The Very Dull Book Of Waterfalls
Yesterday I wrote about two of the guidebooks merhawk and I use to plan many of the hikes we take together. Some, like the California hiking guide by Stienstra and Brown, are a true winners. We've owned multiple editions of that particular book over the years. Others, ike the PNW hiking guide we've used on our recent trip to Seattle, are poor.
Fortunately, that poor hiking guide is not the only PNW guidebook we brought with us on the trip. Unfortunately, the other guide we brought is also poor. I've dubbed it "The Very Dull Book of Waterfalls by Dr. Smedley Q. Boredom".
The book's real name is Waterfall Lover's Guide Pacific Northwest. And the author is Gregory Plumb. Though the Dr. part of the fake title is real; Plumb is a college professor somewhere in the midwest.
On the plus side, this book is comprehensive. It lists a lot of waterfalls. We've used it on past trips and it's led us to waterfalls we probably wouldn't have found otherwise because they wouldn't necessarily have made it into a widely published "Best Of" type guide. Or they're in remote enough locations that they don't get a lot of love on popular hiking websites.
On the downside, this book's greatest weakness is the author's dull and stilted academic prose. The book reads more like a technical reference for a hydrologist than a travel guide for outdoors enthusiasts. I mean, really, how many laypeople care about the flow rate of the stream as measured in cubic feet per minute (cfm)? We'd rather have accurate directions to the trailhead and information about the length of the trail itself-- two other things that are weak about this book.
We used this book Sunday and Monday on our Seattle-area trip, with mixed results. Stay tuned for blogs about our adventures.
Fortunately, that poor hiking guide is not the only PNW guidebook we brought with us on the trip. Unfortunately, the other guide we brought is also poor. I've dubbed it "The Very Dull Book of Waterfalls by Dr. Smedley Q. Boredom".
The book's real name is Waterfall Lover's Guide Pacific Northwest. And the author is Gregory Plumb. Though the Dr. part of the fake title is real; Plumb is a college professor somewhere in the midwest.
On the plus side, this book is comprehensive. It lists a lot of waterfalls. We've used it on past trips and it's led us to waterfalls we probably wouldn't have found otherwise because they wouldn't necessarily have made it into a widely published "Best Of" type guide. Or they're in remote enough locations that they don't get a lot of love on popular hiking websites.
On the downside, this book's greatest weakness is the author's dull and stilted academic prose. The book reads more like a technical reference for a hydrologist than a travel guide for outdoors enthusiasts. I mean, really, how many laypeople care about the flow rate of the stream as measured in cubic feet per minute (cfm)? We'd rather have accurate directions to the trailhead and information about the length of the trail itself-- two other things that are weak about this book.
We used this book Sunday and Monday on our Seattle-area trip, with mixed results. Stay tuned for blogs about our adventures.