{"product_id":"hiking-on-the-edge-dreams-schemes-and-1600-miles-on-the-california-coastal-trail-9780934161695","title":"Hiking on the Edge: Dreams, Schemes, and 1600 Miles on the California Coastal Trail","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen John McKinney first planned his epic hike along the California coast, his purpose was strictly pedestrian: to pioneer a route for the new California Coastal Trail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt all began over nachos and beer. Free-spirited board members of the California Coastal Trails Foundation met at a beachside cantina to chart annual progress toward realizing their dream: a 1600-mile-long trail on the edge of California. Despite their three years of mapping and promotional efforts, the California Coastal Trail remained all but unknown.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo literally and figuratively put the trail on the map, \u003cem\u003esomeone needs to hike the whole thing\u003c\/em\u003e, board members decided. And that someone should be John McKinney\u003cem\u003e, \u003c\/em\u003eEagle Scout, The Trailmaster, native son of the Golden State. He was perfect for the job: strong legs, an adventurous spirit, and \"he doesn't have a real job--he's a writer.\" \\\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo one, until McKinney agreed to do so, had ever hiked along the edge of the state to determine if a California Coastal Trail was even possible. Were the beaches passable at low tide? Could the bluffs be traveled without arrest for trespass? Could a trail be found through the rugged coastal mountains? The intrepid trailblazer found the answers to these questions--and to more profound ones that never occurred to him until he was on his challenging journey of discovery.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The natural beauty of the landscapes and seascapes exceeded my high expectations,\" declares McKinney. \"What I didn't expect was hiking head-on into so many controversies on the edge of California: nature boutiqued, coastal access denied, bureaucracies run amok, zombie nuclear power plants, oil and more oil.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \"Unforgettable and near and dear to my heart, are the marvelous people I met along the way,\" adds the author, \"including the founding father of whale-watching, backcountry rangers, nuns praying for mercy for the redwoods, and for us all.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally published as \u003cem\u003eA Walk Along Land's End\u003c\/em\u003eby HarperCollins, \u003cem\u003eHiking on the Edge\u003c\/em\u003erecords a pilgrimage like no other, complete with new and previously unpublished stories and chapters. A saga, a celebration, a comedy, and a lament, this narrative ranks with the classics of California travel literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Olympus Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50898991513874,"sku":"9780934161695","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a0d55523-4a5a-4043-931b-d3b8cad3a4a6.jpg?v=1738346810","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/hiking-on-the-edge-dreams-schemes-and-1600-miles-on-the-california-coastal-trail-9780934161695","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}