“You will have a lot more trouble with hot weather than cold weather,” Warren Doyle assured me. “I don’t know,” I responded. “I’m a poster child for the hypothermia culture.” This was a critical question as I prepared to thru-hike the 2,181 mile Appalachian Trail. For a hiker of average abilities like myself, a walk of that length is going to take almost six months. And given that an...

Tomorrow, June 21st, is the annual Hike Naked Day on the Appalachian Trail (AT). All across the 14 states and 2,180 miles of this famous national scenic trail there will be un-clad, two-legged beings galloping gleefully through the wilderness. What could be better? Well, let me first disclose, I am all talk no action. “Come on, Skywalker, what have you got to lose,” I was repeatedly prompted on June 21st, 2006. Nonetheless, I opted...

The John Muir Trail runs 219 miles southbound from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney. This trail coincides with the Pacific Crest Trail, and covers what many consider the very most gorgeous parts of the famously gorgeous Pacific Crest Trail. Most John Muir Trail (JMT) hikers choose to do this trail in July and August when the snow is mostly gone. This is different from Pacific Crest Trail hikers who are forced to enter this section (The...

“Should I do the Pacific Crest Trail this summer?” one anxious caller asks Cheryl Strayed, author of the smashing new bestseller, ‘Wild–From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail’.  “Go,” Strayed  immediately exhorts the caller. “Do it.” Indeed, anecdotal evidence shows that many people are following her advice and headed out for sojourns on that great western trek, the 2,663 mile...

“Skywalker, I’ve got two weeks off from work. What section would you recommend I do?” That is a question I am often asked. It’s a good one. The good news is that a person can do a lot in two weeks. Probably the easiest part of the entire Appalachian Trail is Shenandoah National Park. It runs 100 miles through the lush green hills of northern Virginia. Wildlife (black bears, white-tailed deer) is plentiful, and the...