Outdoors

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, May 3, 2008 Head east to Wenatcheee for trails that aren't as damp as the wet west side By Sharon Wootton Herald Columnist Is it still too damp and chilly for your taste? Feel like a healthy hike would be fine, until you stopped for lunch, when the shivers would win? Don't care for hiking in a rain coat with the hood up, blocking out much of the nature around you? Or biking on slick pavement? Have hope and go east of Stevens Pass to the Wenatchee Valley. Go before the dry side becomes the uncomfortably hot side. Here are a few options: Apple Capital Loop Trail: The 10 1/2-mile paved trail is on both sides of the Columbia River, the west side along the edge of downtown Wenatchee and through a few riverside parks; then along East Wenatchee's river shoreline. It's good for families on bikes or inline skates. One crossing is on the 100-year-old Pedestrian Bridge, the first bridge to span the Columbia River. There are many access points. Saddle Rock: If you're in good shape for hiking or have intermediate technique and stamina for mountain biking, the 3-mile hike is in wild lands dotted with rock towers, despite being very near Wenatchee. Access either end of the trail with a 1,000-foot-elavation gain. Wenatchee-Monitor: A good day outing across rolling terrain is this 20-miler with a backdrop of orchards, the river valley and hills near the Wenatchee River. One place to start is at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers at the north end of Wenatchee. For the first three hikes, the best approach is to obtain the excellent Wenatchee Valley Trips and Trails for Every Season brochure, which offers 14 outings into the Sage Hills, Clara Lake, Pipeline Trail, Turtle Rock for paddlers and other destinations. For more information, call 800-572-7753 or go to www.wenatcheevalley.org and click on "Brochures" or www.­wenatcheeoutdoors.org. The guide is free at Wenatchee-area sporting good stores, bike shops, hotels, motels and other businesses in the valley. Swakane Canyon: This is a hike on an old dirt road that will get the blood moving (6-mile round-trip, start at 1,550 feet, high point is 3,000 feet) and heart pumping. It takes you through a canyon with, once you've scrambled up on the edge, views across the hills to the Columbia River Canyon. It's a good place to spot soaring hawks and even a golden eagle, maybe grouse or quail. If you're really lucky, bighorn sheep will be hanging out. Alan Bauer and Dan Nelson cover this hike in "Best Desert Hikes: Washington" (Mountaineers Books). It's about 6 miles northeast of Wenatchee on U.S. 97 in the Swakane Wildlife Area. You'll need a state Department of Fish and Wildlife permit (wdfw.wa.gov/lic/formpage.htm). From Wenatchee, take U.S. 97 north. At milepost 205, turn west on Swakane Canyon Road and drive for 2.8 miles, then park at the hay barn and head up the road. On the bookshelf:>/b> Hiking and paddling guides are lining the shelves. Craig Romano's "Day Hiking North Cascades" ($19, Mountaineers Books) details 125 trails near Mount Baker, the Mountain Loop Highway and, although not in the North Cascades, the San Juan Islands. Dan Nelson and Alan Bauer give us "Day Hiking Mount Rainier" with 70 national park trails. This series' books are smaller in size than typical books, but still are packed with maps and the graphs that show elevation gains and losses, along with information on difficulty, miles and best seasons. Author Douglas Lorain has updated his successful "Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver" ($20, Wilderness Press). It's billed as "the only guide to every hiking trail in the Portland/Vancouver metro area," which as of 2008 means 199 trips, including 60 hikes not included the last time around. Rather than copies of topographic maps, Lorain creates his own, very clear maps. Each trail has a highlights section up front to help decision-making. His hikes are "still wild." While some urban hikes are excluded because they do not meet his definition, other urban trails are here because they give a chance to get away from it all. Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.

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