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.
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.”
For days I have been saying, “four hit the trail,” or “ two hit the trail,” or “six,” “five,” “three,” and even once, “one.” But it never was the “One.” This afternoon, at 3:17pm pacific daylight time, reliable sources report that Sandy Mann hit the trail.
