Listen to or watch the following podcasts and videos to hear Scout talk about Journeys North, trail angeling and long distance hiking!

Mountaineers Books BeWell Journeys North Launch Event

Backpacker Radio Episode #77

Broken Laces podcast, August 4th 2020

Town Hall Seattle for Journeys North

Harvard Bookstore, Barney Scout Mann in conversation with Liz Snorkel Thomas

San Diego Union-Tribune’s Name Drop San Diego podcast

Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, episode #231

NPR’s Pet Lady Radio and Podcast

The Hiker’s Podcast with Andy Neal

Vroman’s Live, Barney Scout Mann discusses Journeys North

HikingThru podcast with Erin Egan

Cascade Hiker Podcast with Rudy Giecek

Dear Friends,

I call this “Hike with Scout,” but maybe you would have wanted to miss my last hike. It was Sunday, Labor Day weekend, the moon was five day past full and we were at 9,000 feet in the Sierra. I knew when the moon would rise. But it never did. Smoke. You’ve heard about the West Coast wildfires and forest closures. We were there. 

The single trek this summer for my wife and me was a long-anticipated 6 days in the Sierra. Over half of the 55 miles would be on the Pacific Crest Trail. After 13 years, we’d finally return to Evolution Valley and Muir Pass. The first two-and-a-half days were pristine. We lingered over lunch Saturday at McClure Meadow on Evolution Creek--the best campsite in the entire Sierra. But afterward, we saw a bulging thunderhead behind us. Climbing toward our campsite at 10,900-feet, we realized that it was being fed by a fire. It's a pyro-cumulonimbus cloud. Two events cause them--an extreme forest fire or a volcanic eruption. From then on, we were chased by smoke. Sunday night was the worst. We never saw the moon. That Monday we crammed two days’ worth of hiking into one and got out at 4:30 pm. A half hour later the forest was officially closed. 

But we were lucky. Our direction was away from the fire. That Saturday, under that thunderhead cloud, we met the nicest young couple, Aaron and Mindy. They were heading the opposite way. They were doing the John Muir Trail, with ten days still ahead of them. What happened to them? I found out a week later. Did you see the hikers helicoptered out by the Air National Guard? That same Sunday night, the one where we had no moon, the two of them reached Vermillion Valley Resort, a planned re-supply spot at a remote Sierra store and maildrop. The sole access was an 18-mile, one-lane dirt road. That road had been overrun by the fire. At 3:00 am Aaron and Mindy woke to the sound of helicopters. I saw a photo of them tightly wedged inside with their packs. They were airlifted out—end of hike.

Hello again,

Are you ready to continue down the trail with me? You don’t need a break, do you? Hike on and I’ll spin out what I promised—How the heck over 6,000 people slept at our house. I’ll share the Journeys North introduction, the photo to back it up and an insider backstory.  

How did 6,000-plus sleep at our house? If you know the answer, you can chuckle along with me. My wife Sandy and I really wanted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2007. We’d made big sacrifices at work to get five months off. In 2006, the year before, we thought: Wouldn’t it be cool to host hikers in our home? We live in San Diego, the PCT’s southern terminus is 60 miles inland and we could pick up starting hikers at the airport, host them for a night or two and then drive them to the trailhead. In 2006 we did just that, hosting 17 hikers over two months. 

In 2007, before we left on the trail ourselves, we hosted 35. We thought, We’re hot stuff. It was a hoot to host, feed, and get to know these wonderful folks. They were about to start an epic adventure. But in 2008, word had circulated. We hosted over 100, more than one-third of that year’s starting PCT hiker class. And we kept to our original policy, “It’s free, no gifts, no donations.”

In 2012 we hosted over 300, in 2015 over 500, then quickly to 900, and we’ve now had years of well over 1,000. Over 8 weeks, 30 to 40 a night. Either hug us or lock us up. We have three 12-by-20-foot event tents in the back yard, 4 bedrooms, a tent trailer, a tree house and the living room floor. Since 2008, we’ve had a network of volunteers—driving airport pickups, last minute errands, trailhead runs—that last year totaled 81. All still free. No gifts. We go to bed every night exhausted, but one of us says to the other, “We are so lucky to be able to do this.” Want to see it in full swing--Local CBS Channel 8 covered us last year. 

Journeys North is coming out August 1st and it's crunch time for getting everyone their signed copies.

This is what it looks like to sign 200 copies of Journeys North in 30 seconds!

Jump on the bandwagon, pre-order Journeys North here or email Scout at barneyscoutmann@gmail.com to inquire about a signed copy!

Welcome,

Come hike with me. Whether you’ve known me for decades, hiked with me, slept at our house (over 6,000 have!), or stumbled upon my author website and this is our first contact, Welcome--to my first newsletter. Expect backstories, insider info, excerpts from my books and articles, stories that embarrass me … or my wife Sandy. 

We talk differently to each other “out there.” I’ll treat you as if we were out hiking right now. Well okay, maybe less sweat and fewer blisters. And I won’t talk about peeing and pooping … [Sandy: Don’t bet on it.] 

I’ve had three careers. I was a summer camp director for four years—that won’t surprise those who know me. I had a 25-year legal career—let’s get that out in the open. What kind of attorney was I? I was a kind lawyer. It was a challenge. 

On the day I retired ten years ago the most important event was this: It was my first deadline for Backpacker magazine. 

I am a writer. My book Journeys North came out August 1st as Mountaineers Books lead book. My articles and two coffee table books were great, but this is the book. It's a memoir about our 2007 PCT hike, but it’s an ensemble tale about my wife Sandy and me and two much younger couples.

2019 National Geographic Adventurer of the year Heather Anderson: “Journeys North kept me up late at night. An incredible read!” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof: “Read this great forthcoming book by Barney Scout Mann. It made me long for the trail.”