Front cover, Dances With Marmots
The Pacific Crest Trail is a picturesque and diverse foot trail stretching the western length of America.
It winds its way 2650 miles, two and a half times the distance the crow flies from its beginning at the Mexican border to its end in British Columbia, Canada.
The trail, designated a National Scenic Trail in 1968, was officially completed in 1993 with a "golden spike" ceremony being held in Soledad Canyon, southern California, to mark the occasion.
If you are looking for an experience to lift your life above the 'norm', then this could be it. In this increasingly sedentary and safety legislated world the trail is an excellent opportunity to escape everyday life, allowing those of us that are adventurous enough to experience those most basic of human needs, challenge and survival.
Every year, a growing number of hikers intent on reaching Canada, optimistically leave the trail's southern terminal at Campo on the Mexican border. Not all of them will complete the full distance successfully and reach the trail's northern terminus at Manning Park. Indeed, it has been said that there have been more people climb Mount Everest than have completed a through hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.
The journey typically takes between four and six months and is made through the desert areas and snowbound High Sierra Nevada of California and the Cascade ranges of Oregon and Washington, finally emerging in the Okanagan Forest of British Columbia, Canada. It traverses 40 Wilderness areas, 24 National Forests, 7 National Parks, 3 State Parks, 19 major canyons and climbs 57 mountain passes.
The paperback, "Dances With Marmots" ISBN: 9781411656185 is the account of one man's experiences along the trail.
It provides an insight into the life and mind of a long distance hiker and an often humorous look at the US and its wilderness through the eyes of its New Zealand author George G. Spearing. The book is published through Lulu Press and is available on Amazon.com.
The author has a website for the publication at http://www.danceswithmarmots.com
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
