A distinguished former foreign correspondent embraces retirement by setting out alone on foot for nearly four hundred miles, and explores a side of America nearly as exotic as the locales from which he once filed. Traveling with an unwieldy pack and a keen curiosity, Christopher Wren bids farewell to the New York Times newsroom in midtown Manhattan and saunters up Broadway, through Harlem, the Bronx, and the affluent New York suburbs of Westchester and Putnam Counties. As his trek takes him into the Housatonic River Valley of Connecticut, the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and along a bucolic riverbank in New Hampshire, the strenuous challenges become as much emotional as physical. Wren loses his way in a suburban thicket of million-dollar mansions, dodges speeding motorists, seeks serenity at a convent, shivers through a rainy night among Shaker ruins, camps in a stranger's backyard, panhandles cookies and water from a good samaritan, absorbs the lore of the Appalachian and Long Trails, sweats up and down mountains, and lands in a hospital emergency room. Struggling under the weight of a fifty-pound pack, he gripes, "We might grow less addicted to stuff if everything we bought had to be carried on our backs." He hangs out with fellow wanderers named Old Rabbit, Flash, Gatorman, Stray Dog, and Buzzard, and learns gratitude from the anonymous charity of trail angels. His rite of passage into retirement, with its heat and dust and blisters galore, evokes vivid reminiscences of earlier risks taken, sometimes at gunpoint, during his years spent reporting from Russia, China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa. He loses track of time, waking with the sun, stopping to eat when hunger gnaws, and camping under starry skies that transform the nights of solitude. For all the self-inflicted hardship, he reports, "In fact, I felt pretty good." Wren has woven an intensely personal story that is candid and often downright hilarious. As Vermont turns from a destination into a state of mind, he concludes, "I had stumbled upon the secret of how utterly irrelevant chronological age is." This book, from the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Cat Who Covered the World, will delight not just hikers, walkers, and other lovers of the outdoors, but also anyone who contemplates retirement, wonders about foreign correspondents, or relishes a lively, off-beat adventure, even when it unfolds close to home.

Explore the haunts of hikers gone by and see for yourself whether these ghost tales are fact or fiction. HAUNTED HIKES provides both storied history and fanciful legend along the trails of Vermont's Green Mountains and beyond. Hikes are rated according to difficulty and spookiness with something for every member of the family. This book, like HAUNTED HIKES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, glows in the dark!

Nature writer Elizabeth Bassett takes you on a guided nature tour, from the shores of Lake Champlain to the Green Mountains. No other book on this region blends hiking information with detailed descriptions of flora, fauna, geology, local history, photographs, and trail maps. Included are: -- more than 40 scenic walks with hiking tips, instructions, and nature information -- family-oriented hikes range from easy to moderate, tips for hiking with kids -- detailed maps showing parking, trails, and natural highlights.

"[McKibben is] a marvelous writer who has thought deeply about the environment, loves this part of the country, and knows how to be a first-class traveling companion."—Entertainment Weekly In Wandering Home, one of his most personal books, Bill McKibben invites readers to join him on a hike from his current home in Vermont to his former home in the Adirondacks. Here he reveals that the motivation for his impassioned environmental activism is not high-minded or abstract, but as tangible as the lakes and forests he explored in his twenties, the same woods where he lives with his family today. Over the course of his journey McKibben meets with old friends and kindred spirits, including activists, writers, organic farmers, a vintner, a beekeeper, and environmental studies students, all in touch with nature and committed to its preservation. For McKibben, there is no better place than these woods to work out a balance between the wild and the cultivated, the individual and the global community, and to discover the answers to the challenges facing our planet today.

A distinguished former foreign correspondent embraces retirement by setting out alone on foot for nearly four hundred miles, and explores a side of America nearly as exotic as the locales from which he once filed. From the New York Times, up through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, Wren concludes, "I had stumbled upon the secret of how utterly irrelevant chronological age is."

* More than 80 short hikes suitable for families * Hikes range in length from less than a mile to nearly 6 miles, with optional turn-around points * Handy sidebars with information on animals, plants, geology, and fun activities for kids to do on the hike * Special emphasis on trail highlights with kid appeal * Graphic, two-color layout provides key data at a glance Search for frogs and turtles in a pond, stay in a cabin, visit a nature center, see waterfalls, or discover abundant wildlife. Best Hikes with Kides Vermont, New Hampshire, & Maine includes these activiites for kids centered around trails that they can do and enjoy. Each outing in this guidebook highlights points of interest and opportunities for learning about nature on the trail. The hikes range in length from 1 to 6 miles round-trip, are rated easy to difficult for children, and feature optional turn-around points for tired feet.

CLICK HERE to download the difficult hike in New Hampshire up "Smarts Mountain" and the easy hike in Vermont around "Abbey Pond" from Best Hikes with Dogs New Hampshire & Vermont * New Hamshire and Vermont trails rated 1-4 paws to show difficulty for dog owners and their four-legged friends * Terrain that's hazard free and easy on the dog paws * On most trails, no leashes required and no large crowds Lisa Densmore hiked more than 300 miles in New Hampshire and Vermont mostly with her faithful trail companion Bravo, a Chesapeake Bay retriever, but also with other dogs, while researching this book. In Best Hikes with Dogs new Hampshire and Vermontshe shares her favorite trails of easy day hikes to overnight backpacking trips, presented through canine-centric eyes. This guidebook will delight both you and your pet with directions to panoramic views, long ridge walks, lush forests, and pristine lakes. Advice is given on topics such as proper trail etiquette for dogs, wildlife encounters, and weather concerns. Additional features include what to pack for your pooch, including the Ten Canine Essentials, a doggy first aid kit, and a Trail Finder chart that lists hikes by length, terrain, difficulty for dogs, and more.