Buck Tilton - Knack Hiking & Backpacking: A Complete Illustrated Guide

Copyright 2009 by Morris Book Publishing, LLC

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Editor in Chief: Maureen Graney

Editor: Katie Benoit

Cover Design: Paul Beatrice, Bret Kerr

Text Design: Paul Beatrice

Layout: Kim Burdick

Cover photos by Stephen Gorman except photo left Maksym Gorpenyuk/Shutterstock

All interior photos by Stephen Gorman with the exception of p. 41 (left): Falk Kienas/shutterstock; p. 60 (left): Falk Kienas/shutterstock; p. 63 (left): Pat Goltz | Dreamstime.com; p. 63 (right): Vaide Seskauskiene | Dreamstime.com; p. 86 (left), p. 87, p. 88 (right), p. 90 (left), p. 93 (right), p. 101 (left), p. 103(right): Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; p, 106 (left): Alessandro Contadini/istockphoto; p. 107(right): Steve Cukrov/shutterstock; p. 139(left): Steve Cukrov/shutterstock; p. 143(right): Jonathan Davies/istockphoto; p. 148(left): Jonathan Davies/istockphoto; p. 149(right): James Phelps | Dreamstime.com; p. 160(left): Brightdawn | Dreamstime.com; p, 162(left): Virgil Dombroski | Dreamstime.com; p. 162(right): Stephen Bonk | Dreamstime.com; p. 163(left): David Schrader | Dreamstime.com; p. 163(right): photos.com; p. 164(left): Wojciech Wojcik | Dreamstime.com; p. 164(right): Musat Christian | Dreamstime.com; p. 165(left): Kobby Dagan | Dreamstime.com; p. 165(right): Kevin Herrin/istockphoto; p. 166(right): David Dohnal/shutterstock; p. 167(left): Lev Ezhov/istockphoto; p. 167(right): Sebastian Kaulitzki/shutterstock; p. 168(left): Photomyeye | Dreamstime.com; p. 168(right): Clint Spencer/istockphoto; p. 169(left) Courtesy of Joe Belnap, Big H Products, Inc.; p. 170(left): Johnbell | Dreamstime.com; p. 170(right): Jake Holmes/istockphoto; p. 171 (left): photos.com; p. 171 (right): Dave Rodrlguez/istockphoto; p. 172 (right): Suzann Jullen/istockphoto; p. 173(left): Richard Fitzer/shutterstock; p. 174(right): John Pitcher/istockphoto; p. 176(left): ryasick/shutterstock; p. 176(right): Michel de Nijs/istockphoto; p. 177(right): Zoran Ivanovic/istockphoto; p, 178(right): Alexey Fursov/istockphoto; p. 179(left): Darla Hallmark/shutterstock; p. 179(right): Margo vanLeeuwen/istockphoto; p. 180(left): Elisalocci | Dreamstime.com; p. 180(right): Ivan Mikhaylov | Dreamstime.com; p. 181 (left): Nedim Juki | Dreamstime.com; p. 181 (right): Laurie Knight/istockphoto; p. 182(left): Addict | Dreamstime.com; p. 182(right): lurii Konoval/shutterstock; p. 183(left): Aleksey Puris | Dreamstime.com; p. 183(right): Joellen Armstrong | Dreamstime.com; p. 196(left): Christophe Testi/istockphoto; p. 196(right): Artem Efimov/shutterstock; p. 197(left): Maria Bobrova/shutterstock; p, 198(left): Rainer Schmidt/shutterstock; p. 198(right): Jim Mills | Dreamstime.com; p. 200(right): Nathan Holland/shutterstock; p. 201 (left): Cheryl Casey/shutterstock; p. 201 (right): B.G. Smith/shutterstock; p. 202(right): George Peters/istockphoto; p. 204(left): Jeanette Zehentmayer/istockphoto; p. 205(left): Richard Clark/istockphoto; p. 223(left): Dmitry Rukhlenko/shutterstock; Photos pages 17(left), 43(right), and 20(left) courtesy of Cascade Designs; Photo page 174(left) courtesy of Judy Sinclair; Photo page 57(right) courtesy of Backpackers Party; Photos pages 3(left), 4(right), and 57(right) courtesy of Big Agnes; Photos pages 17(right), 21 (right), & 86(left) courtesy of Brunton; Photos pages 1 (left), 3(right), 12(right), and 91 (left) courtesy of Coleman; Photo page 31 (right) courtesy of Marmot; Photo page 2(right) courtesy of Eureka.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. ISBN 978-1-59921-400-9

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The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or The Globe Pequot Press. The author and The Globe Pequot Press disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

Printed in the United States of America

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Most writers, I think, have embraced the new age of publishing. A few older writers, like me, have been dragged kicking and screaming, and cursing, into the electronic world of creating a book. I cannot imagine a more patient and talented dragger of kickers and screamers than Katie Benoit at Globe Pequot Press. Thank you, Katie, and thanks to Maureen Graney, editor in chief at Globe Pequot, for always understanding and offering excellent help. And one more thanks: to Max Phelps at Globe Pequot, who brought us all together and keeps making things happen and embodies all thats really great about being a human being.

For Kathleen Hart Tilton. As a companion on any path that leads anywhere at any time, I choose her.

Out there: the deeply shaded forest trail, the steep switchbacks ascending a mountain pass, the hot white meanderings between spiny cacti, the fantastic sand-stone walls reigning over slim canyons, the gray beaches where sea otters bob offshore watching.

You dont have to go out there, out where your feet carry you everywhere, out where everything you need burdens your back (unless you forgot to pack it). Out there no thermostats are found, no TV or electronic games, or memory-foam beds, or restaurants that bring your favorite dishes to a spotlessly clean and properly set table.

My first backpacking trip, when I shouldered all I thought I should shoulder and left the car far behind, was into the Olympic National Forest in the state of Washington. The thing I called a backpack was a canvas bag attached somehow to two slats of wood that hung from my aching upper body on two canvas straps. The tube tent I slept in consisted of a single wall of waterproof red nylon on which every drop of moisture from out of my body condensed and dripped back down onto my bodyand then rain began to fall. The mosquitoes were bad, the food was bad, the blister on my right heel was bad, and I came out two days later in the wrong place and had to sleep beside the road and walk another 5 miles to find a phone.

Why did I ever take a second backpacking trip?