within an easy day's walk, from the valley's famous domes and waterfalls to the park's more remote but equally spectacular corners. From a short stroll to an extended ramble, this book is for hikers of every ability, age, and interest.
Series: Best Easy Day Hikes Series
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Falcon Guides; 4 edition (April 1, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0762796863
ISBN-13: 978-0762796861
Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.3 x 7 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #181,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #20 in Books > Travel > United States > California > Yosemite #188 in Books > Travel > Food, Lodging & Transportation > Parks & Campgrounds #500 in Books > Travel > United States > West > Pacific
Visiting Yosemite National Park should top the "to do" list of any outdoor enthusiast in California. It is famous for its scenic wonders: stunning waterfalls, giant sequoia trees, and imposing walls of granite. Unfortunately, most of us can only spare a few days for a trip to this grand park. Multiple short day hikes therefore offer the best approach to exploring all Yosemite has to offer and Suzanne Swedo's book is an excellent place to start.This book describes some of the classic Yosemite Walks including the trails to Vernal Falls, Glacier Point, Lembert Dome and the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias. These walks are classics because they feature world class scenery, and if you do them on a summer weekend you are likely to share the trail with thousands of tourists from all over the world. Fortunately Swedo also includes hikes to lesser known gems like Chilnualna Falls and the Tuolumne Grove of Sequoias. Still, if you want to avoid the crowds, these trails are best explored mid-week or during the off season. That said, this book, like the trails it describes, provides a lot of bang for the buck. It is well worth the price if you are planning a visit to Yosemite.
Yosemite National Park is one of the premier hiking destinations in the Western United States. But most people do not come to hike but rather to gawk at the wonderful scenery they can see right from their car (and tour bus) windows. This little book is written for these tourists and for anyone else who simply does not have the time to take a week long trip in the park. Already in its third edition, it is easily the most popular of the "Best Easy Day Hikes" series by Falcon Press. And it is not hard to see why. Author Suzanne Swedo treats readers to 24 walks throughout the park that are accessible to nearly everyone. No hike is more than 5 miles and all offer incredible scenery.That said, a few caveats are in order. Yosemite is also one of the most heavily visited parks in the western United States and most of these trails see heavy traffic. For those like myself who view hiking as something of a social experience, this will be fine but others seeking solitude may want to visit in mid week or off season only. In addition, those who own earlier editions should note that this book is almost identical to the 2cd edition. GPS coordinates have been added to the trail heads but this isn't really necessary. Other than that, I found only a few minor changes to the text. One thing that did not change was the misleading mileage for the loop at Yosemite Falls. The trail to the Falls used to be a quick out and back, about .6 miles. Since the flood of 1997 the route is now a circular loop of 1.1 miles, but Swedo still lists it as .6. Still, this is a fine book for introducing time constrained travelers to the wonders of this park. Detailed maps and normally accurate mileage points more than make up for this one mistake. Cavils aside, I strongly recommend this book. It is the best of the "short" hiking books for Yosemite.
Four editions of Best Easy Day Hikes Yosemite are now in print. That's a fairly impressive publication history for a book in this series, where one edition is the norm. But it's to be expected, for two reasons. First, Yosemite is the single most popular park in California. It is a great hiking location and for most people with families, it is almost impossible to see even a significant part of the park in the typical 2-3 day vacation one has in Yosemite. But using this little book, you can quickly find a half dozen trails that are readily accessible to hikers of all ages and abilities. So, while you may not see the whole park, you can get on several popular trails leading to popular destinations. Visiting any or all of these will enhance your vacation, and I can say that because I have hiked all the trails in this guidebook.Do you need to get the new edition if you already have an older one? The short answer is no. For the most part, as the title of my review suggests, this is a reissue more than an entirely new edition. The same classic hikes are in here, along with sketch maps, driving directions, and GPS coordinates for trailheads. I noticed a few minor changes having to do with mileage: Glacier Point is listed as 1/2 mile, not 0.7. And for the trail, that's probably correct. But I'd stick with the 0.7 of older editions given that the parking lot is a ways removed from the trail head. So, if you have the opportunity to pick up an older edition at a discount, do so.But if you don't have an older edition, by all means consider getting this book to help plan your first, or next, trip to Yosemite. It's not like these hikes are a secret, and there are certainly more comprehensive guides out there, but having the book in advance will save you the time of finding these hikes for yourself in park literature and at ranger stations. And taking the book along on your hike will enhance your appreciation of Yosemite's natural history. Finally, buying the book in advance of your trip gives you a good overview of all the regions in the park and will allow travelers on a time budget to get the most they can out of Yosemite. For all these reasons, I continue to recommend the fourth edition of this book, just as I did the first, second, and third.
For all the novice hikers out there, this is your book! This is a fine guide if you have never hiked before in a National Park, or if you merely dabble occasionally in the sport. The maps are excellent, as are the trail descriptions, elevation gains and driving directions to the trail heads. Most of these hikes can easily be completed by even the most unfit hiker, children, or eldery people.However, this is *not* the guide to purchase if you are a serious hiker. I was bemused to see that this book doesn't even contain the quintessential Yosemite hike, Half Dome. Nor does it contain the second-best hike in the park, the Four-and-a-half-mile-trail. In fact, none of the hikes profiled in this Guide are lengthier than a few miles and none would be considered even semi-strenuous. Heed this advice if you're a serious hiker and consult a different guide. But if you're just a casual weekend athlete, or have children in tow, this is a well-written and adequate book for your needs.
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