The aim of this book is to entertain its readers, to alert readers to the potential dangers and emergencies that might occur inthe wilderness and how to avoid them.

CLICK HERE to download the chapter on "Animal Encounters" from Wilderness Basics * The standard text for the San Diego Sierra Club chapter’s Wilderness Basics Course * Extensive updating throughout, including many new photos More than 100,000 copies of Wilderness Basics have been sold over the years, and this new edition will continue as a training staple for those wanting to build their outdoor skills. It is the text used in the San Diego Sierra Club chapter’s signature Wilderness Basics Course (WBC) and is written by chapter members. Updates to this new edition include: * Outdoor Ethics — latest Leave No Trace practices * Conditioning — completely rewritten, with targeted advice for certain health conditions * Outfitting — updates on planning your pack weight, water treatment methods, expanded tent and sleeping system info * Foods and Cooking — new information on how to not dirty a pot, in-the-bag cooking, and Dutch oven cooking * Navigation — completely updated, including information on adjusted declination compasses * Backcountry First Aid — the latest wilderness first aid info, first aid kit materials, and information on the Hantavirus and West Nile Virus * Winter Adventures — added information on predicting changes in backcountry weather There’s more too in this exhaustively updated instructional for outdoor beginners and advanced backpackers, alike. You’ll also appreciate the refreshed appendix of recommended websites for gear and travel info.

Backpacking California is a collection of more than 70 of the most intriguing backpacking adventures in Wilderness Press's home territory of California. With contributions from more than a dozen Wilderness Press authors, the book describes routes ranging from one night to one week. Backpacking novices as well as "old hand" California hikers will find expert-crafted trips in the Coast Ranges, the Sierra, the Cascades, and the Warner Mountains. Expanded coverage includes trips in Big Sur, Anza-Borrego, Death Valley, and the White Mountains. Several trips have been described in print nowhere else. Each trip includes a trail map and essential logistical information for trip planning.

Fully updated and revised, Hiking Mount Rainier is a comprehensive and concise guide to the well-maintained trails nestled between the two major metropolises of the Pacific Northwest. Included are sixty hike descriptions for hikers of all ages and skill levels.

Carrying only basic camping equipment and a collection of the world's great spiritual writings, Belden C. Lane embarks on solitary spiritual treks through the Ozarks and across the American Southwest. For companions, he has only such teachers as Rumi, John of the Cross, Hildegard of Bingen, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Thomas Merton, and as he walks, he engages their writings with the natural wonders he encounters--Bell Mountain Wilderness with Søren Kierkegaard, Moonshine Hollow with Thich Nhat Hanh--demonstrating how being alone in the wild opens a rare view onto one's interior landscape, and how the saints' writings reveal the divine in nature. The discipline of backpacking, Lane shows, is a metaphor for a spiritual journey. Just as the wilderness offered revelations to the early Desert Christians, backpacking hones crucial spiritual skills: paying attention, traveling light, practicing silence, and exercising wonder. Lane engages the practice not only with a wide range of spiritual writings--Celtic, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sufi Muslim--but with the fascination of other lovers of the backcountry, from John Muir and Ed Abbey to Bill Plotkin and Cheryl Strayed. In this intimate and down-to-earth narrative, backpacking is shown to be a spiritual practice that allows the discovery of God amidst the beauty and unexpected terrors of nature. Adoration, Lane suggests, is the most appropriate human response to what we cannot explain, but have nonetheless learned to love. An enchanting narrative for Christians of all denominations, Backpacking with the Saints is an inspiring exploration of how solitude, simplicity, and mindfulness are illuminated and encouraged by the discipline of backcountry wandering, and of how the wilderness itself becomes a way of knowing-an ecology of the soul.

100 hikes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, including the newly protected Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley Mix of day hikes and classic backpacking routes Stunning, oversized full-color guide The lush Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Washington’s Central Cascades contains a plethora of trails, rugged glacier-carved mountains, and more than 700 sparkling alpine lakes and ponds. Accessed via nearly 50 trailheads, more than 600 miles of trails offer hikers leisurely strolls along wooded creeks, climbs up mountain passes, or lunch spots next to glassy tarns. It is one of the most popular and beloved places for hikers in this region. The all-new guide, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, features a wide range of hikes that vary in difficulty, geography, and theme so that hikers of any age and skill level will find trails that fit their taste. Easy to use, the guide includes details on overnight permits, car-camping options near wilderness access points, detailed maps, elevation gain/ loss, and turn-by-turn mileage and directions. Interesting historical background and natural history round out the trail descriptions.