Category: Hiking

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Walk, Hike, Saunter is Now Available!

Walk, Hike,Saunter is Now Available…
Long-distance hiker Susan Alcorn introduces you to 32 experienced outdoors women who consider hiking to be an essential part of their lives.  Their stories are told with honesty, insight and humor. They share their wisdom and proven tips to inspire women and men of all ages.

The women, all 45 and older and in the prime of their lives, are superstars—shining examples of the richness that hiking can bring to our lives. All told, they have hiked tens of thousands of miles.

The Contributors
The list of contributors is sort of a Who’s Who in the hiking world:  
Inga Aksamit, Barbara Anderson, Beebe ‘Jack from Ireland’ Bahrami, Jan ‘Pooh Bear’ Barlow, Jane Blanchard, Carolyn ‘Ravensong’ Burkhart, Judy Chovan, Emilie ‘Dirty Emilie’ Cortes, Lynne ‘Sparkly Manaña’ Davidson, Marion ‘llamalady’ Davison, Mary E. ‘Pastor Mary’ Davison, Laurie Ferris, Lorie ‘Veggie’ Florence, Laurel (Ibbotson) ‘Happy Feet’ Foot, Nancy ‘Why Not?’ Huber, Naomi ‘The Punisher’ Hudetz, Sandy ‘Frodo’ Mann, Jan ‘Jaunting Jan’ McEwen, Karen ‘Butterscotch’ Najarian, Sylvia ‘amaWalker’ Nilsen, Marcia ‘GottaWalk’ Powers, Nancy Reynolds, Lisa Robinson, Dami Roelse, Donna ‘L-Rod’ Saufley, Patricia Schaffarczyk, Diane ‘Piper’ Soini, Diane Spicer, Jane Toro, Elsye ‘Wandering Chardonnay’ Walker, Katie Williams, Sue ‘Leapfrog’ Williams.

The women hikers represent a range of interests. Some are into long-distance hiking and have earned awards for their accomplishments. Others include trail volunteers or trail angels who have spent considerable time giving back to the hiking community. 

A common theme running through Walk, Hike, Saunter is that there are many paths to incorporating hiking into your life. Whether hiking is one of many things that you enjoy doing, or whether you find it such an passion that you don’t mind living out of your car in order to pursue it—you can reap the rewards of exploring the world on foot. As you immerse yourself in nature, enjoy new vistas, and perhaps experience interesting cultures, you’ll improve your health and fitness and enrich your life.

Walk, Heal, Saunter is now available in paperback on Amazon, and on Kindle. Your favorite bookstore can order it for you through Ingram distributors. ISBN-13: 978-0936034072. 

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Gratitude for our trails

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

Gratitude for Sunol Regional Park - rocky outcrop scene
Gratitude for Sunol Regional Park, Alameda County, CA

Here in the S.F. Bay Area, the days have been so mild with daytime temperatures in the 60s and 70s, it’s hard to believe that it’s almost Thanksgiving. However, when it starts getting dark at 5 PM, and colder, we realize we have to work a bit harder to fit hikes into our shorter daytime hours.

This reminds me that I have much to appreciate about where I live, why I try to support environmental causes, and how grateful I am for the thousands of people here who work to protect our environment.

Sunol Regional Park, Alameda County, CA

In particular, I am reminded of the importance of the regional parklands around me, which…

  • provide hundreds of miles of trails that I can hike. 
  • bring ever-changing displays of flowers, trees, and other plants. 
  • have quiet places to clear my head and exercise my body.
  • inspire my writing and photography with its scenic beauty.
  • support wildlife—from ladybugs covering entire branches; herons stalking their prey; hawks soaring overhead; flickers hammering cavities in tree branches to build their nests.  
  • offer the opportunity to gain perspective on our place on this earth.
  • allow free, or inexpensive, visits to all who want to come. 

And, people are instrumental in what happens…

  • by envisioning the setting aside of parcels of land to create parklands.
  • when they work to acquire properties that would otherwise turn into developments.
  • by volunteering to help with fund-raising, to interface with the public at the kiosks and gift shops, and by organizing work parties for weed control.
  • when they become park employees that build fences and picnic tables, clear out invasive plants, repair storm damaged trails and roadways, and educate park visitors. 
  • by voting in tax measures to support and improve our parks

Galen Rowell, photographer, climber, author (1940-2002) in  Bay Area Wild: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area wrote,  “The San Francisco Bay Area holds the most extensive system of wild greenbelts in the nation, with more than 200 parks and other protected areas lying within forty miles of the city.”

We are truly blessed to live here.