“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” — Dr. Suess
We are experiencing a new environment, one defined by change and loss.
Our forests are dying. Visit the oak trees at Burnt Rancheria Campground near the Pacific ... Read more
By Mary Anne Chute Lynch
If you do not want to be one of those first-time thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail who quits or must be rescued within the first 20 miles, talk to Thomas Claiborne at the southern terminus.
A 2014 thru-hiker—trail name “Dr. Camel”—Thomas will be a ... Read more
By Logan “Unitic” McCulloch
Hiking the Appalachian Trail was high on my bucket list. And it might have remained there indefinitely but for a life-altering experience I had beginning in May 2011.
Several months after a backpacking trip in Mammoth Cave National Park, I developed a case of disseminated borreliosis ... Read more
By Ben Barry and Blair “Cat Lady” Dietrick
Navigating your first few weeks of a thru-hike can be overwhelming as your body and mind adjust to high-mileage days and a new and challenging lifestyle. The first few hundred miles of desert that you’ll encounter when leaving the Mexican border are ... Read more
I wrote this article for our Communicator magazine last year. This season, as we hear reports of rescues, searches and injuries, I thought it’d be timely to share it again.
The person on the other end of the phone is lost. The person on the other end is angry. Worried ... Read more
By Dan Feldman
No one knows, till he tries, how easily a habit of walking is acquired. A person who never walked three miles will in the course of a month become able to walk 15 or 20.
— Thomas Jefferson, correspondence to Thomas Mann Randolph Aug 27, 1786.
There’s ... Read more
Gregg Hein broke his leg descending Mt. Goddard on July 5th. The peak dominates the region around Muir Pass in Kings Canyon National Park. The experienced outdoorsman found himself alone, off-trail and in a very difficult situation with a compound fracture. He was rescued after six days. The lessons that ... Read more
We travel the Pacific Crest Trail with the hope of escaping the problems and pressures of our cities. That doesn’t always work. Over the years, and especially this year, we’ve talked to women who say they have been sexually harassed on the trail and in trail towns. This is troubling ... Read more
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