(Part 2) Best books about walking according to redditors

I was 26 years old in the fall of 1999. I had been divorced for a year, and I had been working 4 years in an e-commerce/internet job that I didn't like. Sometime around September/October 1999, I read a book called "As Far As the Eye Can See: Reflections of an Appalachian Trail Hike" by David Brill. (https://www.amazon.com/Far-Eye-Can-See-Reflections/dp/1558530738/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=/)

At that point in my life, I had been day hiking a couple times on the AT with a friend, and I had spent no more than two consecutive nights in the woods my entire life. And, that was never more than 50 yards from a car and a cooler full of beer.


The day after I finished that book, I decided I was going to thru hike in 2000. I gave my job notice I was leaving April 1. I sold my house, and had a massive garage sale. I then put my favorite possessions in storage, and pre-paid for 6 months. I paid off all my debt after closing out my 401K and cashing in on all my stock options from the job I was quitting. I had just enough to comfortably thru hike without having to worry about money for food, hostels, hotels, transportation, etc. I was basically now 27 years old without any care in the world.


Simultaneously, I was reading and watching everything I could find about thru hiking the AT. The day I started the approach trail, I had only spent one night primitive camping on the AT to shakedown my gear. I made it to Damascus, VA, bought a motorcycle, drove up to Front Royal, parked the bike, hitchhiked down to Waynesboro, VA, and backpacked back to my bike. Then, I spent three weeks crossing the USA on my bike until I landed in Los Angeles. The adventure was amazing and soul-enriching. But, I still regret not finishing my thru hike.


It's now 16 years later, and I'm still in love with the AT. However, life, wife, and kids, has taken hold, and I'm lucky to do two 5-7 day section hikes a year with the occasional overnighter thrown in for good measure. From March to October, I'm on a trail at least one day a month, and most months I get out for a day hike at least twice a month.


Maybe I'll win the lottery and move to the AT.

Because this is rising and will be seen a bit, I’ll add more info so you can see this with your own eyes. It is much more beautiful in real life (this is a crappy cell phone image). It’s really sad how few people use this trail.

Parking for the trail is here: Elena Gallegos Open Space
7100 Tramway Boulevard Northeast, Albuquerque, NM 87122 https://goo.gl/maps/mibey2hPHG2Mfxep8 . It is open until 9PM and they charge $2 to park (or $30 for a year if you use it a lot, like I do). It is almost never crowded, even on weekends and most of the few cars in the lots are bicyclists using nearby trails. There is no cycling or bicycles on the Pino Trail itself outside of the EG recreation area, which is nice.

This is a great trail for beginners to use to grow stronger. Just bring plenty of water and take breaks when needed. I’m 70 lb overweight and was able to reach the crest after walking the trail a couple times per week for a couple months to build my strength and endurance. It takes me about 1.5 hours to reach the spot where the photo was taken, but a thin young fit person could likely reach it in an hour. If I were to walk to the photo location and back down, I would carry at least 1/2 gallon of water, but if you’re more fit and faster you can likely carry less. I’ve seen very-fit trail runners this far and even higher not carry any water, but that is nuts.

The views in every direction are spectacular on every inch of the trail, beginning the moment you step out of the car. The city, the mountains, the foothills, all of it is breathtaking and it changes constantly as you climb higher on the trail. Even the trees and flowers and other vegetation change frequently.

From the car, you walk about 0.75mi in desert area and there are quite a few cyclists depending on the trail you park near, but everyone is polite and shares the space well. After you reach the east edge of the EG area 0.75mi from the car, cycling is forbidden. All the trails in the EG parking area lead to the Pino Trail Cibola national forest area if you just keep going east (toward the mountain). There are lots of signs. In this area, and for the next 0.75 mi into the national forest area you are pretty exposed to the sun (few opportunities for shade). Don’t forget sunscreen and insect repellant and wear a hat. After you are about 1.5 miles from the car there are many more trees, you will be in shade about half the time for the next couple miles. This hike isn’t too bad even when it is very hot as long as you bring plenty of water and rest when you feel tired. When I started, I had to rest every 0.2 miles or so, but it doesn’t take long to get strong if you go often. I can go at a slow walking pace for a couple miles after some practice. No matter how far you go, the views never disappoint, and the next time you return you are a little bit stronger and go a little farther. Before long, you find yourself staring through oak bushes onto the plains east of the Sandias (the top of the trail at the crest is just under five miles from the parking area).

I’m pretty new in town and I have been learning about local outdoor hikes from this book: “60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque.” I know there are many more than 60 great hikes just in the city limits, but this book does a great job rating trails for difficulty and contains plenty of detail and maps and the author is obviously in love with hiking in the city. His enthusiasm is contagious. I keep a copy of that book on my phone ($10 for Kindle edition). I tried using a few apps to find trail info, but the reviews and ratings in this real book are better. I like the gps maps in the apps, but I like the “60 Hikes” book better as a guide.

Buy these books!! I am so serious. This is like the most urgent I've felt about any reddit comment ever.


-Secret Stairs: work them quads and see some new neighborhoods!

-10,000 Steps a Day in LA: This one has some epic adventures, it's a mix of parks and streets. I've never had a bad one from this book. Elysian Park East was weird but interesting. My friend swears by the Wilshire Blvd,/Ktown one.

-Walking L.A.: I think this one might be your favorite. All streets and stairs, organized by neighborhood.

..We are hardcore pedestrians... join us

If you do three consecutive years, you won't really need to worry about getting in shape, just staying in shape during the off seasons (I assume you won't be hiking in the winters). If you live in the south, you can still get outdoors to hike. If you live in the north, then treadmills and stair steppers are the way to go if you can't stand the cold (like me). The bigger concerns, at least for me, are personal health and money. Injuries and sickness happen, so you have to avoid those. And you need to make sure you're insured while on the trail. You also won't have much, if any, income for 3 years. That's tough. I have an AT thru-hike slated for 2015 and a PCT thru-hike for 2016, but it's already tough on me financially. Things keep popping up and eating into the PCT fund.

For general long distance hiking, here are some of my favorite books:

Andrew Skurka

Michelle Ray

Jan Curran

The Logues

If you're getting into hiking the local area I highly suggest this book: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Sacramento: Including Auburn, Folsom, and Davis https://www.amazon.com/dp/0897326040/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1nFyzbKX591VC


It'll give you a good grasp of the hiking areas around here :)

I highly recommend the book "Walking Queens" ( https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Queens-Discovering-Communities-Treasures/dp/0899977308/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=walking+queens&qid=1573147338&sr=8-1). There are two walks for Astoria/Long Island City and they're both pretty cool. The author points out lots of neat little facts and you get a really good walk out of it. Please keep in mind that everything in the book may no longer exist.

Buy this book.

This would optimize routing a bit but to be honest I would leave DTLA out unless you had more time, were staying somewhere closer, and had a bit more of an idea what you wanted to see or do.

I'd also skip the Walk of Fame. It's a dump and you aren't going to enjoy a dirty sidewalk. Go on a walking tour, visit a botanical garden, or find a good hiking trail instead.

Hats off to you on your impressive achievement! Have you ever heard of your predecessor, Edward Payson Weston? In 1909, at age 70, he walked from NYC to San Francisco, and then he turned around and walked back again. His journey is chronicled in a fine book called The Last Great Walk. He became a national celebrity while doing it, and was often greeted by bands and dignitaries when he approached a town or city.

I used http://www.localhikes.com/ a lot when I first moved out here, which was very helpful.

I've also got a heavily dog-eared copy of this book, which is good (a lot of overlap with the website, but different context): http://www.amazon.com/Boulder-Hiking-Trails-Foothills-Mountains/dp/0871089408

Lastly, and I don't know if this applies to you or not, my dog is a big fan of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Walkin-Dog-Denver-Walking-Savage/dp/1560449330

Hope this helps, welcome to the area!

The Frankenjura is in the unusual situation of having three more or less up to date definitive guidebooks:

Schwertner 1 & 2

Thum

Röker 1 & 2

They're all good, and like anything else in climbing/humanity/life, people tend to have tribal loyalties to one or the other of them. Schwertner seems to be the most widely read; I go for a slightly contrarian look by preferring Röker.

If you can't read German (well) then Röker is your best option because it has bilingual text. Schwertner also has a pleasantly cheap English language selected climbs version, but as the title suggests it's aimed above your grade range.

Frankenjura Extreme

This list of one guy's favourite routes, complete with snarky comments about insider Frankenjura climbing politics, is quite useful for getting an overview of where the good sectors are in various grade ranges:

Frankenura Top 391

Can't help you with Saxony, never been there.

There is a gargantuan amount of back country in Los Padres.

​

https://hikelospadres.com and

Hiking and Backpacking Santa Barbara and Ventura

are good starting points.

You could try something like this. https://www.amazon.com/60-Hikes-Within-Miles-Including/dp/0897327330

Got the St. Louis one recently, haven't read through it yet but they make ones for a bunch of areas.

This book is pretty good. I have found some pretty obscure trails I would have never found otherwise.

https://www.amazon.com/Hikes-Within-Miles-Sacramento-Including/dp/0897326040

It's just walking, with a little preparation. Read up on the ten essentials. There are tons of guide books and web sites:

https://www.nynjtc.org/hike-finder-map


https://www.amazon.com/Hikes-Within-Miles-Southwestern-Connecticut-ebook/dp/B00B6U13OU/

https://www.amazon.com/Miles-South-Lake-Tahoe-Hikes/dp/1494309491/ref=pd_sim_14_3

https://www.amazon.com/Top-Trails-Tahoe-Must-Do-Everyone/dp/0899977774/ref=pd_cp_14_4

https://www.amazon.com/Backcountry-Skiing-Snowboarding-Lake-Tahoe/dp/0615280633

https://www.mountainproject.com/books/105798291

There are more. Do a Google search 'Books on Lake Tahoe' and 'Tahoe Trail Books' and 'Sierra Nevada...'

This book is great: https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Brooklyn-exploring-historical-neighborhood/dp/0899974309 and has lots of architecture deets

60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City: Including Ogden, Provo, and the Uintas https://www.amazon.com/dp/1634041321/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_3cS5CbNQT0Y33 is a decent guide

Yes, you could take a cab to a trailhead. If you don't want hills, you've chosen the wrong place to go "hiking".

You can check out a variety of sites and books, like:

https://dayhikesneardenver.com/hikes-30-minutes-denver/

https://www.amazon.com/60-Hikes-Within-Miles-Including/dp/089732885X/

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Denver-Front-Range-Hikes/dp/1565794494/

There are many walks accessible from Denver even without going to Boulder. But both are cities, not wilderness areas, so you have to go outside the city a little.