The Pleasuresof a Night OutL

ife is good. You’re a thousand miles from the office, kicking backin a sunny alpine meadow surrounded by 14,000-foot peaks. While

your coworkers back home chew on the day’s second stale doughnut, youflip the perfect blueberry pancake, admiring the perfect morning.

Spending nights out on the trail, you begin to relax and forget about thenumbing influences of society. You have time to become part of the natu-ral world, and to study those things around and above you that you can’tsee back home.

That’s why the editors at BACKPACKER have pulled together some of their favorite hikes across America. Some you can do easily in 2 or 3 days—a long weekend, say—while others require more of an invest-ment of your time.

We’ve kept each group organized by state so you can find a great back-packing trail reasonably close to your home ground. Or if you’re on theroad for vacation or business, you can sneak in a few days away for your-self. You’ll find a description of the spot, plus details on how to get there,getting permits, where to get a good map or guide, and more.

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Denali NationalPark, AlaskaLet rivers and ridgelines be yourcompass as you hike in the shadow of Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.

By Jeff Rennicke

It is, quite simply, the mostspectacular moment in North

American hiking. For 3 days, theworld has been locked in a grayhaze of rain and fog. Mosquitoesbuzz incessantly in my rain hood. I trudge along, gazing only at myfeet. Then I look up, and there itis.

The clouds had cleared over thehighest mountain on the continent:Mt. McKinley. It appears to be theroof of the world. Denali NationalPark and Preserve (the mountainitself is still officially Mt. McKinley)is classic Alaska—open horizons,grizzlies, wind swirling across thetundra, snow-capped peaks. Evenwithout Mt. McKinley, it would be one of the world’s premierhiking locations. But when themountain peeks out from behindthe clouds, backpacking here issimply sublime.

At 6 million acres, the park isthe size of Massachusetts, but fea-tures only one maintained back-packing trail. The best routes arealong rivers and ridgelines, routesthat require good map-readingskills, experience in fording fast,cold streams, and keeping one eyeopen for grizzlies. You won’t make

a lot of miles in Denali, either. Theopen tundra and long horizonscan sometimes seem endless, as ifyou’re getting nowhere. But then,you can always just sit down andwait for the mountain to showitself.

Expedition Planner Permits: The park’s backcountryunits each have a user quota thatfills quickly in high season.Reservations cannot be made inadvance, so have second and third route choices in mind. Bear-resistant food containers are re-quired, but are loaned for freewith a backcountry permit pur-chase.Access: The park entrance is 237 miles north of Anchorage andreachable by car, shuttle, or train(Alaska Railroad, 800/544-0552;www.akrr.com). Private cars are not allowed beyond the park’sentrance. Buses shuttle visitorsalong the narrow Park Road.Season: Ideal hiking is in July andAugust. Early September is primeberry-picking and bear-viewingtime, but snow starts around LaborDay.Guides: Denali National Park#222 map (Trails Illustrated,800/962-1643; $9.95). DenaliNational Park & Preserve, AK:Backcountry Companion by JonNierenberg, (Alaska NaturalHistory Association, 907/274-8440;$8.95). Contact: Denali National Park andPreserve, 907/683-2294;www.nps.gov/dena.

WEEKEND GETAWAYS

www.backpacker.com6 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

Route: The Escalante Route isrecommended only for sea-soned desert travelers. First-time Grand Canyon hikers maywant to stick to more estab-lished trails, like Bright Angel,South Kaibab, and Hermit. Season: Spring and late fall arethe most pleasant times to hike.In winter, be prepared for iceand snow at the rim. Do notbackpack here from June toearly September; temperaturescan soar to 115°F at the base ofthe canyon.

Guides: Grand CanyonNational Park #207 map (TrailsIllustrated, 800/962-1643;$9.95). USGS 7.5-minute quadsfor the Escalante Route: DesertView, Cape Royal, andGrandview Point (USGS,888/ASK-USGS; $4 each).Hiking the Grand Canyon byJohn Annerino (Sierra ClubBooks, 415/977-5500; $15).Contact: BackcountryInformation Center, GrandCanyon National Park, 928/638-7875; www.nps.gov/grca.

Wild NightlifeIf you keep your eyes open and your movements quiet, you’ll see allkinds of animals. Whereas hawks and vultures move about during theheat of midday, most animals wait until dusk and dawn. Nighthawksand bats skim fields and streams for insects. Deer and elk eat dew-laden plants in open fields. Keep watching and carnivores will cometo feast on the deer. Cover your flashlight with red cellophane forlow-impact nighttime spotting.

Wildlife is most active in spring and fall. In spring, hungry snakesand bears are emerging from winter’s sleep and snowmelt-filled vernal pools harbor mating salamanders and frogs. In fall, hawks andsongbirds migrate, while foxes and mink hunt all day to fatten up forwinter.

Go where the animals go. Riparian areas attract crittersgalore, especially at twilight; keep a fair distance so thatyou don’t discourage the thirsty from drinking. Manyspecies prefer transition zones, where fields meld intoforests and foothills flatten into plains, since theyprovide food and shelter close together.Position yourself on the edge of thesezones so you can see animals mov-ing in both areas.

Grand CanyonNational Park,ArizonaA mile deep, 71,000 footstepswide, some 278 miles long—the impressive statistics don’thit you with the same explo-sive force as a hike into theheart of this otherworldly natural wonder.

By Annette McGivney

Amere 6 feet tall and 39years old, I’m akin to a

grain of sand on a seashore inthis ancient, gargantuan land-scape. As I hike 10 miles downfrom the canyon’s South Rim tothe Colorado River via theTanner Trail, I lose 5,000 feet ofelevation and all sense of scale.In the Grand Canyon, land-marks that seem near actuallystand 2 or 5 or 20 miles away.Layers of the Earth, not thehands on my watch, mark thepassage of time. Light reflectsoff rock, making every colorradiate with a neon glow.

As I thread my way betweenboulders and sheer bluffs, I fol-low a faintly marked pathcalled the Escalante Route.Each evening, the route leadsme to another lush riversidecampsite, where soft sand andabundant water make me forget

I’m in the desert. But inbetween, the route scramblesup scree slopes 1,000 feetabove the river, detours aroundserpentine drainages, and slidesdown slot canyons. You haveto work hard to touch thetreasures of the Grand Canyon,but the once-in-a-lifetimerewards are many.

I stop for lunch at the Unkaroverlook and peer at rapids1,500 feet below me, the waterof Unkar Creek churning as it tumbles in from the NorthRim. Vishnu Temple, TheTabernacle, and other mam-moth stone monuments riselike islands in a vast ocean ofspace. Behind me are the ter-raced layers of the South Rim.I’m so deep in the heart of thecanyon that I can’t see the top,nor can I fathom enjoying anyplace more than I am relishingthis giant hole in the ground.Nowhere else have I felt soinsignificant, yet so alive.

Expedition Planner Permits: Required for allovernight camping; they maybe obtained up to 4 months inadvance through the mail. Youcan also apply for a same-daypermit at the park’s backcoun-try office, but demand oftenexceeds availability. SeeContact below for an onlinepermit application and officephone number. Fees are $10per group, plus $5 per personper night of camping.

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SequoiaNational Park,CaliforniaThere’s a soothing magic tothe big trees and high trails ofSequoia National Park.

By Jordan Rane

Standing at the Wolvertontrailhead in Sequoia

National Park, already 7,000feet higher than most Californiafreeways, my ties to that hazyworld below are feeling prettytenuous. They snap altogethersomewhere along the park’sprized Lakes Trail, where akingdom of yellow pine andponderosa, Douglas fir, andincense cedar begs me to leaveit all behind.

Sequoia, a 604-square-miletract of canyons, forests, rivers,

and looming granite peaks, hasits bragging rights—the tallestpeak in the Lower 48 (that’s Mt. Whitney, 14,496 feet), thelargest living thing on the entireplanet (a sequoia tree namedGeneral Sherman), and some of the most stunning alpinewilderness anywhere.

John Muir penned volumesabout the Sierra, believing it to be the world’s most life-enhancing spot. The conserva-tionist even proved it by climb-ing a pine tree in a raging light-ning storm just to get closer toit all. As I lie wide-eyed undera full moon at 9,000 feet,encased in an amphitheater oflooming silver peaks aboveEmerald Lake, I understandMuir’s addiction.

Expedition PlannerRoute: An ideal weekend fol-lows the 13-mile Lakes Trail to

Pear Lake and the Tablelandarea from the Wolverton trail-head on the west side ofSequoia National Park. Keepgoing on the High Sierra Trail(pick it up just south of theWolverton trailhead at CrescentMeadow).Drive Time: Los Angeles: 4 hours; Fresno: 1 hourThe Way: From Los Angeles,head up US 5 to CA 99 andVisalia. Take CA 198 east for 36 miles to the GeneralsHighway park entrance.Dayhike: A short trail offGenerals Highway will intro-duce you to General Shermanhimself. He’s 50 times yourheight and 17,000 times yourweight, and predates JuliusCaesar. Elevation: Most trails rangefrom 6,000 to 10,000 feet.Crowd Control: The nicesttime (weather, bugs, andcrowds) is September and earlyOctober.Guides: Sequoia & KingsCanyon National Parks map(Tom Harrison Maps, 800/265-9090; backpacker.com/mapstore;$8.95). Also recommended isDay Hiking Sequoia by SteveSorensen ($12.95). Walk Softly: Protect blackbears and yourself by removingtrash from your car and storingall food in bear-proof canisterson the trail. Contact: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, 559/565-3134; www.nps.gov/seki.

Myakka RiverState Park,FloridaHike the Myakka Trail for aglimpse of the Sunshine State’swild and grassy past.

By Johnny Molloy

Close your eyes and imag-ine backpacking in

Florida. If your image includesslogging down a waterloggedtrail and dodging alligators,you’re in for a pleasant sur-prise. I had the good fortune togo backpacking in MyakkaRiver State Park last winter, andnow my vision of Florida hik-ing includes a vast dry prairieand far-reaching views.

The 28,875-acre park in cen-tral Florida protects one of thelargest remaining tracts ofFlorida’s dry grass prairie, anecosystem that once coveredparts of the state from coast tocoast. Add the Wild and ScenicMyakka River, 12 miles ofwhich flow through the park,as well as 7,500 acres of wilder-ness around Lower MyakkaLake, and you have the mak-ings of a great hike.

The 39-mile, hikers-onlyMyakka Trail loops through adiverse array of grass/palmettoprairies, dense palm islands,and shady oak hammocks. Thepark is home to an odd crewof wildlife, including burrowing

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In the Night

Sky: Finding

the PlanetsFive of our solar system’s nine planets are general-ly visible from Earth with the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,and Saturn. It’s not true that planets don’t twinkle. Twinkling is causedby atmospheric turbulence, and enough rocking and rolling in nearspace can send even Venus dancing. One tip for planet-gazing is tolook for the reddish tint of Mars and Saturn’s pale yellow light. A starwheel will help you plot their position, which changes nightly.

THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 1110 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

owls, bald eagles, grasshoppersparrows, ospreys, sandhillcranes, and Eastern box turtles.There’s also a good chance ofseeing alligators (this is stillFlorida, after all). Distinctivelocal plants include the endan-gered wild pineapple and res-urrection ferns, which becomebrown and shriveled until infre-quent winter rains bring themback to life.

The day I set out on the trail,the rich green hues of newgrowth peeked through theblackened soil of a recent fire.After crossing a sunny, openflat, the sandy, narrow footpathentered a dark palm grove. Anarmadillo skittered throughpalm fronds. Willows grewthick alongside an intermittentstreambed. That night, Icamped at Bee Island, one ofthe park’s six backcountrycampsites (well water must betreated, and wells sometimesdry up, so check ahead). As Ipitched my tent in a stand oflongleaf pines overlooking thevast prairie, fog rolled acrossthe landscape and an owlbroke the silence of the coolevening.

Expedition PlannerDrive Time: Myakka RiverState Park is 11⁄2 hours (70 miles) south of Tampa and 21⁄2 hours (130 miles) from Orlando.The Way: From Tampa, takeI-75 south for 60 miles toSarasota and exit 37 (Clark

Road). Head east on ClarkRoad (FL 72) for 9 miles toMyakka River State Park.Trails: The Myakka Trail makesa 39-mile circuit, with numer-ous shorter loop options avail-able. Combine backpackingand paddling by canoeing theMyakka River between theLower and Upper MyakkaLakes. A backcountry fee of $3per night for adults and $2 pernight for children under 18 isrequired for camping (seeContact below).Dayhike: For a good samplingof hammock and prairieecosystems, start at the maintrailhead near Upper MyakkaLake and hike the 6-mile BeeIsland Loop around the MossyHammock campsite (return onFox High Road, a dirt trackclosed to vehicles).Elevation: The elevationimperceptibly shifts from a highof 40 feet atop the prairiedown to about 25 feet nearUpper Myakka Lake.Can’t Miss: Walking the sharpecological border where thelush Deer Prairie Slough meetsthe dry, open prairie. Crowd Control: Winter is the best time to hike here(November to January); you’llshare a backcountry campsitewith others only on weekends.Spring is more crowded; securereservations for backcountrycampsites at least a week inadvance.Guides: A free, comprehensivetrail map is available at the

park ranger station (see Contactbelow). A Hiking Guide to theTrails of Florida by Elizabeth F.Carter (Menasha Ridge Press,800/247-9437; www.backpacker..com/bookstore; $12.95).Walk Softly: Campfires arepermitted, but should be avoid-ed, as the prairie is usually tinder-dry in winter. TheMyakka River is home to theendangered wood stork.Admire wildlife from a distanceand don’t disturb nests.Contact: Myakka River StatePark, 941/361-6511;http://www.floridastateparks.org/.

MahoosucRange,Maine/NewHampshireMahoosuc Notch is a glacier-carved gash winding throughprecipitous granite cliffs.

By Michele J. Morris

Every summer, the greatwave of northeastern

urbanites fleeing for the hillsflows first over New York’sCatskills and Adirondacks, thenthrough the Berkshires inMassachusetts, and finallycrashes against White’s in NewHampshire, frothing up andover the high peaks of thePresidential Range. But those

seeking an oasis far from themaddening crowd find theirway to the Mahoosucs.

Guy Waterman, who with his wife, Laura, wrote the defin-itive history of hiking in theNortheast, called the MahoosucRange “a rambling and ruggedspine of middling-sized peaks.”Give thanks for such faintpraise, for it has helped damnthese mountains to blessedobscurity.

The Mahoosucs ramble fromthe Androscoggin River innortheast New Hampshire tothe southwest edge of Maine.The length of the range is traversed by the 31-mileMahoosuc Trail, a segment ofthe Appalachian Trail (AT). Itsloftiest point is an unimpressive4,180 feet, but hike the trailfrom west to east and you’llclimb close to 10,000 feet(total) over 10 peaks. Despitethose impressive statistics, onlyone aspect of the MahoosucRange has earned it real notori-ety, especially among AT thru-hikers: the mile-long ravineknown as Mahoosuc Notch. It’sbeen dubbed “the hardest mileon the AT,” and many thru-hik-ers anticipate its challenges allthe way from Georgia.

I hiked the Mahoosucs fromeast to west on Labor Dayweekend, when you’d expectany backcountry destinationwithin a day’s drive ofWashington and Boston to becompletely overrun with urbanescapees. Not the Mahoosucs.

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The only traffic I encounteredwas a handful of fast-movingAT thru-hikers and a few week-end enthusiasts.

When I arrived at SpeckPond on Friday night, the tentplatforms were nearly full, anda persistent drizzle was falling.I pitched my little hoop tent,then ambled down to the shel-ter to see what the thru-hikerswho’d just tackled The Notchhad to say about the so-calledhardest mile.

Their answers were as variedas their trail names. “Someparts were kinda scary,” saidThree Gaited Mule, “but it’s notthe hardest mile.” DiamondDoug added that it was “coolto be airborne several times,jumping from boulder to boul-der.” But Split P wanted noneof it. She hated The Notch: “Ican’t wait to get back to the bigmileage days when I can justwalk. It took me 41⁄2 hours toget through there. It wasawful.”

The one thing they agreedon was Diamond Doug’s sum-mation: “I don’t know that itwas the hardest mile, but itsure was the slowest.”

Mahoosuc Notch is filledhalfway with immense blocksof schist cleaved from the wallsabove by countless freeze-and-thaw cycles. Tree roots snakethrough the clefts and crevices.Water gurgles somewherebeneath the boulders but is sel-dom seen. Even on blindinglysunny days, it remains a chilly,

Gothic place, hiding pockets ofsnow and ice.

In the best conditions, theroute is still so challenging thatbackpackers consider it a pointof honor to keep their packson while clambering up orshimmying under the gargan-tuan boulders. Be forewarned:The Notch is a graveyard ofNalgene bottles, trekking poles,and anything else not securelystashed inside a pack. Rain cov-ers, knuckles, and nerves oftenemerge a bit more ragged onthe other side.

The rest of the trail is amplereward for the slow delibera-tion of The Notch. Even whenlow-flying clouds obscure themany stunning views, thealpine zones are miraculous,enveloping you in theChristmasy smells of balsamfirs, the granite path carvingthrough heath—shrubs andblueberry, low and denseagainst the wind. Green andorange grasses and auburn andlime moss light up the bogwalks. Alongside burblingcreeks, pale white Indian pipesand tiny red mushrooms scatterinto a lilliputian glade like afairy trail.

Later in the weekend, havingpassed another half-handful ofthru-hikers heading north, Ireached the summit of GooseEye Mountain and found myfirst crowd. There, among therocks and fog, milled a coveyof spruce grouse. Cluckingnervously, they materialized in

and out of the whiteness, thenvanished into the thickets, leav-ing me once again alone withthe silence.

Expedition Planner The Way: The easiest accessfrom the west is at theCentennial/AT trailhead on US 2, about 2 miles east ofGorham, New Hampshire. Theeastern trailhead is in GraftonNotch State Park, Maine, wherethe AT crosses ME 26. Bothlocations are about 180 milesfrom Boston.Route: The 31-mile MahoosucTrail travels along the spine ofthe range from Gorham toGrafton Notch State Park, with anew parallel trail in the works.Numerous side trails allow forseveral excellent weekend loopsof varying difficulty.Fees: A caretaker at the SpeckPond Campsite from June 1 toOctober 15 collects the $6 pernight fee.

Guides: The best topo is Map 1(Grafton Notch to AndroscogginValley) of the official AT mapsfor New Hampshire andVermont (Appalachian TrailConference, 304/535-6331;www.atctrailstore.org; $12.95 forNH/VT set). The trail isdescribed (with distances andestimated hiking times) in theMaine Mountain Guide, 8thedition by AMC (AppalachianMountain Club, 617/523-0636;$18.95.Contact: Appalachian TrailConference, 304/535-6331;www.atconf.org. AppalachianMountain Club, 617/523-0636;www.outdoors.org.

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In the Night Sky:

Finding the Aurora

BorealisThe multicolored arches of light that dance across the night sky innorthern regions are caused by solar winds that send electricallycharged particles into Earth’s upper atmosphere, where they collidewith gas atoms. This should be another good year for viewing north-ern lights. In Alaska and northern Canada, the best time to view aurorais around the equinox, when dark skies and mild weather cooperate.

THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 1514 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

Isle RoyaleNational Park,MichiganA trip to this island in LakeSuperior is well worth theprice of the ferry.

By James Campbell

Backpackers, as a rule,know that the best

things in life require a little ex-tra effort. So don’t be dauntedwhen it comes to planning atrip to Isle Royale NationalPark. Sure, you have to crossLake Superior to get there, butspending the few extra minutessecuring a boat ticket is wellworth the effort.

When you get off the ferry,you’ll find an island wildernesslittle changed since prehistoricvisitors first traveled here fromthe mainland. Isle Royale’scharms include miles of shore-line and ridgetop trails, moose,river otters, raptors, rareorchids, and the soul-stirringpresence of the eastern timberwolf, offspring of a roamingpack that crossed an ice bridgefrom Canada half a centuryago.

Stuck up in Lake Superior’slonely northwest corner, IsleRoyale was established to con-serve a “prime example ofNorthwoods Wilderness.” You’llfind an even larger liquid pre-serve of winsome inland lakes

and clear streams.My favorite long-weekend

hike is the 30-mile FeldtmannLake–Island Mine Loop, whichtakes in plenty of woods andwater in its romp around thesouthwest corner of the island.Best of all, stretches of theFeldtmann route stick prettyclose to the shoreline, makingthe trail a breezy antidote tosummer’s heat and humidity.

The loop begins at Windigoferry stop and cuts southwestfor 9 miles to the FeldtmannLake Campground. On daytwo, the trail makes a beelinefor Feldtmann Ridge and thetoughest section of the hike. Besure to climb the observationtower for superb views.

A long, lolling descent bringsyou to Siskiwit Bay. A dip inLake Superior is essential,though the icy water will sendyou rushing back to your tent.Once night falls, listen for theeerie howling of the island’sresident wolf packs.

After climbing to Red OakRidge, you’ll head back toWindigo via the GreenstoneRidge Trail. The last leg isdownhill, leaving you plenty ofenergy for the ferry ride home.

Expedition PlannerDrive Time: Duluth: about 2 hours (140 miles); St. Paul: 5 hours (295 miles). Ferry rideto Windigo: 2 hours.The Way: From St. Paul, take I-35 north for 132 miles toDuluth. At Duluth, exit onto

MN 61 north. Continue on MN61 to Grand Portage and followthe signs to the ferry.Trails: With 165 trail miles tochoose from, Isle Royale offerstrips to fit just about any timeframe. The 30-mile FeldtmannLake–Island Mine Loop makesa good trek for strong hikerswith a long weekend. For ashorter option, simply turnaround at Feldtmann Lake.Dayhike: The 6.5-mile Hugin-nin Cove Loop samples theisland’s forests and waters andoffers opportunities to watchthe local wildlife.Elevation: Feldtmann Ridgeand Red Oak Ridge (1,200 feet)won’t give you altitude sick-ness, but they will test yourresolve. Can’t Miss: A long break onthe Feldtmann Ridge observa-tion tower, where you get abird’s-eye view of LakeSuperior’s spectacular southernshoreline.Crowd Control: Go in latespring or early fall to avoid thesummer rush. The park closesfrom October 31 to April 15.User fee is $15 per person perday.Guides: Hiking Michigan byMike Modrzynski (GlobePequot–Falcon, 800/582-2665;www.backpacker.com/bookstore; $12.95). Isle Royale National Park #240map (Trails Illustrated, 800/962-1643; www.backpacker.com/mapstore; $9.95).Walk Softly: Keep a safe dis-

tance from the island wildlife(see “A Respectful Distance,”page 16, and “Too Close forComfort,” on page 22). Stay onestablished trails even if they’remuddy.Contact: Isle Royale NationalPark, 906/482-0984; www.nps.gov/isro. Grand Portage IsleRoyale Transportation Lines,888/746-2305; www.GRAND-ISLE-ROYALE.com.

Mt. Nebo, UtahSalt Lake City hikersare 2 hours away fromsweeping views atop theMt. Nebo ridge.

By Eric Hansen

You’ll gasp when youstep onto Mt. Nebo’s

10,000-foot-high summit ridge,and it won’t just be due to thethin air. The extensive viewstake in much of central Utah,and they only get better as yougo higher. Ahead, the Mt. NeboTrail follows the ridge pastsculpted snow cornices and afew clumps of krummholz as ittiptoes up the serrated crest. Amile later, the path skirts a flatmeadow before the final, 500-foot climb to Nebo’s SouthSummit.

There, views stretch northeastto the Uinta Mountains, southto the 120-miles-distant TusharMountains, and west to NotchPeak and the Deep Creek

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Range. To the north, much ofthe length of the Wasatch Frontis visible, but the knife-edgeridge connecting Nebo’s threesummits steals the show. Thatrugged spine’s steep limestonebedrock runs to Nebo’s 11,928-foot highpoint, a mile away. Abeautifully symmetrical pyra-mid, Mt. Nebo presides over alandscape of rock, lingeringearly-summer snow, and greenswaths of sharply angled alpinemeadows.

Early Mormon pioneers gavethe lofty summit its name,meaning “Sentinel of God.”Today, that high crest is thecentral feature of a 27,010-acrewilderness area where elk,moose, cougar, black bear, andmule deer roam. Red-tailedhawks glide on the thermals; insummer, the bright red ofIndian paintbrush and purple-

blue of lupine accent the mead-ows.

Expedition PlannerRoute: About 24 miles of hik-ing trail are within the wilder-ness, with another 70 nearby.The author’s route followed theNebo Bench and Mt. NeboTrails for a 13-mile round-triphike, gaining and losing 5,400feet of elevation. Swingingthrough four broad switchbacksin its first 2 miles, the NeboBench Trail reaches a sage-brush flat and views of Mt.Nebo’s skyline 1,500 feet abovethe trailhead. Several snow gul-lies near the intersection of theNebo Bench and Mt. NeboTrails can be a hazard well intoJuly. Water can be scarce afterlingering snow patches meltoff. Check conditions withSpanish Fork rangers (see

Contact below). Snow returnsto the high crest in lateSeptember or in October.

Beyond the author’s route,the Nebo Bench Trail continuesnorth 7 miles along Mt. Nebo’seastern slopes, traversing highmeadows and fir and aspenstands to the Monument trail-head. From Nebo’s west side,the 3.5-mile-long WillowCanyon Trail offers a short butsteep route to the crest.Drive Time: Salt Lake City: 2 hoursThe Way: From Salt Lake City,take I-15 south 87 miles. Turneast on UT 132 for 5 miles,then north 3.3 miles on the Mt.Nebo Scenic Loop Road. At thatpoint, turn northwest, as theLoop Road turns northeast, and drive 1.3 miles, past thePonderosa Campground, to thetrailhead. A sign and trail regis-ter mark a small parking areaon the west side of the road.Dayhike: From the Monumenttrailhead, walk the North PeakTrail 3.25 miles, gaining 2,000feet, to arrive at its namesake’s11,174-foot highpoint.Elevation: The lowest eleva-tion in the wilderness is 5,200feet, near Little Birch Creek.The highpoint is Mt. Nebo at11,928 feet.Crowd Control: You may seea few weekend peak-baggerson the Nebo Bench, WillowCanyon, and Mt. Nebo Trails.Guides: Hiking Utah by DavidHall ($14.95). Trails Illustrated/National Geographic Uinta

National Forest #701 map(backpacker.com/mapstore;$9.95).Walk Softly: Don’t camp onthe flat meadow below Nebo’sSouth Summit. Leave the flow-ers for others to enjoy.Contact: Spanish Fork RangerDistrict, Uinta National Forest,435/623-0952, ext. 461;www.fs.fed.us/r4/uinta.

OlympicNationalPark,WashingtonA trip along Washington’sOlympic Coast is one whaleof a day at the beach.

By Kristin Hostetter

There’s something aboutthe sound of waves hit-

ting a beach that makes yousleep like a baby. But if youhaven’t camped on a desertedcoastal beach before, you’remissing a whole lot more thanjust some great shut-eye.Things like a tidepool filledwith 10-legged starfish andshimmering sea anemones, andmornings with laughing sea-gulls and the sun dancing onthe waves. You’re missing aclimb up a 50-foot cliff to gazeinto the ocean’s sapphire waterand—if you’re lucky—catch aglimpse of a whale breaking

A Respectful Distance

Getting close to wildlife may not be the bestidea because you may scare them, causingthem to waste precious energy they need tosurvive. If you move in for a better view, don’t make a beeline for theanimals, but look down and walk slowly in random directions, as if youwere looking for lost keys. Freeze whenever the animal looks at you.

While we’re on the subject of respecting wildlife, let’s talk aboutlures and calls. In some parks, calling tapes and other lures are illegalbecause they unnecessarily disturb mating animals. Some people suckon the backs of their hands to attract predators (who think it soundslike a hurt rabbit) and birds (who think it’s a bird invading their terri-tory). If you choose to try this, be ready for what may approach you.

THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 1918 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

the surface a few hundred feetoffshore.

I’ve hiked countless beaches,and the Coastal Strip in Wash-ington’s Olympic National Parkis the place to go. The 60-milestretch from Shi-Shi Beach tothe Hoh River is the longesttract of virgin coastline left inthe Lower 48. You’ll hike a section of white-sand beach,picking your way over ocean-slicked cobblestones and mas-sive, algae-covered logs. Whenthat section of the beach endsand a headland juts out intothe sea, you’ll claw your wayup out of the sun and into thecool cedar forests above. Thenit’s back down to the beach,often via handy rope ladders.The wonderful up-and-downpattern continues along theentire coast, creating a hikethat’s varied and beautiful. Paycareful attention to the tides, soyou don’t get stranded on thewrong side of a headland.

Expedition Planner Permits: Permits are free andavailable at ranger stations, visi-tor centers, and many trail-heads. Call ahead to check onquotas and reservations (seeContact below). Route: Access to Shi-Shi Beachis through private property.Contact the Makah InformationCenter at 360/645-2201 fordetails. For a shorter hike, startat Third Beach and hike southto the Hoh River (18 miles).Season: High summer brings

more stable weather and morehikers. Spring and fall can bewet, but you may have thecoast to yourself.Guides: Custom Correct mapsNorth Olympic Coast andSouth Olympic Coast(www.olypen.com/lre; $3.25 each) are available atpark visitor centers, ranger stations, or from the OutdoorRecreation Information Center,206/470-4060;www.nps.gov/ccso/oric.htm. 100 Hikes inWashington’s South Cascadesand Olympics: Chinook Pass,White Pass, Goat Rocks, Mt. St.Helens, Mt.Adams by Ira Springand Harvey Manning (TheMountaineers, 800/553-4453;$14.95). Contact: Olympic NationalPark Wilderness InformationCenter, 360/565-3100;www.nps.gov/olym.

Salmo-PriestWilderness,WashingtonYou may glimpse one of thelast Selkirk grizzlies.

By Craig Romano

Hiking along Washing-ton’s Shedroof Divide

Trail, I kept one hand on mytrekking pole and the other onmy binoculars. I needed thepole because this high pathtraverses a 5,000-foot-high ridge-line for 22 miles, offering wideviews of the surrounding mead-ows, forests, and ridges ofnortheastern Washington. Thebinoculars? The area is knownas the last stronghold for griz-zlies in the Pacific Northwest,and my hiking partner and Iwanted a glimpse of one.

The grizzly is one of the mostendangered mammals in theLower 48, and here it shares theland with another rare mammal,the woodland caribou. In 1984,Congress helped protect bothanimals by designating this north-eastern corner of the state theSalmo-Priest Wilderness. At morethan 41,000 acres, the wildernessconsists of two long north-southridges, with 6,828-foot SalmoMountain crowning its northernend. About 50 miles of trail crossthe damp old-growth forests,resplendent alpine meadows, and7,000-foot peaks.

Besides being home to bearand caribou, Salmo-Priest is aresidence for cougar, bobcat,deer, elk, wolverine, badger,lynx, moose, and bighornsheep. We kept our eyes peeledfrom the moment we left thetrailhead at Pass Creek Pass.

A mere 2 miles from the road,Round Top Mountain’s viewentices you to stay, but thescenery and the solitude onlyget better the farther you travelalong the ridgeline. Before long,something large moving on thetrail ahead startled us. Ourexcitement faded as we saw thatthe object of our attention was aSalmo-Priest backcountry ranger.He took a reprieve from trail-work to chat with us about hisfirst grizzly sighting.

With new determination, wecontinued up the divide for 10more miles. Though we neversaw a grizz, fresh scat, tracks,and debarked trees were preva-lent and convinced us that justsharing the stunning wildernesswith these mountain monarchswas excitement enough.

Expedition PlannerDrive Time: Spokane: 2 hours(100 miles).The Way: From Spokane, takeUS 2 northeast for 35 miles toWA 211. Follow WA 211 northto the town of Usk. At the junc-tion of WA 211 and WA 20, takeWA 20 north for 30 miles toTiger. Take WA 31 north for 2 miles. Just before the town of

In the

Night Sky:

Finding

Due North

The last two stars in the BigDipper’s bowl point to the NorthStar. Now, draw an imaginary linefrom the North Star to the hori-

zon, and you haveyour bearings.

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www.backpacker.com THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 2120 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

Ione, turn east on Sullivan LakeRoad (County Road 9345), andtravel 12 miles to Sullivan LakeRanger Station. Forest ServiceRoad 22 begins here, leading tomany of the trailheads.Trails: About 50 miles of trailare within the wilderness, withanother 50 close by. Theauthor’s route followed the22-mile Shedroof Divide Trailthrough the heart of the wilder-ness. A scenic 18-mile circuit(the “Salmo Loop”) combinesShedroof Divide Trail withTrails #535 (Salmo Divide Trail)and #506 (Salmo Basin Trail).The loop spills into Idaho, withthe option of hiking to the firetower at Little Snowy Top(6,829 feet).Dayhike: The 5.3-mile NoisyCreek Trail starts at NoisyCreek Campground and offersviews of Sullivan Lake and con-nections to other wildernesstrails.Elevation: The area ranges

from about 3,400 feet in theSalmo River Valley to 7,309 feetat Gypsy Mountain.Can’t Miss: The view of PriestLake, 1 vertical mile belowLittle Snowy Top.Crowd Control: These trailsare lightly visited, but the“Salmo Loop” sees a fair num-ber of backpackers from Juneuntil August.Guides: 100 Hikes in the In-land Northwest by RichLanders and Ida Dolphin (TheMountaineers, 800/553-4453;www.backpacker.com/bookstore; $14.95).The ForestService publishes a goodwilderness map ($3) and offersa free booklet describing trails(see Contact).Walk Softly: This is bear coun-try. Hang food and keep aclean camp.Contact: Sullivan Lake District,Colville National Forest,509/446-7500; www.fs.fed.us/r6/colville/.

EncampmentRiver Trail,WyomingWhen you hike Wyoming’sEncampment River Trail, youwon’t want to go home.

By Eric Hansen

Every time I hike theEncampment River Trail,

my usually brisk pace slows to acrawl. I linger at rushing streamsand muse over the source andtravels of the gurgling flow. Istop to examine rocks that catchmy eye. In truth, I use anyexcuse to dawdle, because itwould be a terrible mistake tohurry through this remotecanyon.

The Encampment River beginsin the high country of Colo-rado’s Mt. Zirkel Wilderness.From there, it sloshes north for10 miles and meets its name-sake 16-mile trail in the mead-ows of Commissary Park at theWyoming border. After 2 milesof gentle terrain, the riverbegins its foaming drop into arugged gorge where rapids andtowering granite walls alternatewith deep pools and shadynooks. The trail, as playful asthe falling water, dips and rollsby the river, and occasionallyclimbs hundreds of feet abovewhen sheer cliffs block its roil-ing way. Along part of the rivergorge, the trail passes through

Wyoming’s smallest wildernessarea, the 10,400-acre Encamp-ment River Wilderness.

Amid the small wonders ofthe canyon, from potholes on amidstream rock to golden eaglesriding the thermals above, oneunderlying theme endures: thesteady change in vegetation asthe river rolls out of the moun-tains. The trail, the river’s con-stant companion for 16 miles,begins in spruce and fir andends among streamside cotton-woods and sagebrush-coveredfoothills. The healthy popula-tions of mule deer and elkdepend on the vegetation.

As the trail leaves the last ofthe forest, be on the lookout forprairie falcons working the openslopes of the lower canyon.Also, watch for the remains of a mining-era dam, a mile beforethe trail’s lower end and beforeMiner’s Creek enters from thewest. High above this site, secureon the opposite cliff face, is themain lambing area of the can-yon’s resident herd of 50 RockyMountain bighorn sheep.

Expedition PlannerDrive Time: Denver: 3 hours(170 miles); Laramie, WY: 11⁄2 hours (80 miles).The Way: From the town ofEncampment, take WY 70 west5 miles, turn south and travel15.5 miles on Forest ServiceRoad 550, then turn southeastand drive 3 miles on ForestService Road 496 to theCommissary Park trailhead, just

In the Night Sky:

Finding the Milky Way

The 200 billion stars, planets, and celestialfeatures that share our galaxy are called theMilky Way. Just don’t take the view for grant-ed. As many as two-thirds of the world’sinhabitants can no longer see the Milky Way,due to light pollution. For the best view,choose a summer night with a new moon,and camp far from urban light sources.

THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 2322 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

before a bridge over the riverand the Colorado border.Trails: For a 16-mile point-to-point hike, take the well-maintained Encampment RiverTrail north from the Coloradoborder (Commissary Park) tothe Encampment River Camp-ground 2 miles south of thetown of Encampment. Snowmelts off the lower portionof the river’s canyon wellbefore it leaves the higherparts, allowing early-seasonin-and-out trips from thenorth. A stone’s throw southof Commissary Park, a net-work of 150 miles of trail(including the ContinentalDivide Trail) in the Mt.Zirkel Wilderness begins.Dayhike: The Hog ParkCreek and Purgatory GulchTrails offer short (2 mileseach) alternatives at eitherend of the main trail.Elevation: The Encamp-ment River Trail drops from8,400 feet at CommissaryPark to 7,200 feet at itsnorthern end.Can’t Miss: The spectacularupper gorge with its truck-size midstream boulders.Crowd Control: TheEncampment River is a blue-ribbon trout stream, and thelower portion sees some usefrom dayhiking anglers.Traffic on the trail is light.Guides: Hiking Wyomingby Bill Hunger (Falcon Pub-lishing, 800/582-2665; www.backpacker.com/bookstore;

$15.95). A free Forest Servicemap (see Contact) for thewilderness provides plenty ofdetail for those sticking to thetrail. Walk Softly: Always givebighorn sheep a wide berth.Contact: Medicine BowNational Forest, 307/327-5481;www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr.

Blue Range,Arizona Hike out where thewolves still howl.

By Annette McGivney

Ihad a different kind ofcampsite in mind for

tonight, one smack in the mid-dle of a sunny alpine meadow,encircled by golden-leafedaspen, bustling with elk in rutand within earshot of the howl-ing wolves that roam thesemountains. There are plenty ofplaces like that here inArizona’s Blue Range. Instead, I find myself setting down mypack in a dark, forested bone-yard at the bottom of GrantCreek Canyon, the only flatspot for miles. All manner ofgnawed ungulate body partsfrom at least half a dozen elkor deer are strewn about. Notonly am I within likely earshotof wolves, it appears I am alsoin the middle of their mess hall.(I would find out later that theboneyard was a “rendezvoussite” for the Cienega pack lastspring. The alpha male andfemale dragged fresh kills tothis spot to feed their pups.)

Even though most hikershead to the picture-postcard-perfect White Mountains nextdoor, I have always beendrawn to the Blue Range. Afternearly a decade of backpackingtrips in the 174,000-acre wilder-

ness on the Arizona/NewMexico border—hiking from the9,000-foot-high aspen and fir-forested peaks soggy with snow-melt down to the oak-coveredfoothills and cactus-studdedcanyon bottoms—I thought Iknew these mountains. But I had no idea how much theendangered Mexican gray wolf(reintroduced in 1998) hadreclaimed this land.

If Aldo Leopold were heretoday, he’d be pleased to seehow well the 30-plus wolvesare doing and how “primitive”the Blue Range Primitive Area(a wilderness he helped estab-lish) remains. In 1908, whilepatrolling the Blue Range dur-ing the early years of his ForestService career, Leopold had awolf encounter that planted theseed for a conservation ethicthat helped inspire our nation’senvironmental movement.

In Leopold’s famous environ-mental treatise, A Sand CountyAlmanac, he recalls the daywhen he and his coworkerswere sitting on a canyon bluffand spotted a pack of wolves.Exterminating wolves, grizzly,and other “vermin” was part oftheir job, so they proceeded topull out their rifles and fill thepack with lead. Leopold shotthe alpha female.

“We reached the old wolf intime to watch a fierce greenfire dying in her eyes,” hewrote. “I realized then, andhave known ever since, thatthere was something new to

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ESCAPES FOR A WEEK—OR LONGER

Too Close

for Comfort

Don’t feed or pet wildlife—gettingtoo close can be just as dangerousfor you as it is for animals. If an ani-mal points its ears toward you, getsvisibly nervous, stamps its feet, oracts aggressively, back off. Scientistshave found that animals tend to fleewhen humans get within a certaindistance. Use these numbers as a guide.

• Mountain sheep 165 feet

• American kestrel 250 feet

• Great blue heron 330 feet

• Prairie falcon 525 feet

• Mule deer 630 feet

• Elk 650 feet

• Rough-legged hawk 690 feet

• Bald eagle 820 feet

• Golden eagle 985 feet

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me in those eyes—somethingknown only to her and themountain. I was young thenand full of trigger-itch; Ithought that because fewerwolves meant more deer, thenno wolves would mean ahunter’s paradise. But after see-ing the green fire die, I sensedthat neither the wolf nor themountain agreed with such aview.” It took decades—andthousands of deer starvedthrough overpopulation—forthe federal government toagree with Leopold’s assertionthat wolves were essential tomaintaining the ecology ofwildlands.

There have been rumors ofreintroduced wolves killed byarea ranchers, but it would behard for any animal not tothrive in these mountains.There is a force of nature herethat emanates from the gurglingof every stream, every canyonbottom, every forested peak,every pile of bones. As Leopoldfound when he looked into thewolf’s eyes, there’s a wild en-ergy hereabouts that’s morepowerful than anything human.I feel it as I crouch over mystove boiling water for dinner.Or is it the presence of wolvesthat is sending a chill down myspine?

A sound unlike any I’ve everheard rises from the bluffbehind me. It’s not the hoot ofan owl, but neither does itsound like a classic wolf howl.Then again, perhaps it is the

“deep, chesty bawl...of wilddefiant sorrow” that Leopoldheard in the Blue Range. Thereis still much I have to learnfrom these mountains. AsLeopold said, “Only the moun-tain has lived long enough tolisten objectively to the howl ofa wolf.”

Expedition Planner The Way: The Blue RangePrimitive Area is located on theArizona–New Mexico border,approximately 15 miles southof Alpine, Arizona, via AZ 191. Trails: An extensive network oftrails offers a variety of looproutes with reliable waterthroughout much of the wilder-ness (uncommon in Arizona).Wolves are most often heard(occasionally seen) at higherelevations. Starting from theHannagan Meadow trailheadoff AZ 191, you can create aloop route from 10 to 40 mileslong using the Grant Creek,Upper Grant Creek, and SteepleTrails.Guides: Exploring Arizona’sWild Areas by Scott Warren(The Mountaineers, 800/553-4453; $14.95). A map of theBlue Range Primitive Area canbe purchased from the national

forest (see Contact below) for $7.Contact: Alpine RangerDistrict, Apache-SitgreavesNational Forest, 928/339-4384;www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf.

San Pedro RiverTrail, ArizonaShady hiking and cool watersmake the San Pedro River anoasis for desert trekkers.

By Paul Bogard

If you think that findingwater in the Arizona desert

is rare, you’ll think the SanPedro River is a bona fide mira-cle. What’s miraculous about it?For starters, the San Pedro isthe Southwest’s last remainingfree-flowing river, and it servesup 40-odd miles of lush stream-side hiking in the heart of ahot, sandy desert.

The San Pedro River starts innorthern Mexico and flowsnorth through Arizona, whereit’s protected within the SanPedro Riparian NationalConservation Area (NCA). Theriver is perennial, but its flow issometimes only a trickle.

From my first steps along theRiver Trail on a quiet wintermorning, I had the trail—indeed, it seemed, the wholeNCA—to myself. In theory, theRiver Trail runs parallel to thestream as it winds its way alongthe San Pedro Valley floor,between the HuachucaMountains to the west and theMule Mountains to the east. Butin some places, the stream cov-ers the trail and you’re boundto get your feet wet. You canfollow the trail in and along the

San Pedro except at times ofextremely high water, followingheavy rainfall. The best hikingis in winter, with steady waterlevels and comfortable temper-atures, or in spring, with thearrival of hundreds of migratorybirds.

The area along the river isone of the last remnants of anenvironment that once existednear free-flowing streamsthroughout the Southwest.Goodding’s willows andFremont cottonwoods growhere in green profusion, andmore than 350 bird species—Ispied green kingfishers,Mississippi kites, and grayhawks, to name a few—eithervisit or inhabit the conservationarea. Local residents like ring-tail cats, coatimundis, andjavelinas also make regularappearances.

This hike is best undertakenwithout concern for speed ordistance. My plan was to hike30 miles, through the Narrows,all the way to the northern endof the conservation area. Butafter a stop-and-go day watch-ing for wildlife and petroglyphs(the river region contains morethan 250 recorded prehistoricand historic sites), I realized ittakes more than a weekend tosee this desert miracle.

Expedition PlannerDrive Time: The San PedroRiparian National ConservationArea is 11⁄2 hours (75 miles)southeast of Tucson.

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THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 2726 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

The Way: From Tucson, take I-10 east and then AZ 90 southto Sierra Vista. From SierraVista, take either CharlestonRoad or AZ 90 east about 15 miles to trailheads on theriver, or go south on AZ 92 andeast on Hereford Road to theHereford Bridge trailhead.Trails: The most popular sec-tion of the River Trail is the 8-mile segment betweenCharleston Road and FairbankTownsite. For a longer hikewith more solitude, start at the Hereford Bridge trailhead (8 miles from the Mexican bor-der) and hike north for up to32 miles one way. A $2 back-country fee is required (seeContact below).Dayhike: For an easy out-and-back trip to The Narrows,where the San Pedro squeezesbetween two hills, hike down-stream from the CharlestonRoad trailhead (3 miles round-trip). Continue through TheNarrows to extend the route up to 8 miles one way.Elevation: At the Mexican border, the elevation is 4,300feet. It drops to 4,000 feet atFairbank Townsite, and bottomsout at 3,600 feet at the northernedge of the NCA.Can’t Miss: Taking off yourshoes and splashing throughthe creek on a warm winterday.Crowd Control: Spring week-ends (the end of April andbeginning of May) draw themost crowds, as birders come

from all over the country. Goin fall or winter, or midweek,to avoid the crowds. Also avoidthe busy trails near the SanPedro House (a nonprofit visi-tor center on AZ 90).Guides: The San Pedro River:ADiscovery Guide by RoseannBeggy Hanson (University ofArizona Press, 800/426-3797;www.backpacker.com/bookstore; $17.95). USGS topoFairbank Townsite.Walk Softly: There are numer-ous historic and prehistoricarchaeological sites in the area.Look, but don’t touch.Contact: San Pedro ProjectOffice, Bureau of LandManagement, 520/458-3559;www.az.blm.gov.

Furnace Creek,Death Valley,CaliforniaTime spent in California’sDeath Valley can be a life-enhancing experience.

By Jordan Rane

Never mind the park’sname, the desolate sur-

roundings, or the fact that itholds the record for the conti-nent’s hottest temperature(134°F on June 10, 1913). Justfiling a backcountry permit atDeath Valley’s Furnace Creekheadquarters can be its own

mildly intimidating rite of pas-sage.

“I’m not sure where [the per-mits] are,” the ranger at the deskconfessed. “Uh, there haven’tbeen too many people needingthem. Most folks here stay pret-ty close to their cars.”

But persistence paid off, and Isoon learned this truth: Headinto the park with a reliablevehicle, good maps, plenty ofwater, and lots of respect for theforbidding Mojave Desert andyou’ll experience a wild land-scape most visitors don’t get tosee. Death Valley includes morethan 3 million acres of lonelymountain ranges, salt flats, sanddunes, desiccated lakebeds, andancient canyons autographedwith the odd petroglyph. It con-tains the lowest spot in theWestern Hemisphere, a snowypeak topping 11,000 feet, andboundless desert hiking possibil-ities—temperature permitting.

A hike to put at the top ofyour list is the Cottonwood–Marble Canyon Loop in thePanamint Range, near StovepipeWells. Don’t go anywhere nearthis 26-mile, three-canyon routeafter April or before October,when temperatures are danger-ously high. But in winter, you’llhave your own vast, temperateplanet. Crumbling brown peaks,jagged chasms, and sheer cliff-sides spiked with horizontal-growing cacti accompany youthrough this utterly deserted,natural trail.

Most of the route is easy to

follow, but I had to get out thetopos to cross from Cottonwoodto Marble Canyon via DeadhorseCanyon. Highlights of the jour-ney include the narrow slots ofMarble Canyon, the wildflower-and tree-lined springs ofCottonwood Creek (where youcan refill water stores and spotbighorn sheep), and the sepia-tone landscape fading to a silentblack under blinding stars.

Death Valley’s biggest com-modity remains its immeasura-ble silence and stillness. Justknowing there’s a place in theworld this huge, quiet, anduninhabited is a life-affirmingexperience.

Expedition PlannerDrive Time: Death Valley is in eastern California, about 5 hours (280 miles) northeast of Los Angeles and 2 hours (125 miles) west of Las Vegas.The Way: From Las Vegas, takeUS 95 north for 90 miles toLathrop Wells, and head southon NV 373/CA 127 for 25 milesto the park junction at CA 190.In southern California, take US 15 north to Baker and drive north on CA 127. Proceed80 miles to CA 190 and headwest to the Furnace CreekVisitor Center. Continue 24 mileson CA 190 to the StovepipeWells ranger station and the 12-mile access road to the MarbleCanyon trailhead (four-wheel-drive required for access road).Trails: The park’s few main-tained trails are mostly designed

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THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 2928 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

for short dayhikes. Longertreks, such as theCottonwood–Marble CanyonLoop, combine cross-countryhiking with unmarked use trailsand four-wheel-drive roads. Ifyou aren’t confident about yournavigational skills, do an out-and-back hike up CottonwoodCanyon (where water is avail-able).Dayhike: For the best 1-dayadventure, hike up MarbleCanyon’s narrow ravine andturn around at DeadhorseCanyon (10 miles round-trip).Bring your own drinking water. Elevation: Badwater Basin isthe lowest point in the park(and Western Hemisphere) at282 feet below sea level.Telescope Peak’s 11,049-footsummit is the high point.Can’t Miss: Stargazing in an empty Marble Canyonamphitheater.Crowd Control: Most visitorsdon’t stray far from the parkroads, leaving miles of expan-sive desert backcountry empty.Guides: The Explorer’s Guide to Death Valley by T. ScottBryan (University Press ofColorado, 720/406-8849; www.backpacker.com/bookstore;$22.50). USGS topos East ofSand Flat, Cottonwood Canyon,and Harris Hill.Walk Softly: The desert is vul-nerable and the trails are few.Reduce impact by avoidingfragile soil crusts, vegetation,and animal burrows. Considertraveling only in small groups.

Contact: Death Valley NationalPark, 760/786-2331; www.nps.gov/deva.

Trinity AlpsWilderness,CaliforniaWildflower meadows and aremote mountain lake awaithikers off the beaten track inthe Trinity Alps.

By Dennis Lewon

If there’s an afterlife, thensomewhere up above a

miner named Bob is laughing.In the 19th century, Bob stakeda claim to a small gold minedeep in the backcountry ofwhat’s now the Trinity AlpsWilderness in northernCalifornia. The outpost becameknown as Bob’s Farm, whichsurely represents a bit of fron-tier humor: Bob had squeezedhis cabin into a steep, narrowravine completely unsuitablefor farming. The rudimentarypath carved by the prospectorbecame known as Bob’s FarmTrail. And that’s why he’slaughing.

The pastoral, gentle-soundingname fooled me the first time I saw it on a map. If I’d lookedmore closely at the contourlines, I would have appreciatedthe joke. Though less than 5 miles long, the steep,

manzanita-choked Bob’s FarmTrail is one of the most difficultroutes in the Trinity Alps. Butthere’s one very compellingreason to hike it (besides brag-ging rights): Bob’s Farm Trail isthe crucial link in a weeklongloop that culminates in GrizzlyLake, quite possibly the crownjewel of this overlooked range.

Perched on a glacier-gougedshelf below the granite ram-parts of 9,002-foot ThompsonPeak, with a 100-foot waterfallpouring from its sheer outletand dizzying vistas reflected inits smooth surface, Grizzly Lakeis as good as it gets in themountains. You have twochoices when it comes toreaching Grizzly. The first is asneak route via the China

Spring Trail. It’s a steep grind,but the path will land you atthe base of that sublime water-fall in about 7 miles.

But it’s the other route thatdeserves a week of your time.From Hobo Gulch, the NorthFork Trail hugs the North ForkTrinity River on an 18-mile jour-ney that unfolds slowly, like agood book you don’t want toend. The first few chapters rollalong under a shady forest offir, pine, and incense cedar,dipping over lush streamsidebenches and passing through awild and lonely wilderness. Thefirst time I hiked the North ForkTrail, I nearly walked headlonginto a mountain lion loungingon the path.

You could easily spend a

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Walk Like a FoxIdeally, to spot wildlife, plan your hike after a heavy rain so soggyleaves and twigs won’t crackle beneath your feet. Or learn to walklike a fox:

1. Lower the outside edge of your foot to the ground. Before putting weight on it, feel for sticks or stones, and either brushthem aside or step in a clear spot.

2. Weight the edge, then roll onto the ball. Next, slowlyweight the entire sole of your foot so you compress sticksand leaves quietly.

3. Place your fullweight on your foot.

4. Repeat with yourother foot.

THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 3130 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

week exploring the North ForkTrail and Grizzly Lake, but tohike the longer loop (about 46 miles) and pay your respectsto Bob’s Farm, hang a right onthe Rattlesnake Creek Trail andfirst visit Papoose Lake. You’llpass a museum’s worth of min-ing relics before topping out ina secluded cirque below 8,933-foot Mt. Hilton.

Whichever route you choose,you’ll end up on the path toGrizzly Lake. Over the last fewmiles, the trail climbs steeplyout of the ferny canyon bottomand abruptly dead-ends in aseries of flower-filled meadowswhere you can put your feetup and contemplate the water-fall that is pouring from thesky. Grizzly Lake is up there,out of sight above the basin’sheadwall, and to get there allyou have to do is claw yourway up the Grizzly Scramble(it’s not technical, but the lasthalf mile is so precipitous theForest Service won’t actuallycall it a trail). Be sure toexplore the upper cirque,where a small remnant of theTrinity Alps’s last glacier hangsabove the lake.

In the evening, find a seatnear the lip of the waterfall andwatch the sun go down on awild swath of mountains little-changed since old Bob first setfoot here. You might just hearhis chuckle in the roaring cas-cade, though by now you’llrealize he’s laughing with you,not at you.

Drive Time: San Francisco: 51⁄2 hoursThe Way: From Redding on I-5, drive west 61 miles on CA 299 to the turn-off for OldHelena (a largely abandonedmining town) and turn right(north) on County Road 421.Follow signs to Hobo Gulchtrailhead, 16 miles away onunpaved Forest Service Road34N07Y. Trails: The author’s loop com-bines the Rattlesnake CreekTrail (13 miles), the Bob’s FarmTrail (5 miles), and the NorthFork Trail (18.5 miles), with aminimum amount of backtrack-ing. Total distance is about 46 miles. Elevation: The trailhead is at2,600 feet, while Grizzly Lake isat 7,100 feet.Guides: Hiking California’sTrinity Alps Wilderness byDennis Lewon (Falcon Guides,$18.95). USFS Trinity AlpsWilderness map ($6.44; seeContact). Contact: Weaverville RangerDistrict, Shasta-Trinity NationalForest, 530/623-2121; www.r5.fs.fed.us/shastatrinity.

Trap Hills,MichiganThis charming, craggyland is so little known thatyou won’t find descriptionsin guidebooks.

By Eric Hansen

Imagine a ridgeline hikewith vistas stretching

50 miles and more, providingsome of the grandest views inthe Upper Midwest. Now imag-ine enjoying such splendor, ormaybe a sunset, from rock bal-conies so quiet and desertedthe moss doesn’t show anyboot scuff marks.

Welcome to the Trap Hills,one of the hidden gems ofMichigan’s Upper Peninsulabackcountry. Scan the Internet,and clues to this treasureemerge: rare plant surveys, awilderness-preservation groupchampioning the Trap Hills,and clifftop photos taken bymembers of the local NorthCountry Trail chapter.

To Upper-Midwest hikersfamiliar with the region’s pathsand topography, the Trap Hillsridge might remind you of theEscarpment Trail in Michigan’sPorcupine Mountains or Min-nesota’s Oberg Mountain onthe Superior Hiking Trail. Butto equal the Trap Hills I experi-enced one October, you’d haveto make those other ridges

20 stunning miles long, scatterview points all along theirlength, and make the largeparking lots disappear. You’dalso have to remove all the hikers, because I spent 4 dayshiking the Traps without seeinganother’s footprints.

Halfway through a 28-miletraverse of this remote ridge-line, I paused on a high ledge,looked west, and spotted amassive granite face in the dis-tance—one from which I’dwatched the sunrise the daybefore. By this point in thehike, I was used to broadviews from the parade of rockoutcrops. But this one tran-scended the visual, bringingtogether the best moments ofthe trip into one gloriouspanorama. Lake Superior, a fulleighth of Earth’s fresh water,glistened a perfect blue to thenorth, its waters nudging upagainst the broad-shoulderedPorcupine Mountains. Deep-blue skies wisped with thinclouds stretched to the south-west, past Lake Gogebic toWolf Mountain. Golden aspenlined the streams on the valleyfloor below. To the south, theendless forests of the UpperPeninsula, with their amberand bronze hardwoods andevergreen pines, swept to thehorizon.

Huge views are only part ofthe Trap Hills story, however.Grouse, sometimes 20 or more,exploded out of pineries as Ipassed. Toads the size of my

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pinky fingernail hopped alongthe trail, celebrating a warmafternoon. A bald eagle soaredoverhead, riding thermals risingfrom south-facing cliffs. Mag-nificent stands of mature maplelined the trail on the tall bluffsabove Cascade Creek. In theevenings, owls hooted and coyotes yelped.

There’s a mystique about theTrap Hills, a whiff of theunknown and a feeling thatexploration reaps rich rewards.The open, older forests inviteoff-trail rambling and discovery,as do the moist nooks andcrannies of the Gleason Creekand Whiskey Hollow Creekgorges. Rock ledges abound,providing sun-splashed perchesto those willing to climb. I sawa dozen overlooks I’d gladlyspend the night on, each a pri-vate veranda with perfect sun-rise and sunset views.

A few years back, I com-mented on the stunning viewsto a fire-tower ranger. He swepthis arm across the horizon andreplied, “Yep, after this, any-thing else will seem like abasement apartment.”

I had a similar feeling aftersleeping on the high ledges inTrap Hills, finding the space toponder broad questions like,“Aren’t those bumps on theeastern horizon the (60-miledistant) Huron Mountains?” Or,“How did fairy bells (a rareplant) become isolated here inthe Porkies, in the Black Hillsof South Dakota, and in the

Cascades of Oregon andWashington?” Great questionsdemand answers, so I’ll have toreturn, with binoculars, topos,and lots of time.

Expedition Planner The Way: From Bergland,Michigan, at the north end ofLake Gogebic, drive 10 milesnorth on M-64, then 4.5 milessouth on old M-64 to theGogebic Ridge Trail.Route: The author’s 28-milehike started at the GogebicRidge Trail on old M-64, turneda half-mile east to the NorthCountry Trail (NCT), and fol-lowed that path east to OldVictoria (a restored historicmining village that features anAdirondack-style trail shelter).Some of the western segmentsof this section of the NCT arefaint, but navigable thanks toblue diamond markers. Shuttlerides: Ontran, 906/884-2006;check for availability.Guides: The best sourcearound is the Web site of thePeter Wolfe Chapter of theNorth Country Trail Association(www.northcountrytrail.org/pwf/). It features topographicaltrail maps, elevation profiles,trail notes, conditions, watersources, and phenology. USGSquads include Bergland NE,Matchwood NW, Oak Bluff, andRockland ($4.95).Contact: Ottawa NationalForest, 906/932-1330;www.fs.fed.us/r9/ottawa/.

Black CreekNationalRecreationTrail,MississippiYou’ll have a hard timekeeping track of all the crittersalong this wild pathway.

By Marty Tessmer

When the votes weretallied in Backpacker

Reader Ratings, the outcomeincluded a happy coincidence.You picked the Black CreekNational Recreation Trail asMississippi’s best hiking desti-nation, a place I’d just visited.

For those who have yet todiscover this southern gem,take my word for it: The BlackCreek Trail is worth your time.The 41-mile path can be aswild as a feral hog, yet it’s onlya stone’s throw from NewOrleans, Biloxi, and Mobile.

The hikers-only trail followsBlack Creek, a Wild and Sceniccanoeing mecca (best paddledin fall and spring), through thecoastal plains of DeSoto Na-tional Forest. The low-countryhiking won’t tax you with anyserious ups and downs, butthere are other challenges. Justtry to track all the wildlife inthe creek bottoms, pineyuplands, oxbow lakes, andswamps. Each zone has unique

plants and critters, includinglongleaf pines, lush hardwoods,beavers, blue herons, red foxes,and wood ducks.

The best section of trail is the10-mile segment that snakesthrough the 5,000-acre BlackCreek Wilderness. From thesegment’s start at MS 29, Ihiked through a sun-dappledcanopy of lodgepole pines,magnolias, oaks, and dogwoods(good fall colors and greatspring flowers), then rambledfor several miles across shallowdrainages and modest ridges.Good backcountry campsitesabound. Choose between hard-wood stands and pineyuplands.

After crossing BeaverdamCreek via the MS 29 bridge, Idescended into the Black Creekfloodplain. Here, the trail fol-lows a Native American travelcorridor used for thousands ofyears. Ascending from thefloodplain to the top of multi-colored bluffs, I watched thecreek morph from wide placidstream to narrow frenetic chuteand back again.

Creekside hiking provides agreat opportunity to keep aneye out for wildlife, or just tofind a cozy sandbar, close youreyes, and listen to all the crit-ters around you.

Expedition PlannerDrive Time: The Black CreekWilderness is about 1 hour (50 miles) from Hattiesburg,Mississippi. The trail is less than

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3 hours from Jackson, NewOrleans, and Mobile.The Way: From Hattiesburg,take US 98 east for 20 miles toNew Augusta and turn southonto MS 29. Proceed 19 milesto the Black Creek Wildernesstrailhead and parking area.Trails: The main artery is theBlack Creek National RecreationTrail, with 10 of its 41 miles inthe Black Creek Wilderness. Doan end-to-end hike with a carshuttle, or a 20-mile out-and-back trek through the wilder-ness area (go south from thewilderness trailhead). Dayhike: For the best creek-side hiking, start at the trail-head on MS 29 and trek south-east into the wilderness. Go 5 miles and turn around, or usea car shuttle to hike 10 milesone way.Elevation: The creek bottomsout near 100 feet, and theupland ridges rise to 270 feet.Can’t Miss: An afternoon siestaon a quiet sandbar, listening tothe Black Creek slip by and

watching a blue heron wingoverhead.Crowd Control: The trail israrely crowded. Octoberthrough April is cool, sunny,and relatively insect-free. Wearblaze orange clothing duringdeer-hunting season (Novemberto January).Guides: USGS topos Brooklyn,Janice, and Bond Pond. ABlack Creek Trail map is alsoavailable from the DeSotoNational Forest (see Contactbelow; $5). Hiking Mississippi:A Guide to Trails and NaturalAreas by Helen McGinnis (Uni-versity Press of Mississippi,800/737-7788; www.backpacker.com/bookstore; $15.95).Walk Softly: Be sure to campat least 200 feet from thestream so you don’t contami-nate the water. Contact: DeSoto Ranger Dis-trict, DeSoto National Forest,601/928-4422; www.fs.fed.us/r8/miss.

In the Night Sky:

Finding CometsThese “dirty snowballs” are ice cores falling toward the sun, leaving

behind a tail of dust particles that can reach 6,000 miles long. A cometvisible to the naked eye shows up every 5 years or so; still, comets thatastronomers don’t know about can be out there, lurking on the far side ofthe sun and ready to streak across the sky.

Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness,MontanaThis primitive wildernesshas changed little sinceLewis and Clark camethrough 200 years ago.

By Michael Lanza

“Ithink the trail must bejust up ahead.” My

wife Penny’s voice flutters pastme like an errant scrap ofpaper. Below me, she and ourfriend Kris Karlson clamberover deadfall and throughbrush up a steep slope towardthe saddle where I’m scouringour map, which suddenlyseems less detailed than I’dlike. We’ve spent 30 minutesbushwhacking through sub-alpine forest trying to relocatethe Continental Divide Trail(CDT), which we lost amid amaze of rogue camper foot-paths beside Warren Lake.

Penny’s sense of directionproves true as a compass nee-dle. After a bit of scouting,we’re back on the CDT. Butour diversionary romp beginsto solidify my impression thatthe Anaconda-Pintler Wilder-ness remains true to its histori-cal reputation. The mountainshere in southwestern Montana,near the Idaho border, have

been losing people for cen-turies.

Two hundred years ago,even Meriwether Lewis andWilliam Clark had difficultycrossing the Continental Divide.They believed the MissouriRiver would lead them to thecontinent’s spine at a placewhere a mere half-day portagewould deposit them in theColumbia River drainage. Buton August 12, 1805, whenLewis crested the divide justsouth of here, he saw“immence ranges of highmountains still to the West ofus with their tops partially cov-ered with snow.”

The land today looks littledifferent. In 1937, the U.S.Forest Service declared it a primitive area, citing the“almost complete absence ofman’s influence.” In 1964,Anaconda-Pintler was deemedsufficiently wild to merit inclu-sion in the inaugural class of 54 federal wilderness areas cre-ated by the Wilderness Act.

Named for the AnacondaMountains and Charles EllsworthPintler, a 19th-century settler inthe Big Hole Valley, the wilder-ness comprises 159,086 acresof the Beaverhead, Bitterroot,and Deerlodge NationalForests. Half a dozen peaks top 10,000 feet and numerousothers rise above 9,000, theirslopes and valleys home tomountain goat and lion, elk,moose, deer, wolverine, andblack bear.

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Not many people find theirway here. On this Labor Dayweekend, we find just threevehicles at the trailhead. Twosunrises into our 4-day loop,we’ve hiked through cool pineforests, strolled beside creekscoursing with ice water, tra-versed an exposed talus ridgeoverlooking sweeping glacialcirques, and slept beneath acold sky liberally salted withstars. Yet we’ve passed onlyfour backpackers.

“It’s easy to see why Lewisand Clark had trouble gettingover the Bitterroots,” Pennymuses, gazing west at thedaunting wall of mountains.We’re straddling the divide atan unnamed pass beside anunnamed 9,800-foot summit.Pikas chirp at us from the talus.Moments earlier, five mule deerbounded away.

To our right, the groundpeels away through cliff bandsand meadows of wind-blowngrasses to Rainbow Lake,where waters spill into FishtrapCreek to begin a long journeyto the Atlantic Ocean. To ourleft, Martin Lake tumbles intothe Falls Fork of Rock Creek tobegin an impressive trek to thePacific.

We stop for lunch besideJohnson Lake. A few hikerspass by, the first in 2 days.Lounging on sun-splashedrocks, I ponder the anomaly ofbackpacking over a Labor Dayweekend amid 10,000-footpeaks along the Continental

Divide and encountering virtu-ally no one.

Perhaps some higher hikingpower long ago ordained thatthis majestic stretch of NorthAmerica’s backbone shouldremain forever anonymous,largely beyond view of pavedroads, guarded like a valuedsecret. Maybe this convolutionof skyscraping peaks and maze-like valleys in the northernRockies suffers only the mostintrepid explorers. I can’t com-pletely explain it. But I canenjoy it.

Lewis and Clark bemoanedtheir tribulations in crossingthese mountains 200 years ago,but I firmly believe that if theywere around today, they’dappreciate the fact that a fewplaces like the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness remain.

Expedition Planner The Way: Drive 90 minutessouth from Missoula or an hourwest from Anaconda. Accesstrailheads via US 93 from thewest, MT 43 from the east andsouth, and MT 38 and MT 1from the north.Trails: The wilderness area has 280 miles of trail, includinga 45-mile stretch of theContinental Divide Trail. Theauthor’s 4-day loop from theCarpp Creek trailhead followedthe Carpp Creek and HilineTrails to the CDT and returnedvia the Hiline and Carpp LakeTrails.

Guides: Both the USFSAnaconda-Pintler Wildernessmap (1:50,000 scale; $6) andHiking the Anaconda-PintlerWilderness by Mort Arkava(self-published, Corvallis, MT;$14.95) are available from localUSFS offices (see Contactbelow).Contact: Phillipsburg RangerDistrict, Beaverhead-DeerlodgeNational Forest, 406/859-3211;www.fs.fed.us/r1/bdnf/.

RubyMountains,NevadaThe Ruby Crest Trail offersmountain goats, bighorns,bluebells—and cowboys.

By Steve Howe

From a narrow slot in theridgetop, I can see the

emerald oasis of Overland Lakeshimmering in its steep-sidedbowl far below. To the north,shattered ridgelines swoopbetween polished granitecirques. The view is like a cal-endar scene from Switzerland,only the arid plains encirclingthe distant horizon remind methat this is the heart of theGreat Basin Desert.

These are the Ruby Moun-tains, an 11,000-foot range thatjuts like a skyscraping miragefrom the sagebrush flats ofNevada. The Rubies were

named by early miners, whomisidentified the area’s reddishgarnets; but for all the beautyof those rocks, it’s the glaciatedalpine landscape that’s the truegem here.

Jen and I are 3 days into theRuby Crest Trail, a 43-mile trekalong the gabled ridge of thiscraggy range. We’ve hikedthrough meadows smeared pur-ple with bluebells and lupine,seen bighorn sheep and moun-tain goats peer down on usfrom the heights, jumped acrosscrystal-clear streams, and skirtedlakes so blue they seemed likemirrors into heaven.

Our trailhead was LamoilleCanyon, the Rubies’ major gate-way, so we encountered plentyof anglers and horseback ridersin the first few miles. CentralNevada is also SagebrushRebellion country, a land wherecowboys rule and backpackersare cultural curiosities. Wecaught a few searching looks,but for the most part, evengrizzled cowpokes nodded ahospitable “howdy” from atoptheir quarter horses, with wrin-kled eyes that looked rightthrough us, and smiles thatbelied the six-guns on theirhips.

Trail traffic vanished once wecrossed 10,450-foot Liberty Passand hiked beyond Liberty Lake.Standing atop Liberty Pass,looking southward at the end-less stony overlap of ridge andvalley, you know you’re at ajumping-off point. When you

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step forward, committing toparts rarely traveled, the deci-sion feels like the separationstage of a rocket. Your excesspayload—the workaday stressthat fueled your first miles—drops away like an emptybooster, and you surge out ofcivilization’s orbit, entering the90,000-acre Ruby MountainWilderness.

Aside from wildlife, scenery,big solitude, and cowboy cul-ture, the Rubies also offer a lotof wind. These mountains rendthe sky, cutting into the jetstream like a stone arrowhead.We tasted the full force of thewind yesterday, as we climbedover Wines Peak on the airy,waterless stretch to OverlandLake. All day long, gales thun-dered in our ears and flutteredour windshirts to a high-pitched hum, but the payoffwas spectacular, with viewsfrom California to Utah.

The rough-legged hawksloved the bluster. They wereeverywhere, big as eagles, surfing motionless above thesummits and spiraling intotalus-brushing dives. Marchingtortoiselike beneath my pack, Iwished I were a hawk, but wasequally glad I wasn’t born ajackrabbit.

It was a long day of ups anddowns, so today is for rest andwandering unladen. We spottedbighorn sheep here yesterday,on the ridges above OverlandLake. Sure enough, theirscraped-out daybeds are every-

where. We sneak quietlythrough the timberline groves,but our quarry has moved on,following the faint game trailsthat twist through the high out-crops of King Peak.

Now evening, we enjoy anearly dinner made tastier by theday’s exercise. By 7, my spouseis snoring like a drunken sailor,so I wander the shoreline ofOverland Lake as sunset playson the cliffs above. Beneathgnarled pines, I discover agranite promontory that tapersto a flat bench, just abovewater level.

I lean back and kick my feetup on nature’s own loungechair. The drifting clouds aboveturn slowly from fiery orange toleaden gray. The lake watersloshes rhythmically at my feet,letting my imagination washlikewise to dreams of adventur-ers who plied these mountainsbefore us.

In my mind’s eye, I lookdown to see Shoshone huntingbighorn, the Donner Party’s ill-fated wagon train strugglingacross the distant salt flats, min-ers panning gold in the icystreams, and John C. Fremont’s1844 expedition scouting passesto the north and south.

Since their early prominenceamong explorers and pioneers,the Rubies have virtually dis-appeared from the radar screen.Tucked between the waste-lands of Utah’s Bonneville salt flats and the endless val-leys of the Great Basin, this

rugged range remains largelyunknown to hikers.

My thighs throb pleasantly,reminding me of yesterday’sefforts and whetting myappetite for the journey ahead.The Ruby Crest Trail will leadus on a twisting traversearound Tipton Peak, beforedescending the drier, gentlerlimestone country of theRubies’ southern flanks toHarrison Pass. These mountainsare an oasis of wildlife,scenery, and history, one I’llleave regretfully. But soon itwill be dark, and Nevada’sRuby Mountains will againbecome the kingdom of gran-ite, stars, and wind.

Expedition PlannerThe Way: Elko lies 230 milesfrom Salt Lake City, 295 milesfrom Reno, and 486 miles fromLas Vegas. To reach LamoilleCanyon trailhead from Elko,take NV 227 south to CountyRoad 660 (Lamoille Canyon

Road) and drive 12 miles toRoad’s End. To reach HarrisonPass, go 5 miles east of down-town Elko, then turn south on NV 228, which leads toHarrison Pass.Route: The Ruby Crest Trail(FT 043) runs from LamoilleCanyon to graveled NV 228 atHarrison Pass. Best campsitesare at Castle Lake, the northfork of Overland Creek,Overland Lake, McCutcheonCreek, and springs 1.5 milessouth of McCutcheon Creek. Indry months, water is unavail-able for 13 miles betweenNorth Furlong Lake and thenorth fork of Overland Creek.The southern 6 miles toHarrison Pass are also dry.

Echo Canyon provides accessto Ruby Dome, the range’shighest peak at 11,387 feet. TheSoldier Basin (031) and Soldier-Griswold Trails (032) begin 20 miles north of the town ofLamoille, climbing 5 miles tolakes in Soldier Basin and

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In the Night Sky:

Finding MeteorsAny particle of dust entering Earth’s atmosphere can cause a meteor,but when Earth passes through the debrisleft by comets, the result is a meteorshower. The best viewing is betweenmidnight and dawn. Climb a rocky crag,or plan a trip to the desert or beach tomaximize your peripheral vision.

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beyond. Other useful trunktrails ascend North FurlongCanyon (045), Long Canyon(046), and Overland Canyon(047).Guides: A waterproof RubyMountain Wilderness topo ($7)is available from the ForestService (see Contact below).Hiking Nevada by BruceGrubbs (Falcon Press, 888/249-7586; $14.95).Contact: Humboldt-ToiyabeeNational Forest, 775/738-5171;www.fs.fed.us/htnf. RubyMountains Ranger District,800/764-3359; www.fs.fed.us/htnf/rmwelcome.htm. Ordermaps and pamphlets inadvance if arriving on theweekend.

Roanoke RiverPaddling Trail,North CarolinaA new water trail takespaddlers deep into one ofthe South’s last untouchedecosystems.

By Todd Wilkinson

I’m floating through a groveof giant cypress trees with

trunks half a millennium old,alongside bearded veils ofSpanish moss, and watchingthe courtship dance of twoGreat egrets. As sunset falls onthe backwater sloughs of North

Carolina’s lower Roanoke River,where I’ve cruised for hours ina sea kayak, the snow-whiteplumage of these heavenlybirds seems to glow with itsown incandescence. I interprettheir presence as an auspicioussign from the gods of thesouthern swamp. In the nativetongue of the Tuscarora NativeAmericans, after all, Roanokemeans “river of death,” anexpression of mortal fearbestowed on a river that wouldswell to bursting during intenserainfall, then roar across milesof wooded bottomlands. Thefloods swallowed anythingunfortunate enough to becaught in their path. But thisland was too fertile to forsake,because the waters also gavelife to one of the lushestecosystems in North America.

Local canoeists have longcherished this dense, wildlife-rich corridor, but their secretgetaway is on the verge of dis-covery, thanks to the newlyestablished Roanoke RiverPaddling Trail. Modeled afterwater trails in OkefenokeeSwamp and the Everglades, thispartially finished 200-mile routehas five elevated camping plat-forms already in place and sev-eral more in the works.

Tonight, I’m perched withconservationist Jeff Horton andseveral friends on a remoteplatform dubbed “Barred OwlRoost,” situated half a day’sjourney downstream from ourput-in at Gardner’s Creek. Over

the past 50 years, hydropowerdams built upstream havetamed the river’s floodwatersbut not the wildness of thelower section, which leavesVirginia and fishtails back andforth across the northern tier ofThe Tarheel State before emp-tying into Albemarle Sound andthe Atlantic Ocean.

The Roanoke, in appearance,fits the profile of a classic DeepSouth river, but it’s positionedalong the northern limit forwarm-weather tree species likecypress and tupelo. The nearlyimpenetrable tangle of half-submerged forest has kept civi-lization at bay, but the maze ofmurky tributaries and twistingoxbows, and the surprisingbounty of fish and fowl, makethe swamp a flatwater paddler’sdream.

Our attention is soon drawnto a raucous outbreak of hoot-ing that helps explain thecampsite’s name. Sounding artificial raptor calls into theshadowy understory, Horton’scolleague, J. Merrill Lynch, iscommunicating with half adozen wild barred owls thatcall the area home and aren’tafraid to let us know it.

No harm done to the curiousowls, our primal exchange isjust one example of the wildlifeinteractions you might expect.Alligators occasionally appearin these waters. On shore, pastthe mud beaches and acres ofprimordial ooze, red wolvesprowl the forests, as do black

bears, white-tailed deer, beaver,and otter. There’s also animpressive avian assemblage,with more than 200 birdspecies. Permanent denizensinclude barred owls, osprey,bald eagles, wild turkeys, andblack vultures; the Roanoke isalso home to seven of the mostproductive Great Blue heronriesin the East, with thousands ofmating pairs. In addition, ahuge diversity of neotropicalflyers pass through on theirmigratory flights.

Horton oversees a river-basedconservation project for TheNature Conservancy, which has protected more than 60,000 acres of riparian forest.He also has been a catalyst inhelping a grassroots groupcalled Roanoke River Partnersdesign the paddling trail. Thisgroup’s goal is to establishcamping platforms along theRoanoke and its tributariesfrom Barred Owl Roost toAlbemarle Sound. When theirwork is finished, an intrepidboater will be able to spendweeks on the Roanoke.

On our third night out, weglide to Cypress Cathedral plat-form after covering a dozenmiles of secondary channelsthat merge with the Roanoke’smain stem. In almost 40 miles,we’ve encountered only a fewbass anglers. As we drift off tosleep, we revel in the swamp’ssolitude, listening for owls,counting stars, and dreaming ofalligators.

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Drive Time: Raleigh/Durham,NC: 2 hours; Washington, DC: 4 hoursThe Way: Drive I-95 northfrom Raleigh/Durham, thentake US 64 east to Williamston. Trail: The Roanoke RiverPaddling Trail is ideal for 3- or4-day paddling adventures.Reservations for the campingplatforms are required, withcosts ranging from $20 to $50per night.Guide: Roanoke River Partnersprovides a map that will directyou along the trail, beginningat Roberson’s Marina on

Gardner’s Creek. For those whoprefer the company of a back-country guide and naturalist,Rock Rest Adventures provides2-day trips for $160 per person866/418-7677; rockrest.com). Beware: This is cottonmouth(as in the venomous, water-swimming snake), mosquito,and biting fly country. Snakesbask in tree branches over-hanging the river, so be watch-ful.Contact: Roanoke River Part-ners; roanokeriverpartners.org.

Paria RiverCanyon,Utah/ArizonaHere, adventure andbreathtaking views awaitaround every narrow bend.By Steve Howe

Rays of sunlight decoratethe varnished sandstone

cliffs along the deep narrows.The liquid trills of canyonwrens add melodic accompani-ment to the sounds of watertrickling through hanging gar-dens of fern and monkeyflower. No hiker’s life is com-plete without experiencing|such desert wonders, and the38-mile Paria River trek fromsouthern Utah to Lees Ferry inArizona’s Grand Canyon is oneof the world’s best places to getit all in one gulp.

Most backpackers follow theParia River for the entire hike,descending from sagebrush flatsinto the canyon’s winding corri-dors. Slowly, over the course ofa few days, the narrow slot ofsky overhead widens like aparting curtain, and the canyontakes on its Grand cousin’s fla-vor as the trail climbs to bench-es high above the river for thelast 11 miles. Save time forexploring hidden side canyons,prehistoric art panels, aban-doned homesteads, lush seepsprings, and soaring arches.

More adventurous hikersshould consider beginning theirtrek at the tributary gorge ofUtah’s Buckskin Gulch, whichstretches the trip to 43 miles.Traversing the incredible, 12-mile narrows of the gulchusually involves swimming orwading through several cold-water pools and lowering packsdown a 20-foot cliff. Thereward is an otherworldly jour-ney on the longest, narrowestslot canyon hike in existence.

Expedition PlannerPermits: Reserve permits up to7 months in advance. The costis $5 per day per person (seeContact below). Route: Start at the Paria Infor-mation Station on UT 89 insouthern Utah, between thetowns of Kanab, Utah, andPage, Arizona. You’ll need atleast 4 or 5 days to reach LeesFerry on the Colorado River, butyou could easily stay busy for a week or two. If permits aren’tavailable, try the 20-mile hikethrough the equally spectacularupper Paria River canyon.Season: Late March throughMay and late Septemberthrough November are the besttimes to travel in this hot coun-try. The flash-flood risk is highfrom late July through August.Guides: The Paria BLM Hiker’sGuide ($8, plus $2 postage), aflip-map containing mile-by-mile descriptions of the canyon,is available from the ArizonaStrip Interpretive Association,

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Make Yourself

InvisibleAnimals use ultrasensitive eyes, ears, and noses to detect hikersbumbling down the trail. Become part of the sights and smells of thewilds, and you’ll see more wild animals.

• Mask human aroma on your hiking gear. Hang it outdoors or near asmoky fire, dust it with baking soda, or wipe it with a fragrant plant(spicebush, winterberry, or pine).

• Wear muted, patterned, long-sleeved clothes. Birds will notice abright red jacket among brown trees, but will be less startled bycolors that blend in. A pattern similar to the terrain, such as camou-flage clothing in leaf, weed, or rock patterns, will hide you fromanimals that see gray tones, such as bobcats and caribou.

• Move slowly and quietly without sneaking. Body language thatresembles a creeping predator—slinking among brush and moving in the animal’s direction—frightens wildlife.

• Avoid eye contact. Staring at animals frightens them. Wear abrimmed hat to hide your eyes, or avert your gaze when approach-ing wildlife.

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435/688-3246; www.az.blm.gov/asfo/asia/asia.htm. Hikingand Exploring the Paria River,by Michael R. Kelsey (KelseyPublishing; $11.95), is availableat bookstores.Contact: Arizona Strip FieldOffice, Bureau of Land Man-agement, 435/688-3200;http://paria.az.blm.gov.

PacificCrest Trail,WashingtonDiscover the high life inWashington’s volcano country.

By Dan A. Nelson

Imagine a wondrous placewhere you could, in the

course of a single day and on asingle trail, wander throughlush old-growth rainforest, crossgin-clear salmon streams, gorgeyourself on plump huckleber-ries in open pine forests, stridethrough flower-stitched alpinemeadows, and scramble upsteep snowfields on the side ofan active volcano.

There’s only one place I know of that offers such wildtreasures, and that’s Wash-ington’s Cascade Range alongthe Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

For a lifetime’s worth ofscenery, follow the PCT as itrambles through the heart ofthe Cascades. Begin in the

deep-green forests and mead-ows of the Indian Heaven and William O. Douglas Wil-dernesses. Then the trail rushesskyward to the lofty peaks ofthe Mt. Adams, Goat Rocks,and Glacier Peak Wildernesses.Along the way, you’ll dip yourtoes in the Alpine LakesWilderness, where various sec-tions of the trail unroll alongrivers, past vast valley-bottomlakes, through wildlife-richforests, around tiny, ice-rimmedalpine tarns, and finally, up thesnowy flanks of sun-splashedmountains. The journey canclaim two climaxes, becausethe glacier-crowned volcanoesMt. Adams and Glacier Peakserve as bookends for this 500-mile section of the PCT.

You don’t have to hike it allat once, but beware: Once youhead up into these hills, you’llnever want to come backdown.

Expedition PlannerPermits: Pick up a free, self-issued permit at the trailhead orboundary of each wildernessarea. For trailhead parking, youneed a Northwest Forest Pass($5 per day or $30 annually;see Contact).The Way: Via any of thenumerous passes hosting east-to-west highways.Season: Snowmelt is nearlycomplete by late August. Forfewer bugs and more ripehuckleberries, hike inSeptember.

Guides: Green Trails Maps(206/546-6277) offers detailedtopo maps individually ($3.60each) or as a Map Pack (12 maps for $39) coveringWashington PCT North,Washington PCT Central, andWashington PCT South. Best of the Pacific Crest Trail:Washington: 55 Hikes, by DanA. Nelson (The Mountaineers,800/553-4453; $16.95).Contact: Pacific NorthwestRegion, Forest Service, 503/808-2971; www.fs.fed.us/r6.

Blue Mountains,WashingtonThis remote mountain range ishome to deer, elk, bighorn,and black bear.

By Dan A. Nelson

In the upper left corner of the country, the soggy

Olympic Mountains are famousfor their old-growth rainforests.The Cascades are celebrated for their craggy summits andvolcanic peaks. The Rockiesform a famous border betweenthe Northwest and MountainWest. Even the jagged WallowaMountains are well known. Butmention the Blue Mountains toa backpacker from Seattle,Spokane, or Portland, andyou’ll almost certainly get ablank stare, because the Blues

are the Pacific Northwest’sunknown range. Ranging inelevation from 1,600 to 6,500feet, these mountains rise outof the plains of southeasternWashington, their southernedge spilling over into Oregonto form a gentle rampart justwest of Idaho’s Hells Canyon.Blanketed by forests of dark-green pine and spruce, theBlues boast superb scenery andempty campsites just 5 hoursfrom the region’s major metrop-olises.

Having hiked all the greatNorthwestern ranges, I’m stilldrawn back to these remotemountains, primarily because ofthe abundant wildlife. Duringmy last trek down the Slick EarTrail, I saw great gaggles ofwild turkeys dodging andsprinting through the pineforests. I saw mule deer as bigas elk, and plenty of elk tohelp me make the comparison.After reaching the WenahaRiver Trail, which heads downinto Oregon, I watched smallherds of bighorn sheep tiptoeacross sun-drenched rimrockbluffs high above the river.

In the evening, I pulledplump rainbow and browntrout from the gin-clear watersof the Wenaha, but releasedthem quickly. Fresh scat andtree scrapes suggested blackbears were in the area. Indeed,I soon spied a cinnamon-col-ored bear, its colorful coatreminding me that not all blackbears are black (reddish-brown

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THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA 4746 THE BEST TRAILS IN AMERICA

is common here).The Blues are a small, young

range dominated by deep rivervalleys and modest peaks. TheUmatilla National Forest encom-passes much of the range, withthe Wenaha-Tucannon Wil-derness Area protecting theheart of the backcountry.Scores of trails bisect theWenaha-Tucannon (named forthe pair of pristine rivers thatflow through the heart of thewilderness), but the WenahaRiver Trail is my favorite.

During a recent midsummervisit, I hiked through old-growth pine forest along theupper portion of the GrizzlyBear Trail, listening to the res-onant “whomp, whomp,whomp” of nervous sprucegrouse. Dropping to the valleybottom, I walked throughlodgepole and fir forests thatopened into airy ponderosapine groves littered with broad,open meadows—perfect coun-try for wildlife spotting.

Come late afternoon, Ipitched camp in one of thecountless quiet sites lining theWenaha, and waited for dark-ness and the mournful cries ofresident coyotes. In decades ofhiking here, I’ve rarely encoun-tered more than one or twoparties of hikers or horsepack-ers in these camps. The onlytwo-legged beasts I saw duringmy last outing were turkeys, bythe hundreds. Add the steadystream of four-legged travel-ers—deer, elk, bighorn, and

black bears—and you’ll under-stand why even a solo hikerwill never get lonesome in theisolated Blues.

Expedition Planner The Way: From Walla Walla,follow US 12 northeast 30 milesto Dayton, Washington, whichoffers easy access to TucannonValley and Wenaha trailheads.To get to the Wenaha trails,drive south from Dayton alongthe North Touchet Road forabout 25 miles, passing theBluewood Ski Area. Stay on themain road (now Forest ServiceRoad 46) for another 20 miles,and turn right onto ForestService Road 46-300. Continueto the end of this road at TwinButtes. For access to trails onthe northern side of the Tucan-non Valley, continue on US 12from Dayton about 30 miles to Pomeroy. Turn south ontoBenjamin Gulch Road (Road128) to a junction with ForestService Road 40. Turn left andcontinue to the Diamond trail-head at the road end for multi-ple access trails leading into thewilderness.Trails: The wilderness area hasmore than 200 miles of trail,including a 45-mile loop fromTwin Buttes described by theauthor. To access this route,descend from Twin Buttes on the Slick Ear Trail to theWenaha River, hike downstreamto the Sawtooth/Smooth RidgeTrail and then north to OregonButte. Turn west and hike

around the East Butte Trailback to Twin Buttes. Two roadmiles close the loop.Guides: Pacific NorthwestHiking:The Complete Guide, byRon C. Judd and Dan A. Nelson(Foghorn Press; $20.95), offersnumerous route descriptions inthe area. The UmatillaNational Forest map ($8) is available from Nature of the Northwest InformationCenter, 503/872-2750;www.naturenw.org. Contact: Pomeroy RangerDistrict, Umatilla NationalForest, 509/843-1891;www.fs.fed.us/r6/uma/.

Apostle IslandsNationalLakeshore,WisconsinA trip to Apostle islandstraces the line betweensolitude and hiding.

By Jeff Rennicke

At dawn, Lake Superiorgleams as red as the

coals in last night’s campfire.No humans in sight. No soundbut the slow lapping of wavesand the far-off cry of gulls. Inthe distance, islands appear anddisappear in the morning mist.There are 22 islands in all, and21 are part of Wisconsin’s

Apostle Islands National Lake-shore, a place where you candisappear as easily as an islandin the mist. I turn my kayaktoward the fog and paddle.

The Apostles spangle thewaters off Wisconsin’s northerntip like stars in a lake-blue sky.On this trip, I’ll string a constel-lation of islands together—Sand, York, Oak, Hermit, andBasswood.

At the northeast tip of SandIsland, I slide my kayak intothe shadows of a sandstonecliff where the waves havecarved deep fluted holes.Inside, water dripping remindsme of a lighthouse keeper whoclaimed that if you spendenough time alone here, “you’llbe seeing mermaids—hearthem singing on the rocks.”

On York Island, I walk atrackless beach watching a merlin carve the air. On OakIsland, I step in bear tracks asbig as my fist.

But the solitude sinks deep-est on Hermit Island. In themid-1800s, a man known onlyas “Wilson” lived alone herewith a few chickens, a dog, anold shack, and a copy of TheWhole Duty of Man.

What would a man alone onsuch a small island for years onend think about?

We all need places where wecan explore our own sense ofbeing alone. But sitting in aclearing, dappled in shadows, I wonder: What do I hold toodear to throw off for a solitary

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