Heather "The Botanical Hiker" Houskeeper is an herbalist and long-distance hiker. She has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, Mountains to Sea Trail, Long Path, and Florida Trail, and is the first person to have hiked the Finger Lakes Trail and its six branches in one continuous trek. She holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Warren Wilson College and a certificate in herbal medicine, botany, plant identification, and medicine making from the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. As a lifelong student of Nature, she utilizes the trails that crisscross her meadows, thread through her forests, and climb her mountains as pathways to deeper learning. In her profession as The Botanical Hiker, she guides others into the natural world through seminars, workshops, and plant walks, striving to deepen their relationship with the natural world and its botanical inhabitants. She is the author of two books about edible and medicinal plants, and the Wild Food columnist for Dirt Magazine. This is her first narrative book. She resides in Milford, Pennsylvania, with her partner, Scott, coonhound, Amos, and a whole mess of wildflowers.
