He teams up with Megan, a sassy college grad whose indomitable spirit eclipses her lack of experience, and Lemmy, a cartoonist from overseas whose off-kilter commentary on the wonders and frustrations of the trail keeps everyone laughing. Sprawling through the woods and towns of the Appalachian mountains, the trail carries the trio through real and fanciful ups and downs ranging from hilarious to perilous. Much more than an orderly account of mountain tops and meals, it is an adventure about friends figuring things out as they go. It's about screw-ups and solutions, awe and inspiration. If you long for the horizon, or to sleep under the stars, then come along for the hike of a lifetime. All you have to do is take the first step.

    2,000+ miles of unforgiving wilderness. Can he escape the mundane to become a thru-hiker? Shortlisted for Outdoor Book of the Year by The Great Outdoors magazine. Keith Foskett’s dream of escape started with a single step. When the long-distance hiker chose to backpack all 2,180 miles of the Appalachian Trail, he left ordinary life behind for five months. Enduring an incredible test of physical and psychological strength, Foskett was pushed to his limits…Accompanied by an array of eclectic characters – including a drug dealer, a world-champion juggler and a sex-starved Minnesotan – he weaves a route through some of America's wildest landscapes and history, and writes with insight, humour and reflection. Attempting to keep his English sense of humour alive amidst the bumps and bruises, can Foskett survive his journey of self-discovery to emerge victorious?Shortlisted for The Great Outdoors magazine’s Outdoor Book of the Year, Foskett’s novel-like tale is as entertaining as it is insightful. Venture beyond the journal-entry style of most outdoor books and join the humorous hike of a lifetime. Balancing on Blue is a superb standalone travel memoir. If you like living outside the box, escaping into the wild, and journeying deep into the unknown, then you’ll love Keith Foskett’s courageous trek. Discover how this wilderness escape can change you too.

    As the road bent and the outline of Buachaille Etive Mor slid into sight, I did what I always did, and always would. I felt for that flutter of awe and that indefinable, unmistakable quickening of the pulse.’In the late 18th century, mountains shifted from being universally reviled to becoming the most inspiring things on earth. Simply put, the monsters became muses – and an entire artistic movement was born. This movement became a love affair, the love affair became an obsession, and gradually but surely, obsession became lifestyle as mountains became stitched into the fabric of the British cultural tapestry.In his compelling new book, Simon Ingram explores how mountains became such a preoccupation for the modern western imagination, weaving his own adventures into a powerful narrative which provides a kind of experiential hit list for people who don’t have the time nor the will to climb a thousand mountains.For some of these mountains, the most amazing thing about them might be the journey they’ve taken to get here. Others, the tales of science, endeavour and art that have played out on their slopes. The mythology they’re drenched in. The history they’ve seen. The genius they’ve inspired. The danger that draws people to them. The life that clusters around them, human and otherwise. The extreme weather they conjure. The adventure they fuel. The way that some raise the hairs on the back of your neck, and trigger powerful, strange emotions. And moreover, what they’re like to be amidst, under, on – just what that indefinable quality is that the British mountains wield which takes possession of you so powerfully, and never goes away.Ingram takes us high into the rafters of Britain’s most forbidding, unflinching and unchanging wild places through all the seasons of the year – from the first blush of spring to the deepest, darkest bite of the mountain winter. From Beinn Dearg to Ben Nevis, he takes us on a journey spanning sixteen of Britain’s most evocative mountainous landscapes, and what they mean to us today.

    When not writing or composing music, most of his days are spent beating the valley’s bounds, exploring its network of paths, streams and walls. Beyond the Fell Wall is a distillation of his thoughts and observations on this particular patch of land. It is a poetic enquiry into the inanimate life of a landscape – its unheard melodies and unseen movements. It considers both vast geological epochs and brief moments of intimacy, and in turn it asks us to consider sentience in all things – animal, vegetable and mineral. At its heart is the fell wall itself - a vast, serpentine entity. A vessel for the lives, voices and myths of the landscape. The dark heart about which all of life and death revolves.

    . . Britain’s most famous wild camper and bestselling author of Extreme Sleeps, Phoebe Smith, is back. After bivvying under boulders and camping in caves on her last tent-bound adventure, she’s decided to hit the UK’s wild places once again, but this time take it further. Determined to discover what defines a truly "extreme" night out, and see if she has the guts to do it, she heads to the extremities of the country. Battling whiteouts in Wales, facing monster waves in Suffolk, and attempting to make camp in gale-force winds on Britain’s highest mountain, Phoebe takes us on a series of inspirational expeditions into the wilderness as she quests to find the ultimate pitch.

    This guidebook gives you everything you need to plan your Camino including advice on: • what to take and what not to take • which type of backpack to buy • what footwear to choose • how to get to Sarria • how much your Camino will cost and how to keep costs down This guidebook provides you with: • estimated walking times from village to village • highly accurate 3D distances from village to village • maps of each stage • highly accurate elevation charts • maps of most villages, all towns and all cities showing the location of accommodation and facilities • GPS coordinates of every hostel, every village, town and city and points of interest. • details of every pilgrim hostel (albergue) between Sarria and Santiago With background, history and anecdotes this guidebook will be a true companion on your journey on the Way of Saint James.

    Each walk is rated for duration, distance, and difficulty, and is accompanied by a map.The walks, like those in Secret Stairs, are filled with fascinating factoids about historical landmarks—the original Bat Cave from Batman, the lake where Opie learned to fish on The Andy Griffith Show, or the storage barn for one of L.A.’s oldest wineries. The book also highlights the people who made the landmarks famous: the infamous water engineer William Mulholland; the convicted murderer and philanthropist Colonel Griffith J. Griffith; Charles Lummis, who walked from Cincinnati to Los Angeles to take a job on the L.A. Times; and tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney, who dug canals to drain the marshes south of Santa Monica and create his American “Venice.”Written in the entertainingly informed style that has made Secret Stairs a Los Angeles Times best-seller, Secret Walks is the perfect book for the walker eager to explore but tired of the crowds at Runyon Canyon or Temescal Park.

    is for urban adventurers with a passion for healthy living who are also eager to explore Los Angeles—from its most legendary locations to its more hidden, unsung, and quirky sites.In this first-ever book to explore the 10,000-steps lifestyle in Los Angeles, author Paul Haddad takes readers on a journey through the city’s streets, beaches, mountains, rivers, reservoirs, and parks. He includes 10,000-step walks from throughout the Southland, from Simi Valley to the South Bay, and Pasadena to Pacific Palisades.Tread the grounds of a defunct Disney attraction called Dwarfland. Trace the extinct canals of Venice Beach. Stroll the shortest Main Street in America. Discover hidden streams, secret murals, lost cities, Hollywood haunts, houses made of stone, and parks that time forgot!10,000 Steps a Day in L.A. features:• 52 walks containing 10,000 steps• Detailed maps and directions• Descriptions of the terrain, walking surface, and dog-friendliness of each walk• Parking suggestions• Sidebars with colorful trivia and anecdotesMost importantly, 10,000 Steps a Day in L.A. offers a sense of fun and discovery about Los Angeles that makes the goal of 10,000 steps easy to attain. Readers need only bring their feet—pedometers are optional!

    Convinced of the exceptional power of natural selection, many thinkers--typically working in biological anthropology, cognitivepsychology, and evolutionary biology--have suggested it should be freed from the confines of biology, and applied to cultural change in humans and other animals. At the same time, others-typically with backgrounds in disciplines like social anthropology and history-have been just as vocal indismissing the evolutionary approach to culture. What drives these disputes over Darwinism in the social sciences? While making a case for the value of evolutionary thinking for students of culture, Lewens shows why the concerns of sceptics should not dismissed as mere prejudice, confusion, or ignorance. Indeed, confusions about what evolutionary approaches entail are propagated by their proponents, as well asby their detractors. By taking seriously the problems faced by these approaches to culture, Lewens shows how such approaches can be better formulated, where their most significant limitations lie, and how the tools of cultural evolutionary thinking might become more widely accepted.

    Together, the two paths make up a panoramic 40-mile walk through 2000 years of London's history.From the old docks and wharves that primed the Industrial Revolution, through the heart of British Government, Monarchy and Church to the City of London that took its very existence from the river.From the site of the Putney Debates at St Mary&'s Church to Wren's mighty baroque cathedral of St Paul's.From the great Victorian engineering works of Sir Joseph Bazalgette and his attempts to clean up a polluted London and the river to the Thames Barrier seeking to protect huge parts of London from rising sea levels.From London Bridge, site of the oldest crossing point, to the Millennium Bridge, the Thames' newest crossing.This book explains the panorama we see today, what came before and how the changes came about. Each double page shows the distance covered so you can plan your own tour of the river.

    At this point, however, most of his spare time was spent in the pursuit of large carp and he became a well-known figure on the gravel pits around the London area, where he always used luminous pink carp rods, so his mates, and the carp, could locate him easily! After a few years of antique fairs and auctions he concentrated on recycling and painting furniture and restoring antiques before opening a large “retro” department store in Hereford, which proved popular with customers from both Great Britain and abroad, with its specialist clothing, unusual antiquities, instruments, and rare music. After leaving the retro store in February 2003, by way a of a change, Overend then aged 55, and The Man Who Hated Walking, attempted the S.W Coast Path National Trail - the greatest challenge of his life - all 650 miles of it. Or in Overend’s case, more like 680 miles as he frequently got lost over the two months it took him to achieve this incredible feat of endurance. The Man Who Hated Walking, Overend’s first book is a wonderful document of this amazing achievement, which is explored and described with more than a smattering of his macabre humour. Although undoubtedly a book that all Mott The Hoople fans will want, it is also an essential read for the walking fraternity, and is undoubtedly a massive inspiration for anyone who has the urge to do some serious walking. Since backpacking the South West Coast Path, Overend has also completed all of the other national trails including The Ridgeway, Offa’s Dyke, The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, The Thames Path, The South Downs Way, Hadrian’s Wall (3 times), The Saint’s Way, The North Downs Way, Peddar’s Way & Norfolk Coast Path, The West Highland Way, The Great Glen Way & The Speyside Way, The York Wolds Way, The Tabular Hills Walk, The Cleveland Way, The Oxford canal, The Southern Upland Way, Glyndwr’s Way, & Wainwright’s Coast to Coast. In 2008 he completed a marathon 1,250 mile walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 63 days - incorporating The Cotswold Way, The Heart Of England Way, Staffordshire Way, Limestone Way, Pennine Way, Cheviots, Grampians and Cairngorms. He has also walked sections of many other trails, including The Two Moors Way, Gritstone Trail, Camel trail, and many others. Now semi-retired he spends most of his spare time quietly in a former croft in the Scottish Isles, when not backpacking or travelling in his motor home.

    The route is described from south to north in 14 stages, with 6 alternative stages along the way, allowing for a flexible itinerary of between two and three weeks. A long tough trek with no waymarking, this is for the tried and tested backpacker. This guidebook includes OS mapping, route profiles and detailed route descriptions and gives you all the information you need about accommodation (including hotels, bothies, B&Bs and bunkhouses), campsites and amenities en route, to help you plan and prepare for this epic challenge. The Cape Wrath Trail is regarded as the toughest long-distance route in Britain and offers unparalleled freedom and adventure to the experienced and self-sufficient backpacker prepared to walk for many days in remote wilderness. Travelling through the wild and rugged landscapes of Morar, Knoydart, Torridon and Assynt, it will test the limits of your endurance.

    

    Featuring 26 selected bothies, the author shares her memories of using these free 'stone tents' in some of the country's wildest and most remote locations. Alongside notes on legends and landscape, wildlife and history, the book is full of expert guidance and tips on how to make use of bothies, from packing lists to bothy etiquette and the best walking routes in. Inspiring and fun, the book showcases bothies in Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons, Lake District, Pennines, the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and Northumberland, and is a personal celebration of the world of bothying.Hidden away in the hills and mountains of England, Scotland and Wales - for years known only to a lucky few - is a network of huts, cottages and shelters. Completely free to use, these secretive refuges can be life-savers, quick stops and destinations in themselves. The network of British bothies is cared for by the Mountain Bothies Association, and day-to-day by the walkers, climbers and mountain lovers who rest there.