WINNER OF THE 2017 NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARDS (INSTRUCTIONAL CATEGORY) Make the Dream of a Long Distance Thru-Hike a Reality Have you been dreaming of the summer when you can hike the Appalachian Trail? Or marvel at the snow-capped peaks along the Pacific Crest Trail? Or simply section hike the Continental Divide Trail? In Backpacker’s Long Trails, Liz “Snorkel” Thomas, former women’s speed record holder for the AT and veteran of twenty long trails, gives you the tools to make this dream a reality. Included is trail-proven advice on selecting gear, stocking resupplies, and planning your budget and schedule, complete with gorgeous photographs of life on the trail. Along the way, enjoy sneak peeks into not only the Triple Crown trails, but also lesser-known long trails throughout North America.

Nothing against the Bright Angel Trail, the Narrows, the Presidential Traverse, or Half Dome, which are all certainly worth of their popularity, but hikers don’t need another resource pointing them toward those conga lines. It’s time we rewrite the backpacker’s life list. Enter Backpacker Hidden Gems. For the first time ever, here is a collection of Mother Nature’s best kept secret hikes, chockful of life-list worthy views, campsites, waterfalls, wildlife, and more. This book spills every secret and pulls back the curtain to reveal the top 100 trips across the country, with information on how to reach them, when to go, and what you’ll see. With color topographic maps and over 200 gorgeous photographs to complete the package, this book is the perfect keepsake for anyone looking to expand his hiking horizons.

Whether you're just setting out for a day hike or are planning to trek all the way from Maine to Georgia, Backpacker Magazine's Guide to the Appalachian Trail is the definitive guide to the most famous footpath in the nation. This updated edition provides detailed descriptions of what terrain hikers can expect to find in any given section, along with information on local natural history and nearby towns and landmarks. Chapters on the geology of the trail and the history of its creation complete the picture, ensuring that this will continue to be a well-worn resource for countless hikers.

The backcountry is full of great stories, and we’re proud to bring you this collection of some of our favorites. From urban hiking in Los Angeles to a backpacker’s first taste of hunting, in every way, these stories exemplify the power of quality writing and the transformative experience of the outdoors. Table of Contents Higher Love Forty years after his own adolescent ascent of the Arctic’s Mt. Chamberlin, the author returns with his 13-year-old daughter. But on this father-child epic, glaciers and grizzlies may be the least of the hazards. By John Harlin Above It All When John Muir said that a “proper” wilderness experience requires at least two weeks of backpacking, he probably didn’t foresee two Speedo-clad brothers hiking around the Sierra Nevada’s 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail, occasionally hitching into town for burritos and beer. Still, we’re sure Muir would have approved of circling America’s largest alpine lake on foot. By Charles Bethea Utterly, Hopelessly, Truly Lost Not lawyer-approved: We blindfolded navigation novice Jim Thornton and dropped him by bushplane in the middle of Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Then it started snowing. By Jim Thornton Fish Story Imagine an Alaska paradise with trout bigger than your leg, bears and caribou traipsing by camp, and no people—except your good friends. This place exists. We have proof. We can’t tell you where it is, but we can tell you how to get there. By Jonathan Dorn America’s Worst Trail: A Love Story Got health insurance? You’ll need it for a hike on Vermont’s famously rugged Long Trail, according to our Green Mountains junkie, who reflects on what makes this 273-mile path the country’s most frustrating hike—and why he can’t stay away. By David Hiscoe Killer Hike When a lifelong backpacker decides to shoot a deer, will he lose touch with the wilderness he loves—or get closer to it? By Bruce Barcott Ranger Confidential What really happens when you land the best job in the outdoors? In this tell-all, a former national park ranger dishes on cleaning up after dead climbers, saving wimpy hikers, policing nudists, and witnessing wilderness miracles. By Andrea Lankford The Big Parade Two days. Forty-two miles. More than 10,000 feet of elevation gain. In Los Angeles? Here’s how one visionary (OK, a slightly obsessed backpacker) started a local-hikes revolution in the epicenter of urban sprawl. By Dan Koeppel My F*&^ing Family We like to think that a camping trip can bring anyone together—even three siblings harboring five decades’ worth of betrayals, resentments, and maybe one case of semi-accidental poisoning. Will a backpacking trip in the Rockies bring this family together—or tear them apart? By Steve Friedman High Note Lots of musicians perform charity concerts. Very few climb mountains and play on top. And only one—Mike Peters of The Alarm—has staged a fundraiser on Mt. Kilimanjaro’s 19,341-foot summit. The two-time cancer survivor is on a mission to fight the disease, and if he has to gasp for air between verses, so be it. Join Peters, plus friends from the Fixx, the Stray Cats, Gin Blossoms, and Squeeze, for the world’s highest show. By Nick Heil The Last Best Place Hikers have long sought hidden trails, secret valleys and lush, untouched mountain meadows. A young man discovered such a place deep in California’s Sierra 38 years ago. Eight years later, in 1983, he wrote about the place and submitted it to BACKPACKER. Then he disappeared. The story never ran, because we didn’t think it was true—until now. By Eddie Oglander

"[T]he definitive guide to the most famous footpath in the nation. Featuring the latest details on the Trail route and current conditions, this revised and updated edition tells you what terrain you can expect to find, where to go to avoid the crowds, and what to look for along the way."--Cover.

This guide is an in-depth look at how to get the most out of a visit to the historic Lewis and Clark Trail. The best sites to see and activities to do along the way are given, as well as maps, itineraries, and local resources for lodging and dining.

In Traveling the Beaten Trail: Charles Tait’s Charges to Federal Grand Juries 1822–1825, a concise and essential addition to the Occasional Publications of the Bounds Law Library, authors Paul M. Pruitt Jr., David I. Durham, and Sally E. Hadden capture the life, achievements, and legacy of federal judge Charles Tait. Throughout his colorful career, Tait left an unmistakable impression on Alabama politics. He had a major influence over the federal bar and its practice, and he also made it his personal responsibility to educate the public. Traveling the Beaten Trail offers a brief biographical account of Charles Tait’s life, highlighting various noteworthy events, such as the array of professions he undertook—from professor, to planter, to lawyer, to senator. The remainder of the text focuses on in-depth analyses of Tait's grand jury charges for 1822, 1824, and 1825. About Occasional Publications of the Bounds Law Library This collection offers a series of edited documents that contribute to an understanding of the development of legal history, culture, or doctrine. Series editors Paul M. Pruitt Jr. and David I. Durham have selected a variety of materials—a lecture, diaries, letters, speeches, a ledger, commonplace books, a code of ethics, court reports—to illustrate unique examples of legal life and thought.

This comprehensive guidebook provides a detailed description of every official trail along the Blue Ridge Parkway. But that's just the beginning: veteran hiker Leonard M. Adkins includes information on every trail that touches the Parkway, including the Appalachian Trail, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, and other public pathways on national park, state park, national forest, municipal, and private lands. You'll find GPS coordinates for official Parkway trailheads, along with fifty maps and many photographs of what you'll see along the way. Adkins notes each trail's length, difficulty, points of interest, handicap accessibility, and natural features. Far more than a guide to the trails, this book also tells you what to expect at overlooks, as well as where to dine, sleep, and find a restroom, and suggests worthwhile side trips. Elevation change charts for bicyclists, minimum tunnel heights for RVs, camping recommendations, roadside bloom calendars, sightseeing information for nearby towns, and other advice make this the perfect companion for your next Parkway adventure.

Building on previous work on backpacking, this book takes the analysis of backpacker tourism further by engaging both with new theoretical debates into tourism experiences and mobilities as well as with new empirical phenomena such as the rise of the ‘flashpacker’ and alternative destinations. Chapters include material on flashpacking, the virtualization of backpacker culture, the re-conceptualisation of lifestyle travellers, backpackers as volunteer tourists, as well as backpackers' experiences of hostels, mobilities and their policy implications. It sets a new benchmark for the study of independent travel in the contemporary world.