Adventure of the Week: 60 reasons to take a hike

Jordan Summers figures he put about 600 miles on a pair of Asolo hiking boots while exploring nearby trails for his new book, "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Sacramento" (Menasha Ridge Press, $17.95, 240 pages).

All the book's trails are day hikes; they range from urban terrain such as William Land Park and Capitol Park to difficult wilderness routes like the Blue Ridge-Fiske Peak Trail near Cache Creek and Glascock Mountain.

As a longtime hiker who is well known in national wilderness hiking circles, Summers says he was recruited by Menasha Ridge Press to write the book on the Sacramento region's hiking trails. He'd taken a buyout from a high-tech company, so the timing was perfect.

"With time on my hands, I started hiking around, discovering trails," says the passionate hiker, who lives in Elk Grove. Through his research, he found books that featured area hikes, but he thought he had something to add to the category.

His hikes are thoughtfully presented by length and several other headings – "Best Hikes for Solitude," "Best Hikes for Children," "Wildflower Hikes," etc. A few are more than 60 miles from Sacramento but are definitely within day-hike distance.

Summers accompanies each hike with a map and an information box on how much water to carry, hiking time, driving distance from Sacramento, trail traffic, trail surface, etc.

"Dehydration is a real problem during the hottest months," he says. "You wake up, drink some coffee and away you go. You go down into a canyon, and it gets toasty hot at 9:30 in the morning."

"60 Hikes" is available at Costco, Borders, Barnes & Noble, the Avid Reader and other area stores, according to Summers, and REI will sell the book soon. The book also can be purchased on www.amazon.com.

Summers will appear at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the REI Sacramento store and at 7 p.m. next Thursday at REI Folsom. There'll be a talk, slide-show, book-signing and gear demonstration.

Summers' favorite hikes, one in each of the book's five categories of difficulty, are listed below:

Cakewalk

Description: Level ground; short, shaded; almost a catered affair.

Summers' pick: Effie Yeaw Nature Center trails (0.75 to 2.5 miles). At Ancil Hoffman County Park, Carmichael. Riparian woodland along the American River. (916) 489-4918 or www.effieyeaw.org.

Easy

Description: No real sweat, just fun.

Summers' pick: River Bend-Majestic Oaks Trail (3 miles). At Caswell Memorial State Park on the Stanislaus River near Ripon. Riparian forest. (209) 599-3810 or www.parks.ca.gov.

(tie) Independence Trail: West Branch near Nevada City (4.6 miles). "California should be proud of this trail; it's the first wheelchair-accessible wilderness trail in the U.S.," Summers says. On Highway 49 about six miles past the Highway 20 split.

Moderate

Description: Sweat some; uphill, downhill.

Summers' pick: The Big Trees South Grove Trail (5.4 miles) in Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The trail is through a grove of giant redwoods, including one of the world's largest trees (a 250-foot-tall redwood). (209) 795-2334 or www.parks.ca.gov.

Challenging

Description: Long, uphill, downhill, navigate; a workout.

Summers' pick: Red Bud Trail (15.5 miles) and Judge Davis Trail (11.5 miles), which connect in the Wilson Valley along Cache Creek. Wildlife and campground.

Difficult

Description: Vertical exposure; elevation gain/loss; scrambling.

Summers' pick: Euchre Bar Trail to Humbug Canyon (8.88 miles) off Interstate 80 near the Alta exit. The steep trail has switchbacks and passes tall timber as it descends to the north fork of the American River.