Hiking books for the casual hiker

Amy Lewis

Photo by Kevin England

In a couple of weeks, I am going to do a 2024 books of the year column. I’d love your input.

For this, it’s not necessary to be a local book, but it could be. What book did you keep talking about or recommending to others? Have a think about it and drop me an email or post something in the comments section.

At this time of year, I start thinking about where I want to go during the not-dark time, like a gardener who pours over seed catalogs and starts plotting what they can plant where.

I’m not a hardcore hiker or traveler, I just want to explore the area I’ve lived in for so long, before it changes, before my body changes and I can’t do it anymore.  I picked up two books this week to start thinking about this, The Creaky Knees Guide, Washington, and Urban Trails: Olympia.

We live in such natural beauty and it is easy to take it for granted. We go to our favorite lake to swim, frequent the same saltwater beaches, walk the same paths in our neighborhood because we love them, and they are home to us. Sometimes we stop seeing these places clearly because they are so known to us.

My partner is new to the area, so showing him all my favorite places has given me a new perspective on this. I see Tolmie State Park as a place we had our Senior Skip Day, where my sons liked to wade and where the dogs have perpetual grins. He saw the giant trees and took me on a trail I hadn’t been on since fifth grade.

 So for 2025, I am planning to use these two books to widen my horizons.  My Creaky Knees Guide is full of short easy hikes in the whole state, and I am looking forward to trying out some places. The guide is set up by area, and there is an index indicating the effort needed to do the hike, ranging from easy walk to knee punishing. 

Each Hike has a how to get there, a description of the trail and a section for if you want to go farther. On my list is the Iron Goat trail — I mean, you have to just for the name, right? Windy Ridge, the Spruce the Hyak Tunnel, revisiting Dungeness Spit, and others. It’s a must to hike to Noble Knob and Dark Meadow, I think.  Just to say you did.

I had no idea how many urban trails that are in this area. The Urban Trails series is put out by Mountaineers Books, and there are editions for Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, etc. The Olympia edition focuses on the trails and parks in and around the South Sound, including the Olympia, Tumwater, and Lacey areas. It covers hikes in Capitol State Forest, Harstine Island, the area around Shelton and the Nisqually Delta.

These books focus on practical details, such as what to know before you go, is this trail good for dogs and/or kids, etc. There are also short blurbs about the history of the area, which I find interesting.

I hope by revisiting places — I see you Mima Falls Trailhead — and trying new ones, such as the Harstine Island to McMicken Island that I will be inspired to be a better writer and a better human.

As a writer, taking a journal along is natural to me. Actually writing something down while I’m hiking, not so much.  I’m either using my Merlin App to identify bird calls, or thinking about where I can get some coffee.  I want to add this to my writing practice.

Local book artists Carol Hannum and Lucia Harrison have inspired me to take a sketchbook or a journal with me on these planned hikes. Hannum’s Sketchbook Series of her hikes and travels in the area are beautiful and introspective. If you happen upon one, take a minute to look at what she is doing.

Harrison produces beautiful handmade journals with sketches, notes and information, and her three volume set Notes for a Natural History Encyclopedia of Cooper Point is absolutely gorgeous and thought provoking.  They are rare so if you want to take a look at them, you can see them at the Rare Books Room at the Evergreen State College Library.

What do you daydream or plan for during the winter? What do you journal about?  What places here are home to you?

Amy Lewis focuses her column on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Contact her – amy@thejoltnews.com – if you have a literary event, book, or reading.