By DENNIS APRILL
Outdoors Writer
August 24, 2008 05:05 am
—
Jared Gange's "100 Classic Hikes of the Northeast" second edition bites off a lot of turf, as Gange gives overviews of all major mountain climbs in New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut, including the highest peaks in all mentioned states, 111 peaks over 4,000 feet.
As such, "100 Classic Hikes" has to be seen as a sampler, providing an overview from which a potential hiker to the area can get general enough information to make the climb. If more specifics are needed, that person could then go to one of the Adirondack Mountain Club or Appalachian Mountain Club guidebooks.
In 300-plus pages, including the Index, Gange provides information such as rating the difficulty of the climb, distance of the hike and approximate time needed to do the climb, plus the elevation assent and general location of the peak. A short summary is also included, as well as information like trail junctures to be encountered, and, in some instances, alternate trails.
For example, for the Mount Washington entry, Gange suggests that upon reaching the Lake of the Clouds Hut below the summit, you might instead consider climbing Mount Monroe if, as he writes, "the weather looks like it may not hold or a shorter hike is preferable."
For the New York section, climbs in the Shawangunk, Catskill and Adirondack Mountains are featured.
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'100 Classic Hikes of the Northeast'