Skywalker Appalachian Trail Book #2 in Amazon Non-Fiction Sports and Outdoor
Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail now has an Amazon #2 ranking on Amazon for non-fiction, sports, outdoor, and camping. It is the tale of 6’11” Bill Walker’s thru-hike of the 2,663 mile Appalachian National Scenic trail running from Georgia to northern Maine which he calls “the journey of a lifetime.” Walker is also the author of several popular hiking books including Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail, The Best Way–El Camino de Santiago, and Getting...
read morePacific Crest Trail Moves Into National Consciousness
The Appalachian Trail is America’s great trail of the masses. Nothing can–or should–ever replace that. That was Benton McKaye’s plan from the beginning, given the proximity of the Appalachain Mountain Range to the nation’s great population centers. The Pacific Crest Trail is America’s other great trail; better yet, it is becoming greater by the minute, as hostels, trail maintainers, guidebooks, and the like spring up. For those of you worried that the experience will no longer be pristine, I say,...
read moreCheryl Strayed’s ‘Wild–From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail’ Makes Her a Hero to A Certain Type of Woman
“Did you hear?” a hiker friend from the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) asked me. “The number of people at the Kickoff was almost double. And the number of women tripled.” Folks, can we all agree that’s good news! And please don’t read too much into it! Just a quick synopsis: the number of women on America’s other great footpath, the Appalachian Trail, has increased to approximately half the hiker population. But the Pacific Crest Trail–until recently–was nowhere near that. But it is changing....
read moreHiking Books Make Great Christmas Gifts Because….
What are you looking for in a Christmas gift? Obviously, your answer could be a million things. Some of you–if you are like me–are probably just looking to check the box. Done. Move on to next item. But let me please suggest this. My most memorable gifts over the years have been those that enabled, as opposed to provided a temporary surge of pleasure. Personally speaking, I came up with the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail after reading Bill Bryson’s bestselling, A Walk in the Woods. Many are gaining similar impetus from...
read moreFilm Reviews Coming in for ‘Wild–From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail’
This is the link to a sample film review for Wild–From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, starring Reese Witherspoon, based on Cheryl Strayed’s book. Hopes are that this movie will help ratchet up foot traffic on the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail which runs from Mexico to Canada. In a country with a 30% obesity rate (tragic in my opinion) that is nothing but a good thing. And let me say this about Miss Strayed’s book. She has gotten a fairly large sampling of one-star reviews, with comments along the lines of...
read moreFemale Hikers Flock to Pacific Crest Trail In Wake of Cheryl Strayed Book, ‘Wild’
The Appalachian Trail has traditionally been the safe haven of choice for female hikers. Why? The main reason given is the expansive trail community. Quite simply, with that many of your fellow hikers around, along with the frequent trail towns, hiker hostels, trail magic, and the like, a woman has more protection on the AT. Frankly, this reasoning is sound. Yes, long-distance hiking is generally about as safe as regular life in the ‘real world’. But humans being humans–and males being males–occasionally there are...
read moreAmazon Prime Members May Upload Skywalker Hiking Books for Free
Amazon Prime members: it’s that time of the month again. You get your free selection for Kindle upload. Here is a suggestion–the Skywalker hiking books, written by Bill Walker. These popular narratives are the tale of a middle-aged businessman who had never even spent the night outside, before developing an obsession to thru-hike the 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail in one hiking season. It took him 171 days, 33 pounds, and countless blunders, but ultimately he completed what he describes as “the journey of a lifetime.”...
read moreDisaster on Annapurna Circuit in Nepal Was ‘Luck’ of the Draw
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29672358 I was very, very worried. One thing that concerned me was others didn’t appear to be as uptight. Or maybe I was just missing something. After all, many of the trekkers were British, famous for their stiff upper lips. So who knows? But it had begun snowing at Annapurna Circuit Base Camp at 14,600 feet, after weeks of being assured by sherpas and guides that there would be no snow. In addition, I had a cracking headache, per high altitude lore. The next morning I headed off at 4:00 into the dark,...
read moreAppalachian Trail Thru-Hike Preparation Takes Several Months
Admitted, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. All I had done was read Bill Bryson’s bestseller, A Walk in the Woods. Nonetheless, I spent at least four months of almost full-time planning to thru-hike the 2,181 mile Appalachian Trail. I had never even spent the night outdoors. Of course many thru-hiker wannabes will have backpacking experience under their belt. Why does it take so long? Actually some of that time was physical training which I highly recommend. The most difficult of the fourteen states are the last two, New...
read moreFree Amazon Kindle Upload for Skywalker Pacific Crest Trail Book
Bill Walker, author of the popular Skywalker hiking books series, is offering his popular Pacific Crest Trail book, Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail, for free upload on Amazon Kindle and other handheld devices, this Friday and Saturday, November 7 and 8, 2014. Walker is also the author of Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail, The Best Way–El Camino de Santiago, and Getting High–The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal....
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