Hikers are serious people. No, they aren’t serious in the Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, or Bill Gates way. They have a different focus. It’s a broader one–theGreat Outdoors. Hikers, pilgrims, and of course, outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen don’t like to be confined inside for too long. Their central nervous system thrums at a higher pitch when engaged deep within wilderness, scaling peaks, or perhaps even slogging dutifully...

The newest narrative on the Camino de Santiago, ‘The Best Way–El Camino de Santiago (2012)’ will be available for a free download on Amazon Kindle both Saturday and Sunday, June 2-3. This narrative has proven popular because of the combination of irreverent, towel-snapping humor and entertaining history of how the Camino de Santiago played a seminal role in the development of western civilization.

The 16th annual Appalachian Trail Days Festival was held in Damascus, Virginia this past weekend. Damascus, of course, is a magical place for Appalachian Trail hikers. It is widely billed as the friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail. White blazes lead hikers right out of the mountains and onto the main streets. My booth featured my two ‘Skywalker’ narratives on the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails. But the book that garnered...

Mount Rainier in Washington state is the highest mountain in the northern Cascades. The Pacific Crest Trail skirts Rainier; but fortunately it does not cover the summit of the peak. That would be flat out dangerous given that Rainier is a so-called ‘technical climb’, requiring crampons, ice axes, and more. Periodically there are deaths on Rainier, almost always having to do with sudden weather change. Further south in Oregon, PCT...

The John Muir Trail (JMT) is 219 miles long. It runs southbound from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, and takes most hikers about 15 days to do. Thus, a person with a fulltime job still might be able to do the JMT. Personally, I think it rates as the greatest short-to-medium distance hiking trail in the United States. In fact, it covers the very most gorgeous parts of the Pacific Crest Trail, running through the High Sierra. Bill Walker is the...