I was blown away in 2005 by the “support culture” of trail angels, hostels, fiestas, you name it, honoring hikers passing through. I came back in 2010 and several new support networks had sprung up in the first two states. And now in 2012 it appears to be proliferating even further. An event at the beginning of March, originally called the Appalachian Trail Backpacking and Celebration Clinic has re-christened itself, the AT Kickoff,...

People keep asking me about this new book on the Pacific Crest Trail book, Wild, by well-known author, Cheryl Strayed (“Mama Sugar”). “Are you worried about it?” they always ask me. My honest answer is NO. Cheryl Strayed must be a good writer because she has a loyal following. She certainly has a good story about her relationship with her mother, drug abuse, etc. Better yet, she headed off to the Pacific Crest Trail to...

Product Details Format: Kindle Edition File Size: 1178 KB Publisher: Create Space for paperback version; 2 edition (April 25, 2008) Sold by: Amazon Digital Services Language: English ASIN: B004Y6AGJ6 Text-to-Speech: Enabled Lending: Enabled Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews) Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,997 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks >...

On the trail with Skywalker P.J. 0 comments Hiking, Hiking series, My world, Photography Oct 26 Skywalker and fellow hiker going down Forrester’s Pass on the PCT. (photo courtesy of Bill Walker) Hiking long distances is hard enough. Going through the ups and downs of a trail, fighting through weather, people and anything else that might step in your way. There’s making sure you carry enough food to make up for all the calories you burn...

Personally, I agree with this thru-hiker. The Pacific Crest Trail is more difficult to thru-hike than the Appalachian Trail. The hiker faces greater extremes of weather and terrain. The snow can play havoc with your calculations (and psyche!). It’s 488 miles longer. The good news is that they are very different. The committed hiker has only one logical course of action–do both of them. I strongly recommend doing the AT first because...

This particular headline has been in the news recently. It’s part of a trend of more evacuations through GPS systems. I was slow warming up to the bona-fides of GPS. However, there have been too many cases of successful rescue via GPS to deny its benefits. A legitimate question though, is whether or not hikers carrying them are prone to take more risks. Another issue I’d like to briefly touch on is hiker safety. It becomes easy for...