Free Kindle Upload of Skywalker Books this Saturday
Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail and Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Bill Walker, will be available Saturday, April 21st, for a free upload on Amazon Kindle as part of the Amazon KDP Select program. The last time a free special was run on these two books, more than 1,800 readers took advantage of the special in just two days. Both books are currently in the top 1 or 2% on Amazon, so it is expected there will be many takers this time around, as well. Also, The Best Way–El Camino de...
read moreAmazon recommends Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail
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 Sports & Outdoors books department? If so, you might be interested in these...
read morePacific Crest Trail Passes Through Yosemite National Park
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) passes directly through Yosemite National Park. I had never been to Yosemite before. The Yosemite world of sheer rock cliffs and running, plunging water staggers the imagination. Waterfalls were seemingly everywhere. Most PCT thru-hikers took a day off and toured Yosemite Valley. This area had been preserved a century back when John Muir had convinced Theodore Roosevelt to include Yosemite Valley as a protected national park. It was early July and Yosemite Falls, the largest waterfall in America at 2,425 feet, was...
read moreNorthern Cascades Closes Out Pacific Crest Trail
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is 2,663 miles long, and runs from Mexico to Canada. Unsurprisingly, it passes through several distinct regions of geography. First, of course is the desert (including part of the infamous Mojave). Many hikers’s dreams of thru-hiking cratered right there in this implacable milieu. Next, came the majestic High Sierra. This stretch of about 400 miles is often the most beautiful place a thru-hiker has seen in his or her short, or long, lives. The Sierras have a certain alpen glow and ethereal majesty about...
read moreSerial Weight Loss on the Pacific Crest Trail
Weight loss is one of the great challenges of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). I had lost 33 pounds on the Appalachian Trail. To be sure, it had been a problem. However, I had quickly recouped the weight by retaining my hiker’s appetite even after the AT hike was over. Bu the PCT represented a greater challenge. The distances between resupply are longer on the PCT than the AT. That usually means that a hiker will carry less weight for each day between trail towns. Double that with the fact that PCT hikers hike greater distances each day...
read moreSkywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail
This is the cover for the paperback and Kindle versions of Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail. The book was orginally printed in hardback form. Two runs of 1,500 were done by Indigo Publishing. Last year I had sold out of all 3,000 copies. That was the good news. The bad news is the publisher went broke. Thus, I have created this new version (exact same text) with what some consider a whimsical cover, panning my height. It has sold briskly on www.amazon.com, often in the top 1% of Amazon Kindle rankings. Fortunately, I...
read moreMountain Passes in the High Sierra
PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers receive loads of advice on how to handle the snowy passes in the ‘High Sierra’. Generally, it is suggested (Yogi’s PCT Handbook) to attempt to clear the mountain pass in the late morning after the pass is no longer icy. Then the hiker should try to get down from the mountain pass in the early afternoon before the snow turns mushy, thus avoiding postholing. Often thru-hikers will glissade down a mountain pass, which saves time and energy, but can be precarious. Generally, a...
read morePCT Hikers Face Rattlesnakes in the Desert
PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers can expect to run into rattlesnakes at various points in the desert, which is exactly where a PCT hiker is the first 703 miles. They certainly seemed a lot more at home out there than we hikers! One thru-hiker picked up the trail name, ‘Snake Charmer’, when a rattlesnake lunged at him and bounced off his shoe. Some tried hiking at night to avoid the awful heat of the desert. This allowed them to make good miles and save on water. But there were problems. “I hate the way you’re hiking...
read moreHiking in the ‘High Desert’
Most PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers expected the desert to be table-top flat and monotonous. How wrong we were! In fact, the desert proved quite mountainous and jagged at various points. We even ran into heavy snow fields on Fuller’s Ridge. The good news is that in this so-called high desert, the PCT hiker gets some breathtaking views out into the vast expanses of the desert. Only when we got to the Mojave, were we walking all day in the desert floor. In fact, at that point the only variable feature was the pipes that carried the water...
read moreThe ‘High Sierra’ on the Pacific Crest Trail
After 703 miles in the desert, PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers enter the so-called ‘High Sierra’. This section traverses the highest points on the entire American mainland, including Mount Whitney (14,494 feet) and Forrester’s Pass. Most hikers consider this section the highlight of the PCT. Indeed, the High Sierra has an alpen glow, that mixed in with the daunting peaks and snow, give it a certain ethereal majesty. PCT hikers spend much of the winter prior to their hike obsessing over snow levels in the High Sierra. The...
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