The Third Pole

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Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest

by Mark Synnott, Dutton Books, 2021

Book review by Kathy Kelly-Borowski

Who has not heard of the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster? Many books have been written about that deadly season: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest by Anatoli Boukreev, Left For Dead: My Journey Home from Everest by Beck Weathers, Climbing High: A Woman’s Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy by Lene Gammelgaard, and After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy, One Survivor’s Story by Lou Kasischke. I have read the first three mentioned.

Mount Everest is referred to as the “third pole” because it has the biggest ice mass after the earth’s north and south polar regions. Mark Synnott is an experienced professional climber who became part of a team that went to Mount Everest using Northeast Ridge. The group was trying to solve the mystery of the 1924 British Expedition to be the first to summit the mountain. Did George Mallory and Sandy Irvine actually stand on the roof of the world on June 8?

the third pole mystery obsession and death on mount everest

George Mallory’s body was found in 1999 and detailed in the book The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest by Conrad Anker and David Roberts. Sandy Irvine’s body was never found. It was believed that a Kodak camera was carried by one of the climbers to record their attempt. No camera was found on Mallory’s body, so it was thought if Irvine’s body was found he may have the camera. If the film was still viable, the mystery might be solved.

Before the 2019 team’s summit push, Renan Ozturk, a professional mountaineer and filmmake, used a drone that weighed only one and a half pounds and fit in the palm of his hand to photograph the terrain and map the mountain. These photographs were used to locate the area where they believed Irvine’s body was located. Renan had to hack the drone’s safety functions, allowing it to descend quickly and operate at high elevations.

Synnott weaves the history of Everest, Mallory, Irvine, and other climbers throughout the story while describing “the year Everest broke.” Traffic jams on the Northeast Ridge and South Col Route occurred during summit attempts in 2019. There were eleven deaths that season, with four deaths blamed on overcrowding. Avoiding spending extra exhausting hours in the “death zone,” Mark and his team waited until those crowds cleared to make their push.

The National Geographic documentary Lost On Everest was released about the expedition and is streaming on Disney Plus

Tales From The Trail

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tales-from-the-trail

New Book Release

Tales from the Trail: Stories from the Oldest Hiker Hostel on the Appalachian Trail by Sherry Blackman has been released worldwide. This 255-page collection pays tribute to those who dare such a grueling and soul-satisfying adventure on the 2200-mile hike from Georgia to Maine.

The Presbyterian Church of the Mountain in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, is home to the oldest, continuously-running Hiker Hostel on the Appalachian Trail (AT), offering sanctuary to over 1200 hikers per year. Blackman is a spiritual-investigative reporter in her new book, relying on decades of experience as a prize-winning, globe-trotting journalist, poet and author. She brings a keen observational eye, an inquisitive intellect, and deep-down compassion to those who shared their stories and longings for answers, healing, and transformation in this cathedral of the wild.

Tales from the Trail, part memoir and part spiritual reflection, chronicles the adventures—some humorous, some deeply moving—of those who dare to strip life down to its bare bones to discover or rediscover their humanity.

Tales from the Trail (ISBN: 9781737628736) can be purchased through retailers worldwide, including barnesandnoble.com and Amazon. The paperback retails for $15.99. Wholesale orders are available through Ingram.

During the 2020 pandemic, one thing held true: Scores of people headed out for a day hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT) as if being in the woods, immersed in beauty and mystery, immunized them against an invisible enemy. The AT became a hospital for souls locked up in quarantine, needing to breathe, stretch, and be nourished by the earth beneath their feet.

For decades, the AT has been a sanctuary for seekers, the tired and the lost; those hungry for renewal, the broken and the grieving; and those who want to face and answer questions they have lugged around with them in invisible backpacks. Questions like, what is next for me? Is there a God? Should I live or end it all? How can I liberate my life from what weighs it down? How can I forgive God?

This book pays tribute to all those who dare such a grueling and soul-satisfying adventure. It tells the tales of those on a pilgrimage through insightful conversations and encounters, exploring and revealing what angels the hikers are wrestling with in the wilderness, angels who call out to name them again. This collection unveils the spirituality of any such journey in sometimes humorous, sometimes heart-wrenching portraits.

Tales from the Trail explores what it means to be human.

The Unlikely Thru-Hiker

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An Appalachian Trail Journey by Derick Lugo

Published by AMC Books, 2020

Review by Kathy Kelly-Borowski

Since finishing the Appalachian Trail in 1989, I have read many books on Appalachian Trail hikes. Just some of them include Walking with Spring, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, A Walk for Sunshine, A Walk in the Woods, Just Passin’ Thru, AWOL on the Appalachian Trail and The Barefoot Sisters Southbound.

It would be no surprise to anyone that I would pick up The Unlikely Thru-Hiker, especially because of its epic cover.

This is the story of Derick’s thru-hike in 2012. What makes Derick an unlikely thru-hiker? Derick is of Puerto Rican and African American heritage, placing him in a distinct minority among thru-hikers. He grew up in New York City, never camping or taking a hike before stepping on the AT.

On March 19, Derick started the Amicalola approach trail, a strenuous 7.8 miles to Springer Mountain, the Southern terminus of the AT. (When I started my AT hike I opted to start at the Springer Mountain parking area and walked one mile south to the trailhead to avoid the approach trail.)

A few days into the hike, Derick is given his trail name ”Mr. Fabulous” because on the trail, as at home, he liked “to stay groomed, fresh and well dressed”.

Mr. Fabulous was the 438th hiker to start the season. He was given the number 438 by the ranger at Katahdin Steam Campground six months later signifying the 438th hiker to finish the trail that season on September 17.

He started his day by touching a white blaze, “showing gratitude and respect for the markers that guided” him through the wilderness.

Mr. Fabulous was true to his thru-hike by hiking every mile of the trail with his backpack and hiking poles. Most hikers including me leave their backpack and poles at the ranger station before the last 5.2 miles to the northern terminus of the trail.

“Free food and showers is definitely the way to a thru-hiker’s heart” is what Derick says about the hiker feed given by the First Baptist Church in Damascus, VA. How true is this statement?

While hiking in PA, Derick gets a text message from his hiking partner for the day, “Can you drown in rocks? Because there is an ocean of them before me!”

Can anyone relate to this? Mr. Fabulous received advice from a guy he meets attending Trail Days in Damascus; “Be kind to all, don’t take your friends for granted, and be memorable.” This is great advice for all of us especially during the current lock down.

This book is well written and entertaining. I had a hard time putting it down. It is a series of short trail stories instead of covering every state he walked through.

Derick remained positive during his trek north. He signed the shelter journals with the phrase “Peace, Love & All That Good Stuff.”

The question the book left me with: Did Mr. Fabulous ever see a moose?

Kathy Kelly-Borowski has led DV Chapter trips for more than three decades. She thru-hiked the AT in 1989. You can read more of her reviews and many other book reviews at amcdv.org/books.html.

You can purchase this book and others and get a member discount at amcstore.outdoors.org/books-maps

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The Sun Is a Compass

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A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds

By Caroline Van Hemert. Little, Brown Spark, 2019

Book review by Kathy Kelly-Borowski

If you like stories of adventures, have an interest in birds, paddling or the Arctic this book is worth reading. Caroline holds a PhD in biology, and her special expertise is birds. Her husband and travel companion, Pat Farrell, builds homes.

In their early thirties, the couple set out on an expedition of 4,000 miles from the Pacific rainforest to the Arctic coast.

“No roads, no trails, and no motors. We would travel by foot, on skis, in rowboats, rafts, and canoes. We would use only our own muscles to carry us through some of the wildest places left on earth.”

For 176 days, they traveled from Bellingham, Washington to Kotzebue, Alaska. Caroline and Pat spent hundreds of hours in a small tent, with no doors, no privacy and no facilities. They encountered mosquitoes, mountain goats, moose, bear, sea lions, whales, caribou and countless species of birds. They were tired, hungry, and hurting most of the trip, but they had to travel twenty plus miles a day to complete the trek in six months. In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, they learned to trust the caribou instincts.

“And so, crossing this river has become necessary, in the way that it’s necessary to kiss a lover before leaving, to pause and look up when the moon is rising. Our bodies know what is essential and what is not.”

Before starting this adventure on March 17, 2012, the couple had climbed, skied, paddled, and explored together for more than 10 years. They spent a year planning this backcountry expedition. During this time, Pat was busy building the canoes they used at the start of their trip. Caroline was planning and packing their food. By the time they started in Washington, time had run out and the boats had not touched water and they had not had a chance to operate them.

Weather was an issue for much of the trip: snow, strong winds and rain. Due to a route change they were low on food and the weather caused a delay of their only air resupply. When it finally arrived and they moved on, they experienced a view of the western Arctic caribou herd migration. This almost made being stuck waiting for their needed food worthwhile. On September 9, the duo completed what had been a dream for years.

As people find trail magic along the Appalachian and other long distances trails, Caroline and Pat found locals who were willing to help them out with knowledge of the area, equipment, lodging and food. Learning that people are kind was the most valuable lesson I learned when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Kindness was found in the people I travelled with and that of complete strangers.

For route information and pictures from the trip: https://carolineandpat.wordpress.com/home/trip-overview/

Book website: https://www.carolinevanhemert.com/book

Kathy Kelly-Borowski is a long-distance hiker completing the Appalachian, Long Trail, John Muir and Wonderland Trails. She has hiked in the Canadian Rockies, did a section of the Colorado Trail, walked Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu in Peru along with the Milford and Routeburn Tracks in New Zealand. Kathy has visited Alaska, Scotland, Slovenia, Antarctica and Hokkaido, Japan.

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Rolling on Water

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Learning to roll is like learning to play a musical instrument. It does not come at once, and requires lots of practice. Learning to roll in whitewater or on the ocean even more so. Your first thousand rolls will be the hardest.

Eskimo Rolling

by Derek Hutchinson

Illustrated with photos and drawings that actually make sense. For sea kayaking and whitewater, including canoe and C-1 rolls.

The Bombproof Roll and Beyond

by Paul Dutkey

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Paddling Rescue and safety books

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Whitewater Rescue Manual: New Techniques for Canoeists, Kayakers, and Rafters

by Charles Walbridge and Wayne A. Sundmacher

This is the best available, but then I am biased. I took my training from the authors. The one below is also good, but spends far too much time on technical rescues I have never seen, let alone used. In whitewater rescues, speed is the essence!

River Rescue: A Manual for Whitewater Safety, AMC Paddlesports

by Slim Ray and Les Bechdel

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Sea Kayaking Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay: Day Trips on the Tidal Tributaries and Coastlines of the Western and Eastern Shore

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by Michael Savario and Andrea Nolan,

Backcountry Press, Woodstock, VT, backcountrypress.com, paperback, 2003.

Review by Eric Pavlak.

With 4,600 miles of tidal shoreline and more than 400 rivers and creeks, the Chesapeake Bay can be a paddler’s paradise. Unfortunately, it takes careful planning and a bit of experience in avoiding the paddling hell of power boats and overdevelopment that mars much of the bay. A good guide book in invaluable.

Sea Kayaking Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay is the excellent guide to paddling some of the nearby tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. It’s fortunate that is good, because it is the only one available. (Ed Gertler’s Delaware and Maryland Canoe Trails, Senaca Press, does overlap on the tidal rivers, but does not cover open water.)

A good guide book writer must actually paddle (or hike or bicycle) all the trips described. Similarly, a good reviewer must actually do some of the trips described in the book to give a fair evaluation. Thus it has taken me some time to properly rate this book.

First, I have found this book accurate. This is most important. The trip descriptions are excellent, and include access information, safety considerations, and general wind and tide information. There are excellent driving directions to put-ins, many of which are otherwise obscure and hard to find.

The book includes usable charts of all trips. It is illustrated with many photographs, and includes information on the ecology wildlife and history of the trip areas.

There is also information on equipment and paddling skills, plus lots of extra information on safety, weather, travel and land accommodations.

The Chesapeake’s tides are minor; its winds are not. It is wide and open with little shelter from the flat land. Due consideration is given to wind in this book. Often the route taken, direction of travel and even the advisability of the trip are wind dependent.

While excellent, this book is not without deficiencies. While Chesapeake tides are small, sometimes they matter, particularly when combined with wind. Example: on the Tilghman Island trip, the paddler is warned of tidal current in the Knapp Narrows, yet no direction of flow based on the tide stage is given. It is not obvious. Also, it would be useful to list tide stations and relevant marine charts.

Aesthetic and safety considerations seem to make me a bit less tolerant of recreational power boats than the authors. I have done a lot of paddling in cold weather and in places like Maine and Nova Scotia, and am used to being free of them. So when the authors warn of high boat traffic, you probably don’t want to go there.

Conclusion: I give this book an A rating. Get it before you go and enjoy many, many days of happy paddling.

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Sea Kayaking Paddling Guide Books

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The Coastal Kayaker’s Manual, The Complete Guide to Skills, Gear, and Sea Sense

by Randel Washburne.

Good basic must have book.

Sea Kayaking in Nova Scotia

by Scott Cunningham.

An excellent book I have used much. A Gertler-level guidebook! Which is fortunate, since it is the only one available for this sea kayaking paradise.

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Essential Paddling Guide Books

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Keystone Canoeing: A Guide to Canoeable Water of Eastern Pennsylvania

by Edward Gertler., Seneca Press.

Maryland and Delaware Canoe Trails: A Paddler’s Guide to Rivers of the Old Line and First States

by Edward Gertler, Seneca Press.

Garden State Canoeing: A Paddler’s Guide to New Jersey

by Edward Gertler, Seneca Press. Seneca Press.

As essential to paddling the rivers of these states as your canoe or kayak! All are illustrated with maps that show access points, local roads, dams and other obstructions and more. They describe trip characteristics, scenery, water quality, level of difficulty, hazards, recommended gage readings and more. Covers all levels of difficulty, from flatwater to expert-level rivers. Gertler personally paddles every trip listed in his books. Among the best guide books ever written in any outdoor sport! Ed Gertler’s web site.

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Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians

20th Anniversary Edition By Scott Weidensaul

Review by Eric Pavlak

A gunshot and splash of blood on a snowy November day in north-central Pennsylvania in 1867 marked the end of the last of the wapiti, the native elk of the Appalachians. A hundred years later, the majestic bald eagle was all but gone.

Today, the eagles are back, thanks to conservation efforts and a ban on the poison that was killing them. A few western elk have now repopulated a tiny part of their former vast range. Each spring, the trout lilies and May apples still sprout. The land is once again verdant green, though men still rip coal from the earth, dump waste into streams and pump toxic fluids into deep bore holes to extract natural gas. Resplendent with nature’s beauty, rich with trees and water, these mountains have generated great wealth and great poverty. And every year, the snows refresh, the waters flow and the land regenerates.

Once towering to the heights of the Alps and the Rockies, the now-eroded and rounded Appalachian Mountains are among the oldest major mountain chains on earth. Extending from north-central Alabama to Belle Isle, off the northern tip of Newfoundland, they are the defining topological feature of eastern North America. They hold vast natural diversity and wonders, and have shaped much of the history of our nation and our continent.

Reading Scott Weidensaul’s Mountains of the Heart is like many fascinating days walking with an eloquent naturalist, and many evenings with a knowledgeable and genial historian.

Weidensaul takes us not just into the woods of these old hills, but along the creeks and rivers, and the flyways of birds and butterflies. He tells of those settled here and those who’s lives and land the settlers took.

This book was originally published 20 years ago. This is a newly updated edition, with a must-read introduction that includes the latest environmental insults our species is hurling at our mountains, and the conservation efforts to minimize the damage.

An author writing on a topic so vast as a mountain range obviously has to be selective. Your favorite topic might not be included. I was hoping for some mention of the extraordinary story of the American eel. I didn’t find it, but instead learned of the extensive travels of botanists John (father) and William Bartram in the mid-1700s.

Many nature writers are boring to me, lacking the poetry of a Wordsworth or the insight of a Thoreau. Unlike them, Weidensaul has produced a book that is fun to read. It is filled with well-researched information. Learn more about our loss of the great chestnuts, the once great shad runs, vanished bison. Celebrate the resurgence of egrets and ospreys. Learn about a multitude of things you have walked past and never noticed. Celebrate our beloved mountains.

About the Author: Scott Weidensaul is a Pennsylvania native and current resident, who began his writing career with the Pottsville Republican, first as a columnist, than as a full-time reporter. He left that 10-year stint to become a freelance nature writer, with long-running columns in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Harrisburg Patriot-News. He has written more than two dozen books, including Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds, a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. He is contributing editor for Audubon magazine and writes for, Bird Watcher’s Digest and National Wildlife.

He is an active field researcher studying bird migration, and is one for the few licensed hummingbird banders in the country. Owls are the focus of much of his efforts, and he directs the ornithology program at the Audubon Society’s Hog Island camp off the coast of Maine.

The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors

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James Edward Mills, Mountaineers Books, 256 pages 2014. Paperback.

Review by Susan Weida

As our country grows to be increasingly multi-cultural, it is vital that people of diverse racial and cultural groups develop a passion and love for the outdoors in order to protect and advocate for preservation of our wild places.

The Adventure Gap provides an excellent introduction into what is needed to make this a reality. It does this by centering on a compelling story about the first all African-American summit expedition on Denali, Alaska in 2013. Once you engage in the story of these climbers and their personal stories you will find it hard to stop reading.

The author, James Mills, makes a case for the vital role of men- tors to introduce young people of color to the outdoors and help them see themselves as part of this world. The world of outdoor adventure, especially in high skill, high risk areas such as mountain climbing has been represented in the media as a white male’s domain.

Often the history of people of color who did lead in the outdoors has been ignored and forgotten. While taking you step by step with the team through their preparation and climb of Denali, Mills interweaves the background stories of the team members. Although team members have accomplished significant success in both professional areas and in their avocation of climbing, most have faced a variety of life challenges.

Mills draws the line between how an outdoor mentor made a difference in their lives and how they are committing themselves to mentoring the next generation to connect with the outdoors.

Mills also weaves into his narrative some of the historical role models for the team- the role of the Buffalo Sol- diers in the early days of our National Park system, Charles Crenchaw who was the first African American to summit Denali, and Matthew Henson who reached the North Pole with Admiral Robert Peary. He also tells a touching story about middle school climbing champion Kai Lightner who in turn was being inspired by Expedition Denali.

There were two other additional points of interest for me in this book. One was the story of the author who had a passion to be part of Expedition Denali but was unable to make the ‘cut’ due to physical limitations. Mills went on to be a huge part of the accomplishments of the group by writing their story. The second is the acknowledgment that Mills gives to Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, at that time the Diversity and Inclusion Manager for NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), for conceiving Expedition Denali. Aparna is part of the consulting team who is guiding the AMC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan, and I had the opportunity to participate in training with her in 2017.

I would recommend this book as a way to educate yourself about the value of diversity in the outdoors while enjoying an exciting tale of adventure and achievement.

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No Regrets, No Apologies

no regrets, No Apologies, doctor-book

by Michael C. Sinclair, MD

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 13, 2014)

World-traveling mountaineering surgeon now hikes with AMC-DV and works with Doctors Without Borders

Review by Lennie Steinmetz

Michael Sinclair is a world class mountaineer who has summited Everest, a cardiac surgeon from the Lehigh Valley who has performed more than 4,000 open heart surgeries, a doctor who now travels the world working for Doctors Without Borders, and a member of the DV Chapter of AMC. He recently published an autobiography titled No Regrets, No Apologies which is a most interesting read.

Sinclair was raised in a small town in northern California where athletic prowess was the sole measure of male worth. Inept in all sports, he had a miserable childhood and adolescence. In college he became a nose-to-the-grindstone student and graduated with honors. He completed medical school and went on to become a successful cardiac surgeon. In his late thirties, he was determined to revisit the issue of his apparent incompetence as an athlete. First he ran marathons. Then he began climbing mountains. Mountaineering became a committing avocation which rivaled heart surgery for his attention.”by Michael C. Sinclair, MD CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 13, 2014)

World-traveling mountaineering surgeon now hikes with AMC-DV and works with Doctors Without Borders

Review by Lennie Steinmetz

Michael Sinclair is a world class mountaineer who has summited Everest, a cardiac surgeon from the Lehigh Valley who has performed more than 4,000 open heart surgeries, a doctor who now travels the world working for Doctors Without Borders, and a member of the DV Chapter of AMC. He recently published an autobiography titled No Regrets, No Apologies which is a most interesting read.

Sinclair was raised in a small town in northern California where athletic prowess was the sole measure of male worth. Inept in all sports, he had a miserable childhood and adolescence. In college he became a nose-to-the-grindstone student and graduated with honors. He completed medical school and went on to become a successful cardiac surgeon. In his late thirties, he was determined to revisit the issue of his apparent incompetence as an athlete. First he ran marathons. Then he began climbing mountains. Mountaineering became a committing avocation which rivaled heart surgery for his attention.”

He launched his climbing career by contacting Rick Wilcox’s climbing school and guide service in New Hampshire. He took private climbing lessons there, then moved on to tackle big mountains like Aconcagua in South America, Mount Vinson and Mount McKinley in Alaska, and Mount Everest, to name a few. Some trips were more successful than others, but his tales about all of them are fascinating. There is a realism and honesty in his descriptions that is refreshing after reading some climbing books whose only goal seems to be to burnish the image of the climber himself.

After retiring from climbing big mountains, Sinclair continued to do rock climbing closer to home. Unfortunately, one of these trips led to his becoming the poster child for the Good Shepherd Home and Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown. A climbing accident in Delaware Water Gap left him with a collapsed lung, broken ribs, multiple fractures to his back and a broken hip socket. His long and painful, but ultimately successful, recovery led to his being featured on billboards throughout the Lehigh Valley extolling the virtues of Good Shepherd.

He has since gone on to cycle across America, do numerous backcountry ski trips throughout the US and Canada, and join AMC-DV for hiking and skiing adventures. He has also spends much of his time working for Doctors Without Borders with his wife Phyllis. They have taken part in over a dozen international missions, most lasting about six weeks, in places like Libya and South Sudan. The Allentown Morning Call recently ran a lengthy article about Sinclair and his humanitarian efforts, which can be found here. No Regrets, No Apologies is available on line.

He launched his climbing career by contacting Rick Wilcox’s climbing school and guide service in New Hampshire. He took private climbing lessons there, then moved on to tackle big mountains like Aconcagua in South America, Mount Vinson and Mount McKinley in Alaska, and Mount Everest, to name a few. Some trips were more successful than others, but his tales about all of them are fascinating. There is a realism and honesty in his descriptions that is refreshing after reading some climbing books whose only goal seems to be to burnish the image of the climber himself.

After retiring from climbing big mountains, Sinclair continued to do rock climbing closer to home. Unfortunately, one of these trips led to his becoming the poster child for the Good Shepherd Home and Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown. A climbing accident in Delaware Water Gap left him with a collapsed lung, broken ribs, multiple fractures to his back and a broken hip socket. His long and painful, but ultimately successful, recovery led to his being featured on billboards throughout the Lehigh Valley extolling the virtues of Good Shepherd.

He has since gone on to cycle across America, do numerous backcountry ski trips throughout the US and Canada, and join AMC-DV for hiking and skiing adventures. He has also spends much of his time working for Doctors Without Borders with his wife Phyllis. They have taken part in over a dozen international missions, most lasting about six weeks, in places like Libya and South Sudan. The Allentown Morning Call recently ran a lengthy article about Sinclair and his humanitarian efforts, which can be found here. No Regrets, No Apologies is available on line.

Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac

Read the article extensive article by Susan Charkes on this classic in the 2014 Spring Footnotes Newsletter.

AMC’s Best Day Hikes Near Philadelphia

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Four-Season Guide to 50 of the Best Trails in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware,

Susan Charkes, AMC Books, 2010

Review by Kathy Kelly-Borowski

Looking for new hikes, hikes that you can reach by public transportation, hikes you can take with your children or dog? If you would like learn more about berries, birds, meadows, the PA Highlands, spiders, trees, wildflowers, or frogs? This is the book for you.

Susan has grouped the trails listed in the book into three regions: central and southern New Jersey (10 hikes); the Lehigh Valley (14 hikes); and southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware (26 hikes).

She lists hikes, many well known trails and AMC-DV favorites: Appalachian Trail, Fairmount Park, French Creek State Park, Nockamixon State Park, Peace Valley Nature Center, Perkiomen Trail, Ridley Creek State Park, Valley Forge National Park, and Wissahickon Valley Park.

Other not so familiar trails are listed like Clarence Schock Memorial Park, Money Rocks Park, and Neversink Mountain Preserve.

The book offers an “At-a-Glance” chart listing the hike, the page where the hike is described, its location, difficulty, distance and elevation gain, estimated time, fee, whether the hike is good for children, dogs are allowed, good for cross country skiing or snowshoeing, if you can get to it by public transportation, and lists trip highlights.

Each individual trip lists location, difficulty, distance, elevation gain, estimated time, maps, brief description of the walk, detailed directions including GPS coordinates, trail description, small map showing the route. After each trail description is a paragraph listing helpful additional information: park office hours, fees, location of restrooms, address, phone numbers and websites.

Dispersed throughout the book are 17 short nature essays covering topics such as bird migration, deer ecology and Wissahickon schist. These essays will certainly open your eyes to your surroundings on your next hike. ob, one of the many hikes in the book.

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AMC’s Best Backpacking in the Mid-Atlantic: A Guide to 30 of the Best Multiday Trips from New York to Virginia

by Michael R. Martin Paperback

Review by Kathy Kelly-Borowski

Michael Martin wrote a feature article Hills, Hollows, and Beyond that appeared in the May/June issue of AMC Outdoors. Did you happen to see or read it? Michael wrote about the Susquehannock Trail located in North Central PA. This is just one of the trails included in his Best Backpacking book.

Best Backpacking includes just about everything a beginner to experienced backpacker would need for planning one of the trips listed in the book. A map shows the location of each trip and a planner contains location, difficulty, distance, elevation, estimated time, type of trip, if a fee is required, if dogs are permitted, ample water supply available, trips by theme (i.e. waterfalls, big views), and listing by State. Michael gave each trip what he calls “a fun and fanciful title.” These titles actually had me looking ahead to see what he named trails I had hiked. Some of my favorites: I Like Big Ridges and I Cannot Lie, (Don’t) Get Lost!, Carrying Water, and Hitting the High Notes.

Michael includes a section on where you should go hiking based on certain attributes about the areas, what you will see, what season it is or spending time with limited crowds. He also gives tips for staying safe and getting equipped for your trip. Leave No Trace guidelines are also included.

Each trail’s header includes the following: title, whether you may bring man’s best friend on the trip, water availability, are there usage fees, is camping permitted, location, trip highlights, distance, total elevation gain/loss, length of trip, difficulty, recommended maps and other resources. The description includes: over- view of hike, options for overnight, getting to the trailhead, hike description, other hike options, amenities nearby, and additional information about the trail. The author does include latitude and longitude coordinates in the hike description for reference, plus a trail map

The book is broken into trips by state: Virginia (7), West Virginia (5), Pennsylvania (6), New York (5), Maryland (4), New Jersey and Delaware (3). The author includes backpacks for all levels including a difficulty level: Easy, Moderate, Challenging, Strenuous, and Epic. Epic is defined as “Extended adventures with considerable and constant elevation gain and loss, often in remote regions on challenging trails.”

After reading this definition, I immediately turned to “Devil’s Path”, Trip #20. I’ve never hiked this trail, but I was always told it was extremely challenging. I was surprised that the trip was only rated “strenuous.” Curious, I had to find one of the “epic” trails that I had backpacked. The Susquehannock Trail was the only one that I completed. Re-reading the authors explanation of the difficulty of the Susquehannock Trail, I have to agree. We did not come across one view point, but we did walk countless ups and downs with considerable and constant elevation gain and loss. We had a stop in Cross Fork that we will never forget.

When we arrived in the small town we found they were preparing for their annual Rattlesnake Roundup. People were camped near the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources office.

The ranger on duty said we could find a spot and set up our tents. While at the small store buying ice cream a nasty storm blew into the area. The storm was so bad; we were actually holding our tent down. When the storm blew through, we got out of the tent to find a tree had come down on one of the campers, cutting it and a vehicle parked near it in half. Thank goodness no one was hurt. We spent most of the evening watching as the tree was removed. The owner of the camper came over to us and said at one point during the storm he was feeling really sorry for us being out in the weather in our small tent.

This book is a nice addition to my backpacking reference books. I have been backpacking for many years, but I still picked up tips from Michael in his gear section. After reading this guide there are trails that I have added to my list of those I would like to hike someday. Thank You, Michael.

The Road That Teaches: Lessons in Transformation through Travel

road-that-teaches-cover

by Valerie Brown,

QuakerBridge Media, 151 PP. Paper $14.95

Review by Priscilla Estes

“As a traveler, I arrive not once, but again and again.”

Long-time Del Val member Valerie Brown carries you effort- lessly in her backpack through Spain, Scotland, Japan, New Zea- land and India, using the road to answer every hiker’s question: Why do we do it? Why do we travel by foot, an intimate and measured conveyance, enduring privation, fatigue and suboptimum conditions?

A seasoned seeker and unique blend of Buddhist and Quaker, Brown hikes to find herself; to test her commitment; to learn to let go of anger, frustration and dis- appointment; to ease her lifelong battle with impatience and resis- tance; and to embrace acceptance.

Travel’s surprises, hardships and joys peel both a physical and spiritual onion for Brown. She began her first major pilgrimage, El Camino de Santiago in Spain, doubting her physical endurance, apprehensive of her traveling companions, and frightened that her “fragile dream of finding true meaning from this journey would go unrealized.”

Clear and descriptive language lets us smell the mud and see the butterflies, learn the history of St. James, taste the figs and anchovies, and feel the blessed relief of unbooted feet as Brown struggles to live in the moment and realizes that her “inner empha- sis on speed is about fear.”

Each chapter describes a pilgrimage that brings her closer to her Buddhist and Quaker beliefs. A pre-dawn mud walk on the banks of the Ganges sends a rush of electricity “through the bottom of my feet to the top of my head,” helping ignite the Light Within, a central tenant of Buddhism and Quakerism.

On a trip to Celtic Iona, an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scot- land, Brown found courage to throw off her need for financial security and align with her heart, balancing desire for intimacy with her fierce independence.

The physical details of travel and cultural history illuminate a wealth of personal and spiritual insights. Nude group baths in Japan break down insecurities; a tea ceremony cultivates aware- ness and openheartedness; honoring the goddess Kannon brings sadness for the choice of career over motherhood.

Chapters begin with a quote and “Lesson” and end with “Quaker Queries for Reflection” and a “Practice Lesson,” creating both prayer book and guide book. Helpful appendices share training tips, packing lists and travel resources.

Travel, for Brown, is a way to heal and grow, to make peace with the head and the heart, and to discover the grace of love. This book is honest, educational and inspirational — handy qualities for any pilgrimage.

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