Backpacker and Hiker's Handbook

Description

This handbook tells you how to plan and prepare for a backpacking trip and discusses equipment, safety, and the essential trail skills of using a compass, purifying water, cooking, and where and how to set up camp. The topics include: how to plan and prepare for a backpacking trip, with tips on buying essentials and getting in shape; must-know trail skills: finding your way, purifying water, cooking on the trail, where and how to set up camp; solo backpacking, all-female groups, hiking with children, seniors, and pets; ideas for going light and enhancing your trail photography; how to handle dangerous situations, including encounters with bears, snakes, and cougars; inclement weather; and medical emergencies. Safely explore high mountains, deserts, and canyons. Extend your hiking season, into fall and winter.

William Kemsley Jr. is the founder of Backpacker magazine and cofounder of the American Hiking Society, one of the most influential nonprofit organizations lobbying Congress today. He has authored numerous books on hiking and backpacking, including the best-selling Buyer's Guide to Backpacking Equipment (978-0-0202-9090-2) and Whole Hikers' Handbook (978-0-6880-8476-9). Kemsley lives in northern New Mexico, where he enjoys hiking and backpacking many times a year in the southwestern mountains, deserts, and canyons.