New Local Hiking Blog Takes You Places (Where Brookies May Lurk)

Local writer/hiker John Soares has fired up a hiking blog that I’ve been dying to plug on the Underground.

He’s the author of a couple hiking guidebooks, and while fly fishermen aren’t his primary market, I must confess that the earlier edition of his book was the vehicle through which I found a favorite alpine brookie lake.

Add his blog to your RSS reader, and enjoy the places he goes (and watch carefully when he goes anywhere there’s water).

After all, finding an out-of-the-way place – where other fly fishermen almost never go – is one of those shadowy goals a lot of fly fishermen hold, but rarely talk about.

His latest post is about protecting the local watersheds:

Hikers need to pay attention to water. Many of our favorite hikes travel along streams, and we want the waterways healthy and vibrant. Of course, many hikers also fish and thus have a special interest in helping streams. The presenters discussed the current situation of Coho and Chinook salmon in the Shasta River and the threats facing redband trout in the McCloud area.

One of the presenters, Dr. Rene Henery of the Upper Sacramento River Exchange, has created an excellent on-line slide presentation of Mount Shasta’s watersheds. Also visit the Protect Our Waters site for more information and to get involved. (For information on the controversy surrounding water bottling plants, and specifically the proposed Nestle plant in McCloud, visit Stop Nestle Waters.)

See you on the trail, Tom Chandler.

hiking, backcountry, backcountry fishing