Skywalker: Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail

Skywalker: Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail

Why would a middle-aged businesman who had never even spent a night outdoors attempt to hike the entire Appalachian Trail in one year? Bill Walker, a former commodities trader in Chicago and London, and an avid walker, had developed a virtual obsession to hike this 2,175 mile trail in one hiking season. So in the spring of 2005 he set off, determined to hike this Georgia-to-Maine wilderness trail before the arrival of winter. Immediately, he...

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Skywalker: Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail

Skywalker: Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail

The PCT’s calling card is its stunning beauty. It has a diversity of geography unequaled by any footpath in the world. Haunting and beckoning the PCT hiker are the implacable desert, the towering majesty of the so-called High Sierra, and the ruggedly bleak, northern Cascade range. Indeed, the PCT hiker faces much greater extremes of terrain and climate than on the famed Appalachian Trail. Completing this demanding challenge calls for...

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Is Height an Advantage or Disadvantage on Hiking Trails?

Height–the great talisman. Surveys consistently show that 98% of people want to be taller. And this national trend plays out in microcosm on America’s hiking trails. I am 6’11”. When I am out hiking, countless people ask me what my exact height is, almost always followed by lamentations they aren’t taller themselves. But is it possible that great height is nothing more than a talisman?  The answer is a resounding...

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Amazon Travel Department Recommends Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Walker

  william b walker, we have recommendations for you E-mail or print for immediate delivery › Amazon.com Gift Cards Your Amazon.com Today’s Deals See All Departments william b walker,Are you looking for something in our Travel Books department? If so, you might be interested in these items. Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail by Bill WalkerList Price:...

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Bill Bryson, Cheryl Strayed, Jon Krakauer, and Hape Kerkeling Heavily Influence Outdoors Activity–Kudos

Hikers are serious people. No, they aren’t serious in the Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, or Bill Gates way. They have a different focus. It’s a broader one–theGreat Outdoors. Hikers, pilgrims, and of course, outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen don’t like to be confined inside for too long. Their central nervous system thrums at a higher pitch when engaged deep within wilderness, scaling peaks, or perhaps even slogging dutifully...

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