http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-robert-redford-walk-woods-richard-linklater-20130403,0,3308669.story “Robert Redford just bought the movie rights to Bryson’s book,” someone reported to me at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in 2005 during my thru-hike. This, incidentally, is the halfway point on the Appalachian Trail. Thru-hikers are renowned for attempting to eat a half-gallon of ice cream in an...

Some have referred to the Pacific Crest Trail as the Appalachian Trail of the West. The Appalachian Trail is America’s trail of the masses; some three to four million people per year step foot on it at any one time each and every year. The Pacific Crest Trail does not have this feeling. For starters, it begins with 703 miles in the desert. The striking thing to me about that long, and sometimes brutal, march through the...

What is the best way for the average person to see the world’s greatest mountain range–the Himalayas? Fortunately, there is now a good answer. The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal is the most popular footpath in Asia. Its genius lies in its design. Trekkers wind their way around and along some of the world’s greatest peaks, ultimately getting near 18,000 feet, without ever having to do any ‘technical climbing’. This...

Hiking overseas can seem like a daunting proposition to many. But it really doesn’t have to be terribly hazardous. Many people are learning that–even Americans! Americans have traditionally liked to avoid perilous situations while overseas. We generally wait until something has become popular before showing up. For that reason, the Camino de Santiago is now being inundated by Americans. Of course, Europeans walked the Camino en masse...