John McKinney

Broschiertes Buch

Hiking on the Edge

Dreams, Schemes, and 1600 Miles on the California Coastal Trail

Beschreibung

When John McKinney first planned his epic hike along the California coast, his purpose was strictly pedestrian: to pioneer a route for the new California Coastal Trail. It all began over nachos and beer. Free-spirited board members of the California Coastal Trails Foundation met at a beachside cantina to chart annual progress toward realizing their dream: a 1600-mile-long trail on the edge of California. Despite their three years of mapping and promotional efforts, the California Coastal Trail remained all but unknown. To literally and figuratively put the trail on the map, someone needs to hike the whole thing, board members decided. And that someone should be John McKinney, Eagle Scout, The Trailmaster, native son of the Golden State. He was perfect for the job: strong legs, an adventurous spirit, and "he doesn’t have a real job—he’s a writer." \ No one, until McKinney agreed to do so, had ever hiked along the edge of the state to determine if a California Coastal Trail was even possible. Were the beaches passable at low tide? Could the bluffs be traveled without arrest for trespass? Could a trail be found through the rugged coastal mountains? The intrepid trailblazer found the answers to these questions—and to more profound ones that never occurred to him until he was on his challenging journey of discovery. "The natural beauty of the landscapes and seascapes exceeded my high expectations," declares McKinney. "What I didn’t expect was hiking head-on into so many controversies on the edge of California: nature boutiqued, coastal access denied, bureaucracies run amok, zombie nuclear power plants, oil and more oil." "Unforgettable and near and dear to my heart, are the marvelous people I met along the way," adds the author, "including the founding father of whale-watching, backcountry rangers, nuns praying for mercy for the redwoods, and for us all." Originally published as A Walk Along Land’s Endby HarperCollins, Hiking on the Edgerecords a pilgrimage like no other, complete with new and previously unpublished stories and chapters. A saga, a celebration, a comedy, and a lament, this narrative ranks with the classics of California travel literature.

Autor

John McKinney is an award-winning writer, public speaker, and author of 30 hiking-themed books: inspiring narratives, top-selling guides, books for children. John tells the bittersweet story of his epic hike along the entire California coast in the critically acclaimed Hiking on the Edge: Dreams, Schemes, and 1600 Miles on the California Coastal Trail. A trek to remote monasteries in Greece led to a miracle adoption, a glorious and sometimes hilarious tale told in Hiking the Holy Mountain: Tales of Monks and Miracles on the Trails of Mount Athos, Greece. John is particularly passionate about sharing the stories of California trails. He is the only one to have visited-and written about-all 280 California State Parks, and works with park and conservation organizations to promote and protect them. His "Every Trail Tells a Story" series of guides highlight the very best hikes in California. The master storyteller about hiking is a frequent public speaker, and shares his tales on the radio, on video, and online. For 18 years John, aka The Trailmaster, wrote a weekly hiking column for the Los Angeles Times, and has hiked and enthusiastically told the story of more than 10 thousand miles of trail across California and around the world. The intrepid Eagle Scout has written more than a thousand stories and opinion pieces about hiking, parklands, and our relationship with nature. John loves to share the trail with others. He's designed and led tours for a walking vacation company, led hikes to benefit nonprofit organizations, and served as National Hike Leader for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Hike For Discovery program. John's studies in broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California proved somewhat useful on his career path; more so were the hikes he took with his friends in the USC hiking club. Hike on!

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Olympus Press
• Seitenzahl: 330
• Erscheinungstermin: 4. September 2018
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 140mm x 19mm
• Gewicht: 467g
• ISBN-13: 9780934161695
• ISBN-10: 0934161690
• Artikelnr.: 56164108