Category Archives: Backpacking

Rabid, the book

Backpacking, Book Review, General Talk,

Rabid the book cover

In 2013, during a 5 month period, Libby Zangle hiked all 2,663 miles of the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail. In 2014 she published Rabid: The Pacific Crest Tail. ‘Cause Therapy Ain’t Working. There was no endorsement from Oprah; Rabid is not on any best seller list. Libby isn’t famous. She isn’t a hero.

If this paragraph sounds familiar to you, then you read my post Wild, the book, where I wrote:

In 1995, during a 3 month period, Cheryl Strayed hiked 1,100 miles of the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail. In 2012 she published Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. After an endorsement from Oprah, Wild topped the best seller lists. Cheryl became famous. She is a hero to many people.

There is no similarity between either women or either book.

Continue reading Rabid, the book →

Wild, the book

Backpacking, Book Review

wild

In 1995, during a 3 month period, Cheryl Strayed hiked 1,100 miles of the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail. In 2012 she published Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. After an endorsement from Oprah, Wild topped the best seller lists. Cheryl became famous. She is a hero to many people.

In 2014 Wild was released as a motion picture, starring Reese Weatherspoon as Cheryl Strayed.

The online backpacking community (whatever that is) has been less than enthusiastic about Wild. Normally I don’t read these kinds of books – you know, the journey of self-discovery where nature solves all of a person’s problems.

Continue reading Wild, the book →

Please Help Save the Cactus to Clouds Trail (and other trails)

Backpacking, Hiking, The Environment

8-mile-warning-rock

Backpacker Magazine says the Cactus to Clouds Trail is the 5th most difficult day hike in America.

Renowned long distance hiker Andrew Skurka lists Cactus to Clouds as one of his top ten favorite hikes.

Here are a couple of my trip reports that included the Cactus to Clouds Trail:

San Jacinto Loop 2009

San Jacinto Loop 2010

The public may soon lose access to this trail in a land deal between the BLM and the Agua Caliente Band of Indians.

Continue reading Please Help Save the Cactus to Clouds Trail (and other trails) →

Joshua Tree National Park Article

Backpacking, Camping, General Talk, Hiking, Tent Trailer, ,

A friend of mine asked me to write an article for a magazine about Joshua Tree National Park that would be of interest to owners of tent trailers and small campers. I reluctantly accepted, as I really don’t have time for these kinds of projects — they interfere with my camping and backpacking time. He said I could take a few months to complete it. So I proceeded. In the end, the magazine decided to make it a four part series.

2014-11-20 PU Times Mag Cover

Continue reading Joshua Tree National Park Article →

Packing Our Fears (and an apology)

Backpacking

florida clouds smaller

There is a term that I have heard other backpackers use which is, “Packing Our Fears.” I am not sure there is an exact definition to this statement. To me it infers that people have a fear of certain things in the wild because they don’t have good knowledge of what they fear. Perhaps it means we fear things that, in reality, have a very small chance of hurting us or even killing us. But the fear is there.

When people ask me about the dangers of sleeping in the desert, such as rattlesnakes or scorpions, I dismiss them as silly. Same goes for black bears or mountain lions. Today I realized that this is unfair and perhaps I am judgmental. The proper approach would to share as much knowledge about these things as I can and communicate why they should be of less concern. I should also reassure others that these fears are normal.

Today I decided not to take a trip because of a fear.

Continue reading Packing Our Fears (and an apology) →

Is Backpacking Dying?

Backpacking,

Got back from a trip yesterday and checked a couple blogs. There’s a buzz in the online backpacking community about this article, The Death of Backpacking, in something called the High Country News.

IMG_0515

It seems that most people who come up with statistical shit generally agree that visitation to our national parks and backcountry use is in decline, and has been for several decades. Many backpackers see this as a disturbing trend and think encouraging more and more people to backpack is a grand idea. The Gen Y’s and Gen Z’s are the targeted recipients of disdain as the root cause of this decline, and because of their lack of enthusiasm for all things outdoors in the wilderness, the wilderness will be looted and destroyed by corporate America because they can’t or won’t be in the wilderness to become the next generations to defend and advocate for wilderness and the 1964 Wilderness Act, which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.

  Continue reading Is Backpacking Dying? →

Book Review: Grandma Gatewood’s Walk

Backpacking, Book Review,

A Good Read

grandma gatewood's walkIn 1955, at the age of 67, Emma Gatewood walked the entire 2,000+ mile Appalachian Trail (AT). This is a quick review of the book, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman who Saved the Appalachian Trail, by Ben Montgomery.

What makes this book a good read isn’t necessarily Mr. Montgomery’s writing ability, but that Emma Gatewood was such an incredible person. Before her through-hike of the AT, not many people had heard of the trail that runs from Georgia north to Maine, and only a handful had hiked it in its entirety. Emma would become the first woman to complete it. No one before or after her did more to popularize the trail.

Continue reading Book Review: Grandma Gatewood’s Walk →