Awards

• Commended for Benjamin Franklin Award (Travel) 2020

Overview

Plan your trip to Rocky Mountain National Park using the most up-to-date hiking guide filled with gorgeous color photos, custom maps, elevation profile graphs and all the information you need to know to be prepared and stay safe. This 512 page book was written by someone who has spent the last 15 years hiking every nook and cranny of the park and knows each trail intimately.

Full Product Details

9780996962681

Table of Contents

Reviews

Every generation must write its hiking guides anew. This is particularly true for Rocky Mountain National Park whose well-worn trails to high and special places traverse a fragile ecosystem that is ever-changing. That ecosystem needs our protection and our respect; the kind of good stewardship that is predicated on knowledge and understanding. This is precisely what Erik Stensland has provided in his Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park. In over 500 pages, covering 75 hikes, Erik guides us along trails to much-visited places, destinations made fresh and new with updated topographical maps and trail distances, essential site-specific information, and his own stunning color photographs. Particularly praiseworthy is Stensland's lengthy introductory section, First Things First, in which he carefully prepares us for our journeys and teaches us how to make them safe and enjoyable ones. He also teaches us something more: how to be responsible caretakers of the national treasure that is Rocky Mountain National Park--to be ever mindful, in the words of the 1916 charter of the National Park Service, of our responsibility to protect what we encounter along the way so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. The Rocky Mountain Conservancy, which since 1931 has served as the philanthropic steward of Rocky Mountain National Park, recommends Erik Stensland's book. His message is very much our own. - Jim Pickering, Rocky Mountain Conservancy - Board President Stensland and his team have taken a fresh approach to hiking guides and compiled an easy to use guide for hikers of all levels. In addition, Erik shares the beauty of the park through his stunning photography and photographer's eye. As a former park manager, I appreciate Erik's sensitivity to protecting the park's resources and the emphasis on safety. The guide is a must for anyone concerned with the stewardship of Rocky Mountain National Park for future generations. - Vaughn Baker (Rocky Mountain National Park Superintendent 2002-2015) Erik Stensland's Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: The Essential Guide is a must to have for the novice or avid hiker. Seventy-five of the most spectacular, official trails are featured with thorough descriptions, updated mileages, routes and maps. Trails are organized into four categories of difficulty: accessible, easy, moderate and strenuous. Each section describes trails from easiest to most challenging allowing readers to quickly select a trail suitable for their interest and hiking ability. The trail descriptions are prefaced by nearly 100 pages of background material, advice, logistics, park regulations, and information on how to get the most out of the guide and your hike. Low impact principles are emphasized which is extremely important as the park experiences increasing visitation. Don't just think of this as a book of trail descriptions, but also as well-researched treatment on hiking safely, responsibly and respectfully. An accompanying website - hikingrocky.com - provides additional explanations, guidance, updates and corrections as well as a conduit to the author. Depend on Stensland's book to help you get the most out of your Rocky Mountain National Park hiking adventure. - Larry Frederick (Chief of Interpretation, Rocky Mountain National Park 2001-2012)

Author Information

Erik Stensland was born in Minnesota in 1968 but moved many times before he was 18. His first real memories are from the mountains outside of Helena, Montana, where at ages 5 and 6 he would spend his days hiking through the forest, exploring miles of mountain terrain around his house. Everywhere he moved he was drawn to the natural world, spending his days creating his own secret trails up to the top of nearby hills or climbing a tree to get a better view. His junior high and high school years were spent cycling throughout the countryside where he could enjoy quiet and beautiful views. Throughout Erik's life, the beauty of nature has called to him. After college Erik moved overseas, living in Austria, Bulgaria, Albania, and Kosovo. He met his wife, Joanna, in Austria and they spent over a decade working with the Albanian people, doing everything from creating an ecotourism program, teaching English, assisting local artists, starting a refugee agency, helping local churches meet the needs of their society, and many other projects. After suffering severe burnout, Erik and Joanna moved to Colorado in 2004. Erik became a landscape photographer in the hope that this might be a way to get paid to hike, as the silence of the wilderness is where he is renewed. While it has involved more office work than he ever imagined, he's still managed to explore nearly every corner of Rocky Mountain National Park, hiking every trail, most of them more times than he can count. In 2007 Erik opened his gallery in Estes Park. Since then Erik has become one of the primary photographers focusing on Rocky Mountain National Park. He's published numerous books, opened other gallery and display locations, and contributes to various local and national publications. Erik tends to avoid the spotlight and can most often be found heading in the opposite direction of the crowds, looking for quiet trails that lead into places of beauty and silence.

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