Bill Walker, author of the popular Skywalker hiking series, is offering a free upload on Amazon Kindle, Saturday, Feb. 24th of Chicago Pits (2018). It is the first comprehensive novel of the Chicago commodity futures and options business, which was the largest industry in Chicago.   Walker previously wrote Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail and Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest...

Bill Walker, author of the Skywalker hiking series, including Skywalker–Close Encounters on the Appaalachian Trail and Skywalker–Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail, has published his first novel. It is called, Chicago Pits (2018), and draws on his experiences as a commodities broker in the huge Treasury Bond Pit at the Chicago Board of Trade. Readers will be shocked at the savagery in the midst of the world’s largest...

If you had asked me in the desert what my most important piece of equipment in my backpack was, I would have told you the dorky, wide-brimmed hat I wore to protect myself from the blazing sun and stave off dehydration. However, way up in the ‘High Sierra’ portion of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), I would have had a surprising answer–a piece of equipment that did not weigh even one ounce and cost less than $20. My mosquito head...

“Have you heard any snow reports?’ PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) thru-hikers are accustomed to spending the winter before their thru-hikes obsessing over snow levels in the so-called ‘High Sierra’. For good reason. The High Sierra is the most daunting and beautiful part of the PCT. Hands down. This section both haunts and beckons. It’s all about the snow. In 2006, the year after my AT (Appalachian Trail) thru-hike, I...

“I would definitely go to the Kickoff.” Time after time, when I asked ex PCT-hikers for advice, that was the first thing they suggested. They were referring to the annual Pacific Crest Trail Kickoff Party held every year on the last weekend in April in Lake Morena County State Park in the southern California desert. The PCTactually begins at the Mexican border; Lake Morena State Park is 21 miles north of the border. Thru-hikers...

Woo-hoo!  It’s opening day at Hiker Heaven, and there are two hikers in da house!  Volunteers Shelly Skye (aka Upside Down ’12) and Mike Shostak (aka Clutch ’12) have already made a big dent in preparations.  Cucumber Boy and Three Gallon (’07) donated a 27′ RV that will be used for volunteer housing.  There are so many amazing ways to “Serve The Herd!”  I am so grateful and full of anticipation for...