Oregon Books

If you love hiking and live in the Columbia Gorge area (or plan to pass through) this is a nice guide to have. I learned of hiking trails I didn't know existed and the Gorge seems to have plenty of them. Each hike is listed with a general description, the distance of the trail, how much traffic of people to expect there, the best season to go, the elevation gain and maximum elevation. A map is shown and directions to the hike are given along with detailed description of the hike. Many black and white photographs show views from the various hikes. My one disappointment with this book is that the Deschutes River trail that is branched off directly from the Columbia River Gorge is not mentioned in this book, because it is east of The Dalles; this book only mentions the trails from Portland to The Dalles.

My, then girlfriend now wife, and I spent 2 days in the Columbia Gorge this was one of two books that we had on the area and this was the one that we used the most. I just wish it would tell you what the waterfall on the cover was.

There are few places on earth as majestic as the Columbia River Gorge, and fewer still with its wide variety of climate zones. At the west end one finds temperate mid-latitude forests of ancient fir, while at the east end high desert with scrub oak predominate. There are few places in the world where the weather varies as dramatically over such a short distance.

It's not just beautiful; it's also one of the great places in the Northwest for hiking and recreation. Kayaking, wind surfing, and fishing are among the recreational activities afforded by the gorge. And hiking; lots and lots of hiking.

Schneider's book describes all the well-traveled trails in the gorge, and many of the less-traveled ones as well. He describes the trails on the Oregon side of the river first, where most of the waterfalls are found. In his descriptions he moves from sites near the west end of the gorge to those nearer the east end. Then he takes us across the gorge to the Washington side, following the reverse direction from east to west.

Schneider describes the trails by name, and gives numerical descriptions as well as directions to the trail heads and points of interest along the way. He also provides a rough estimate of the difficulty, along with altitude and distance. I've hiked about half the trails he describes, and generally find his descriptions to be accurate, though there are a few instances in which he over estimates the trail's difficulty.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to become more intimate with this rugged and majestic landscape. It's useful for both the beginner and more advanced hiker. There are lots of similar books on the market, but I think Russ's is one of the best.

The hikes cover some of the best hiking over a large area.

it encompasses the hikes that every avid hiker must do before or during death.

I have the first edition of this book and it has been an invaluable guide to the incredible hiking in the Northwest. Living in the east and only getting to the west when business or a vacation take me there (for relatively short periods of time) I've always tried to make the most of the time I did have to hike. I have done about 1/3 of the hikes in the book and have yet to be disappointed. I have other, more detailed, hiking books for these areas but I rely on this one for selecting my hikes. I just wish this type of book were available for other areas of the country.

Invaluable guide. This book does not just tell the reader where to park and where to camp, also includes history, low impact camping tips, advice on ethics and hygiene and manners.

The chapters on various island groups are described by different authors, with uneven quality. We have been to areas covered in three chapters, The Discovery Islands, The Clayoquot Sound, and the Gulf Islands. The details of the two of the chapters were precise, the hazards were as described (as we discovered when we did not take them seriously enough - I was almost run over by a whale watching boat in the fog off Vargus Island, a hazard that we had not taken seriously even though it was clearly described in the chapter).

The chapter on the Discovery Islands in some cases offered vague or incorrect details as to the location of camp sites.

For some reason, we did not find this book on the Amazon web site by using searches that should have found it, for example kayaking British Columbia. But our local Kayak store carried it.

Good information basically summarized. Most regions described are generalized but it gives you good information to start from. Maps could have been much better though.

A really nice book for people who are new in sea kayaking. Have lots of information like outfitters, transportation, maps, etc. It's a good book to read for info. and to pick the best place to kayak in the NW if you have only a few days in the region.

A very good read. If you want a feel of the west today don't fail to own this book.

Maya's Gold is a delightful romantic mystery, with all the right ingredients for an engrossing reading experience. Her eye for detail and character are spot-on, and the dialogue consistently rings true. She's especially good at describing the Pacific Northwest setting, which plays an important part in the plot. Her attention to setting in particular reminded me of a novel set on the opposite coast, but no less well-drawn: Egrets to the Flames by Barbara Anton. Both highly enjoyable reads!

I really enjoyed this book. The diacription of the characters were great. I could visualize each one in my mind while I was reading. It was hard to put the book down because there was always something happening on the next page that was interesting and exciting.
The location where the story took place was right on the money. It made you feel like you were there looking at the old towns and seeing them the way they use to be.
It is a great book for anyone that enjoys history, susupense, mystery and a little love story.

I'm a rather reluctant history-book reader, but I found this book thoroughly compelling! My husband and I read the stories out loud on our trip through Oregon and watched the past come alive. If you are tired of the same, old dusty Western tales, give this one a try. It's sure to enchant you! And thanks to the author for putting these stories together.

I'm a rather reluctant history-book reader, but I found this book thoroughly compelling! My husband and I read the stories out loud on our trip through Oregon and watched the past come alive. If you are tired of the same, old dusty Western tales, give this one a try. It's sure to enchant you! And thanks to the author for putting these stories together.

This book portrays the lives of 10 women who successfully made the transition from the "doll or drudge" category of the sterotypical Pioneer Woman. They become independent women leading successful lives in their own right, in spite of being dealt very poor hands when they came to Oregon.

This book is easy to use. Has great pictures to help identify the birds, is easy to read and is well organized. I use this book when I go to the lake or other places that I want to travel light. It is very handy.

Good book, but not my favorite. I have other guides I use more. I have 3 field guides including this book, so I have a varity of pictures to compare with.

This book is small enough to fit easily into my case with my binoculars and my camera, yet comprehensive enough to help me identify many birds. The photographs are exceptionally clear and detailed.

I didn't want to put the book down. "Neely Jones" captured me from the beginning & held me all the way through. Neely is a strong & determined sista who puts up with too much stuff & still handles it with grace & dignity. This is a read thats wellworth purchasing.

I liked this book. I think Neely Jones is a very likable new mystery heroine with lots of promise. However, I did find the author's use of racial slurs to be over the top. Don't get me wrong. Racism is alive and well in America. But, as an African-American, I can honestly say that I've experienced less blantant racism during my entire life than Neely experiences in just one page! I hope MK Wren can tone that down in the next book. I look forward to reading about Neely's further adventures.

African American Neely Jones leaves her San Francisco police officer job to accept a deputy position in the sheriff's office of Taft County, Oregon. She moves because her significant other Jan Kato works at the nearby Westport Oceanographic Center. However, the white male department refuses to take seriously their new black female token. To them she is a double token to satisfy blacks and females. Her lowly situation changes when she unseats the present sheriff, Gill Willis, in a write-in campaign. Surprisingly, Neely did not run for office nor wants the job. However, an irate Gill immediately quits to protest Neely's election.

When she takes office, Neely learns that Gill was on the take as someone left an envelope filled with money for him. She receives anonymous calls warning her of the consequences if she fails to resign. She ignores the threats until Jan is found dead in a pool of jellyfish. She deeply grieves her loss even as she feels guilty by not acting on the personal threats. Still, a determined Neely plans to uncover the identity of the killer regardless of whether she obtains any cooperation from her own staff.

M.K. Wren,s new series is a twenty-four karat winner that reads more like a suspense thriller than a police procedural. Readers see bigotry operate in a de facto open manner as well as hidden in the shadows. The heroine is a strong person who bends but becomes more powerful as she refuses to allow narrow minded individuals to stop her from accomplishing her job. NEELY JONES: THE MEDUSA POOL is book one of what appears to be a dynamic series that looks like it's heading for a wonderfully long run.

Harriet Klausner

Simple, elegant recipes that make a stunning meal. The herb baked salmon, asparagus linguine, and black mussel linguine were absolutely wonderful. Each dish had clear instructions and only required a few good ingredients.

I like reading this book, a lot, and developing inspiration for dishes I'd like to prepare. As a resident of the Pacific Northwest, a lot of these dishes and their ingredients are readily available. However, I find that many of these recipes are just too out of reach for your standard American.

If you're someone who has visited many of these inns and restaurants and thought, "A ha! I can finally recreate recipe X!" then this is the book for you. I, however, was just looking for a cookbook that highlights our local cuisine but isn't too complicated. I got one, but not both.

I recently got given this book, and I can see myself making most of the recipes in it as the first 3 have all been so successful. Great variety of recipes, good layout and directions, and the added bonus of a list of great Northwest Restaurant to try out when you don't fancy cooking!

Author: Douglas, William O. (William Orville), 1898-
Title: Of men and mountains.
Edition: [1st ed.]
Publisher: New York, Harpers [1950]
Edition Date: 1950
Language: English
Notes: Autobiographical.
Physical Details: xiv, 333 p. maps (on lining papers) port. 22 cm.
Subjects: Cascade Range.
Wallowa Mountains (Or.)

An account of explorations within the tangled, rugged fastness of the Pacific Norhtwest, Of Men And Mountains is informal autobiography, deeply personal and revealing. A book of adventure and discovery, it is full of the excitement, the strength, and the exaltation that men have found in the wild.

The narrative at times rises to those solitary moments when man "under conditions of grandeur that are startling can come to know both himself and God." At homelier levels it moves with authority and expertness through the accumulated lore by which man has found how to survive in the wilderness and to accommodate himself to it joyfully. But always the narrative is characterized by a freshness of observation, by a shrewd wit, and by a reverential humility that mark Justice Douglas as unmistakably of the company of Thoreau. -- from book's back cover

Living in Brazil, I can't remember exactly how I happened to find this book. The important aspect is that I found it, I read it and even some years later I still carry some passages in my mind, so I have to regard this book as a good one.

It is a kind of autobiographical narrative of the youth of Mr. William O. Douglas, who later in life became a Supreme Court Judge in America.

An interesting aspect, is that later I learned that as a Judge, Mr. Douglas would very often give shelter to the 5th. Amendment in his sentences, and by reading the book, we can sort of understand how his personality and his passion for freedom was formed many years before.

It is a first person narrative of his early years as a child and later as young man, and we can clearly understand his respect for wildlife and independence in a human's being life.

Recalling his early expeditions as a boy in nearby mountains, Mr. Douglas describes us the forests, rivers and rainbow-trouts of his youth. At a certain time I started to think there was too much information about trout-fishing, but we should always forgive and understand a man when he decides to tell us about his childhood. :)

This book is not about the Supreme Court Judge, but on the contrary, it is about the poor boy who grew under the mountains and borrowed some of their magnificent dignity from them.

I hope to read some of Mr. Douglas' Law writings one day, so I can finally understand the whole man and close this chapter. But this will still take some years, and until then, all I can say is that I have nice memories from this book. By the way, a pretty hard to find book.

What makes this book unique is that it is the diary of Martha Gay Masterson from the 1850's until her death at age 79 in 1916. Even more unique is editor Lois Barton's diligence in adding explanatory comments that help explain gaps and deliberate oversights in the narrative. The editor also steps in to define terms no longer in our vocabulary.

Martha's father dragged the family from Missouri to Oregon in the 1850's, and her life was one of almost constant movement. She followed either her parents or her husband from place to place--frequently several times a year--while trying to adjust to each new location.

We are privy to the day to day life in a time when weather, death, disease, and turmoil were commonplace amidst a background of a wilderness being opened up by railroads. The wildness of the country, the hardships of travel, and the challenge of keeping children alive are abundantly illustrated in this book.

"...gritty, marvelous portrait of life in mid-19th century America. I like the mix of the detail of everyday life and the tense and hair-raising moments."loisb@efn.org

The intriguing story of a woman who came to Oregon in a covered wagon in 1851 and lived long enough to see hundreds of automobiles passing by her home in the last year of her life. Here we have the West as it truly was, from the primitive era of the Oregon Trail to modern times of World War I. Dr. Richard M. Brown, History Dept. University of Oregon