Like most hikers and authors, I love doing presentations to groups. Heck, you spend almost six months thru-hiking, around the most diverse cast of characters imaginable, passing through almost every type of weather possible, feeling half-starved, dehydrated, scared to death (if you’re me!), and bone-tired. And then if you decide to write about it–as I’m wont to do–you spend approximately the next year obsessing over...

“If you want to see America, hike the Appalachian Trail,” I have told many Camino de Santiago pilgrims. “Don’t go to Disney World or Las Vegas.” This is sincere advice. Having lived and traveled extensively overseas, I am acutely sensitive to the persistent current of anti-Americanism running through Europeans of all stripes. A discussion of the origins of this virus is beyond the purview of this article. But...

The outdoor narrative, Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail (2010), will be available for free Amazon Kindle upload on Saturday and Sunday, September 22 and 23. This is the story of 6’11” Bill Walker’s (Skywalker) 2009 hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The Pacific Crest Trail runs 2,663 miles from the California-Mexico border to the Washington-Canada border. It is renowned in the hiking community for...

Are you looking for something in our Sports & Outdoors books department? If so, you might be interested in these items. Skywalker: Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail by Bill Walker List Price: $10.95 Price: $8.31 You Save: $2.64 (24%)   Pacific Crest Trail Data Book: Mileages, Landmarks, Facilities, Resupply Data, and Essential Trail Information for the Entire Pacific Crest Trail, from Mexico...

Very Big Thank You to the fine folks out in Palm Springs who saved my life on the 12th as I attempted to make it from high above Snow Creek down to Snow Creek on the North Side of San Jacinto with 1/10th quart of water left from the gallon I brought with me from Fuller Ridge Trail… oranges and apples kept me going until they were rejected by my body and I purged them..after that I fell asleep under the shade of a rock, still sweating..Had that...

“What books do you recommend that I read?” I’m often asked by people contemplating a thru-hike of the famed Appalachian Trail. Objectively, it’s  a good question. But it’s a bit ironic that they ask me. For two reasons. To begin with, I wrote a narrative on the Appalachian Trail called Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail. And as we all know, authors are notoriously poor judges of their own...