Karen Waring Sykes papers, 1932-2013

Karen Sykes was born in Shelton, Washington, in 1943. As a young woman, Karen discovered a love for writing, hiking, and photography, and eventually became a well-known figure in the Northwest hiking community. Writing under the names Karen Waring and Karen Sykes, she authored poetry and short stories that were featured in several writing publications, as well as a "Hike of the Week" column, which ran in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for over a decade. Karen also wrote hiking guide book "Hidden Hikes in Western Washington" and co-authored "Best Wildflower Hikes: Washington." In June of 2014, Karen passed away due to hypothermia while hiking in Mount Rainier National Park.