Official Review: Hiking Tall: Mount Shasta in a Day

[Heidi M Simone]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Hiking Tall: Mount Shasta in a Day" by Marvin D. Cope.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Hiking Tall: Mount Shasta in a Day by Marvin D. Cope is a comprehensive nonfiction text to assist those who would like to climb this Californian mountain. The author has hiked this particular mountain twice and another one, Mount Whitney, seven times to help write this book. The focus of this short read are the Clear Creek Trail and Avalanche Gulch on Mount Shasta, both of which Cope has hiked.

Throughout the text, the author makes it very clear that though this hike is accomplishing and can be fun, there are always dangers and risks hikers need to be aware of. With advice from proper clothing and packing needs to guidance on planning and health risks, the author has hit several useful points to make this hike successful for those who wish to accomplish it.

This well-written, simple read is written in two different point of views. Firstly, Cope addresses the reader by using the second person POV with guidance and advice. Secondly, the author relies his personal experiences by writing in the first person POV. By sharing his experiences, it makes the advice and warnings more realistic and interesting.

Within this book, Cope cleverly contains different pictures and tables to engage his audience. The pictures, which unfortunately my Kindle is black-and-white, depict the beautiful scenery found along the trails mentioned, which can be encouraging to future hikers. The tables presented range from simple analyzation on typical weather/temperature throughout each month of the year to the various challenging mountain climbs throughout the United States. Again, unfortunately, due to a Kindle read, most tables were extremely tiny.

One thing that I feel is missing from this book is a hiking trail map. It is wonderful that the author mentions key fixtures on the trails (Thumb Hill, Red Banks, Mount Lassen, and others), however, without a physical representation it was difficult for me to visual the distance and direction of the trail points.

As a personal preference, I also feel a small definition page towards the beginning with unfamiliar terms would be beneficial. For instance, the following words were unfamiliar to me and were used within the first few pages: scree, crampons, glissade, and gulch. Therefore, with the following sentence: “Never glissade with crampons on!” (Kindle, page 16), I was left puzzled. I learned it meant to not slide down a steep slope of snow or ice with the metal, removable spikes on your boots on! I learned two things from this phrase. One, new vocabulary. Two, I have no desire to hike this mountain if that's what needs to done!

Overall, the book was easy to follow and provided useful information for those who plan on hiking Mount Shasta. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for the above reasons and recommend to those who will climb this mountain or for those who want to learn how to be better prepared while hiking (even smaller, less intense hikes!).

******
Hiking Tall: Mount Shasta in a Day
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like hsimone's review? Post a comment saying so!

[gali]

lol, like you I also have no desire to hike such a mountain!

Thank you for the great review!

[Heidi M Simone]

Glad we're in the same boat!

Thank you, gali!

[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your review! The book sounds very informative with useful advice and warnings. You made a good point that it would have been helpful to include a hiking map. This way a reader can visualize where all the trail points are.

[Kourtney Bradley]

Although I can't possible understand how hiking can be fun (lol) it sounds like a very nice read. Great review!

[Heidi M Simone]

I enjoyed reading your review! The book sounds very informative with useful advice and warnings. You made a good point that it would have been helpful to include a hiking map. This way a reader can visualize where all the trail points are.

Thank you, bookowlie! I appreciate your comments. The author does do a nice job with giving advice and fair warnings with almost a friendly/helpful teacher-like voice (if that makes sense!).

-- 23 Jul 2016, 19:30 --

Although I can't possible understand how hiking can be fun (lol) it sounds like a very nice read. Great review!

I personally like hikes that are more like strolls in the woods (with wide trails). I don't mind some challenge, but definitely not at this level! I did like reading the book, though, because some of the information is useful for even lower-leveled hikers (like myself)!

[kimmyschemy06]

Sounds like a very helpful book. Sadly, I'm not an outdoorsy person. I love nature but I didn't have a chance to go out hiking when I was young. Great job on the review. Congratulation to Marvin D. Cope!

[Heidi M Simone]

Thank you, kimmyschemy06! I wasn't much into hiking either for a while, but now I enjoy the simple (a little challenging) ones. It was a great and helpful book!