60 Hikes within 60 Miles:Philadelphia, by Sandra and Gareth Kear
Publication Date: November 1, 2009
Page Count: 336 pages
After we decided to really invest our time and a good portion of our lives into hiking, I scoured the internet looking for any books and decent information that I could get my hands on. You would be surprised how many books on hiking there actually are! The quality varies from text to text, but here at Hiking with Impunity, I wanted to share not only our accounts of our outdoor journeys, but wanted to share my opinion on different books and gear.
60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Philadelphia is part of the 60 Hikes within 60 Miles series by Menasha Ridge Press. I cannot speak for the whole series, only the Philadelphia book written by the Kears. The text has a small introduction with some interesting tips, but the reason you purchase this book is for the Hike suggestions, not the advice on how to backpack.
60 hikes are included within the book with varying degrees of information. The index of hikes that starts the book is interesting, helpful and makes the book immediately worth the money. Hikes are assigned to certain categories, such as "Hikes with Strenuous Climbs," "Hikes for Fall Colors," "Hikes along water," etc. I've used this index several times now and chosen a hike based on my mood.
Once you get into the book itself, each hike's first page presents "At-a-glance" information that is very helpful: length, configuration of trail (i.e. loop or out-and-back), hiking time, hiking surface, etc. Other key information, such as "Directions to Trailhead" and GPS coordinates are helpful - but I found my car's GPS rarely could find the address listed. A map page with elevation profile and trail information is usually found on the next page while the rest of the content explains the best routes to take on the hike. Some of the content does betray the age of this book, and I am hoping that they will be releasing an updated edition soon. This was particularly bothersome when the "Dark Hollow: Neshaminy Creek Palisades" hike, which was described as a 3.9 mile balloon hike in the book turned into a 5.7 mile hike. Clearly there were fresh blazes on the tree, so there are two explanations for this: 1. A new trail was blazed recently (which post-dated this 2009 text); or, 2. Our beginner streak of not following directions correctly continued.
The text itself is easy to read, and I really enjoyed some of the picture captions they had (I hope they were meant to be intentionally funny at times!) as well as the subjective component of each hike.
Beginners & experienced hikers in the Philadelphia area alike should find something in this book that they will like. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a hike right in your own backyard (or within 60 miles) that you didn't know existed!!
4/5 rating