Long Distance Hiker
In 2007, Scout and his wife Sandy thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Over five months they walked a continuous line from Mexico to Canada, 2,650 miles. A backpacker for 50 years, Mann was 13 when he went on his first 50-miler, a week-long backpack in the Sierra Nevada. His 35-pound pack and 80-pound body fought to a draw. It rained every day. “I loved it.” Mann says, "I'm more at home in the outdoors than on a downtown street." At 63, Mann set out to hike what’s regarded as the nation’s toughest trail. The Continental Divide Trail, 2,700 miles, spans the Rockies from border to border. Mann finished on October 2, 2015, to the best of his knowledge the only one over 60 to thru-hike that year. For Mann, the third leg of America's "Triple Crown" of great trails was the Appalachian Trail, Maine to Georgia. Mann completed the Appalachian Trail on October 25, 2017. The number of Triple Crowners is fewer than the number of those who have flown in outer space.
Lawyer
Mann had a quarter-century legal career, ending as the managing partner of his downtown San Diego law firm—Andersen Mann Hilbert & Parker. Ten years ago, he was approached to serve as a California Superior Court Judge, but the word “No” left his lips before he had a chance to think about it. The day Mann retired in May 2010, the most important thing on his mind was that at 2:00 pm he had his first deadline for Backpacker magazine.
Trail Advocate
Here's Scout on one of 13 consecutive annual trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby for our nation's trails. He served three years as Chairman of the Board of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. The PCTA has 14,000 members, its budget exceeds $3,000,000 and it has over 25 employees. Today, Scout serves as President of the Partnershsip for the National Trails System, an umbrella organization representing over 30 trail groups with over 150,000 members.
PCT historian
There is no such formal designation, but if there was the position would be Mann's. The New York Times called him the “unofficial historian of the trail,” while Backpacker magazine called him “a geek for trail history.” Mann’s personal files, library and oral history collection outstrip the PCTA archives. Mann appeared as the “talking head” expert in an episode of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Experience. It was titled “Pacific Crest Trail: A Ride to Remember” about the first horseback transit of the trail in 1959.
Photographer
Mann has four magazine covers, multiple front-page photos in the Oregonian Travel Section, as well as photos published in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times (online), Outside (online) and one photo that is still in every book store in the U.S.—the inside front cover of the trade paperback edition of Wild.
Author
Journeys North, a compelling non-fiction tale about six hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail, was just released by Mountaineers Books. This ensemble story unfolds as these half-dozen hikers--including Barney and his wife Sandy--trek north, forming relationships and revealing thier deepest secrets and aspirations. "Master storyteller. Kept me up at night. A fantastic book!" Heather Anderson, 2019 National Geographic Adventurer of the year. Read more about Journeys North.
2018: The Continental Divide Trail: Exploring America's Ridgeline Trail by Barney Scout Mann. Backpacker magazine called it a "Best gift" for 2018. Read more about the book.
2016: The Pacific Crest Trail: Exploring America's Wilderness Trail by Mark Larabee and Barney Scout Mann. This book, by the Pacific Crest Trail Association and Rizzoli New York is Rizzoli's third book in its trail series. The Foreword is by Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild. Read more about the book.
Freelance Writer
Mann is an award-winning feature article writer. He received a 2010 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award for a full-page article in the Portland Oregonian. Over the last ten years, he’s published numerous articles in Backpacker magazine, the Portland Oregonian, the New York Times (online) and in the Communicator, the quarterly magazine of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. Mountaineers Press published a two-volume anthology of trail stories, The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader--Mann was the only writer with more than one selection. Short pieces of his have appeared in the UK’s most popular walking magazines, Adventure Travel and Country Walking.
Long Distance Hiker
In 2007, Scout and his wife Sandy thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Over five months they walked a continuous line from Mexico to Canada, 2,650 miles. A backpacker for 50 years, Mann was 13 when he went on his first 50-miler, a week-long backpack in the Sierra Nevada. His 35-pound pack and 80-pound body fought to a draw. It rained every day. “I loved it.” Mann says, "I'm more at home in the outdoors than on a downtown street." At 63, Mann set out to hike what’s regarded as the nation’s toughest trail. The Continental Divide Trail, 2,700 miles, spans the Rockies from border to border. Mann finished on October 2, 2015, to the best of his knowledge the only one over 60 to thru-hike that year. For Mann, the third leg of America's "Triple Crown" of great trails was the Appalachian Trail, Maine to Georgia. Mann completed the Appalachian Trail on October 25, 2017. The number of Triple Crowners is fewer than the number of those who have flown in outer space.
Lawyer
Mann had a quarter-century legal career, ending as the managing partner of his downtown San Diego law firm—Andersen Mann Hilbert & Parker. Ten years ago, he was approached to serve as a California Superior Court Judge, but the word “No” left his lips before he had a chance to think about it. The day Mann retired in May 2010, the most important thing on his mind was that at 2:00 pm he had his first deadline for Backpacker magazine.
Trail Advocate
Here's Scout on one of 13 consecutive annual trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby for our nation's trails. He served three years as Chairman of the Board of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. The PCTA has 14,000 members, its budget exceeds $3,000,000 and it has over 25 employees. Today, Scout serves as President of the Partnershsip for the National Trails System, an umbrella organization representing over 30 trail groups with over 150,000 members.
PCT historian
There is no such formal designation, but if there was the position would be Mann's. The New York Times called him the “unofficial historian of the trail,” while Backpacker magazine called him “a geek for trail history.” Mann’s personal files, library and oral history collection outstrip the PCTA archives. Mann appeared as the “talking head” expert in an episode of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Experience. It was titled “Pacific Crest Trail: A Ride to Remember” about the first horseback transit of the trail in 1959.
Photographer
Mann has four magazine covers, multiple front-page photos in the Oregonian Travel Section, as well as photos published in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times (online), Outside (online) and one photo that is still in every book store in the U.S.—the inside front cover of the trade paperback edition of Wild.
Author
Journeys North, a compelling non-fiction tale about six hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail, was just released by Mountaineers Books. This ensemble story unfolds as these half-dozen hikers--including Barney and his wife Sandy--trek north, forming relationships and revealing thier deepest secrets and aspirations. "Master storyteller. Kept me up at night. A fantastic book!" Heather Anderson, 2019 National Geographic Adventurer of the year. Read more about Journeys North.
2018: The Continental Divide Trail: Exploring America's Ridgeline Trail by Barney Scout Mann. Backpacker magazine called it a "Best gift" for 2018. Read more about the book.
2016: The Pacific Crest Trail: Exploring America's Wilderness Trail by Mark Larabee and Barney Scout Mann. This book, by the Pacific Crest Trail Association and Rizzoli New York is Rizzoli's third book in its trail series. The Foreword is by Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild. Read more about the book.
Freelance Writer
Mann is an award-winning feature article writer. He received a 2010 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award for a full-page article in the Portland Oregonian. Over the last ten years, he’s published numerous articles in Backpacker magazine, the Portland Oregonian, the New York Times (online) and in the Communicator, the quarterly magazine of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. Mountaineers Press published a two-volume anthology of trail stories, The Pacific Crest Trailside Reader--Mann was the only writer with more than one selection. Short pieces of his have appeared in the UK’s most popular walking magazines, Adventure Travel and Country Walking.
