Most people I know hike in some form or another so are generally curious even if they aren't part of my existing hiking community. The question I often get is "I know that book, what is the best hike?". When you have 103+ adventures to draw from,. spanning 10 years, different groups of people and weather conditions,.. it is a bit of a tough question and highly subjective.
Some hikes from the 103 series I've done over a dozen times,.. but at least 50% only once. That is more a reflection of convenience than anything. The "best" hike when you have only done 25% of the book changes frequently,.. and when talking to a novice hiker do you want to plant a seed that will send them on a 3 day trek where it might put them at risk?That is why I want to compile a series of top 10 lists. 103 Hikes spans the most common trails of
the area so it is a good base to use for recommendations. However, for me, my top 10 experiences do not completely overlap with the top 10 destinations I'd suggest someone visiting from another place make their hitlist. I recall a Wanderung subscriber from Isreal for 3 months doing the Lions, Mt. Harvey and Brunswick,.. those are basically the same hike, with very similar views (in fact you can walk from 1 to the next). This pained me. I can just see how that happened,.. he was at the summit and someone pointed to the next bump over and said "that is a great hike". That person should have told him about Wedgemount lake, or Mt. Cheam. Hell, they could have given him a different view from Mt. Gardner.
I've decided to compile the following lists over the next few weeks:
- Top 10 "ensemble" of hikes to do if new to hiking and want a good variety
- My top 10 experiences (best hikes for me)
- 10 hikes to never, ever, ever do.
- "Hike this not that" - substitutions better tha the their more popular options
- Backpacking best picks
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