Hiking with the crowds OR difficult solitude
Of the 722 wilderness areas in the United States, many are unknown or underutilized while a few well-known areas are overused. This brief article outlines why… Read More
After the thru-hike, what’s next?
So, you finished the Appalachian Trail (AT), John Muir Trail (JMT), Arizona Trail (AZT) or another thru-trail and want to do more backpacking. What’s next? Hike somewhere with fewer people? Or embellish your next thru-hike with short ventures into adjacent wilderness areas? We can design a thru-hike OFF THE BEATEN PATH… Read More
Free Trip Planning Service
We started backpacking in the mid-1970s; since 2012, we have visited, posted, and mapped trips in nearly 70 wilderness areas in the Western and Eastern U.S. Now we want to help you see them too! We can help you customize your visit to a wilderness area that we have posted on this website.… Read More
Finding Sierras Solitude: Off the Beaten Path
Avoiding crowds in popular areas is always a challenge; and California’s iconic High Sierra mountains have always drawn people. First, they are only hours from the heavily populated California coastal cities. Second, their iconic splendor graces many scenic calendars. And … Read More
Rincons: sad reminder of aging
Last month we celebrated my birthday with a backpack trip in Saguaro Wilderness east of Tucson—perhaps my 14th visit since 1970s hikes with the University of Arizona Ramblers. The area—astride the Rincon Mountains that roll up from 2,700 feet at … Read More
Private land access conundrums
We try to stick with public lands on our hikes; private land often spells trouble. In the 1980s, a week-long backpacking trip on national forest land in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains ended abruptly at a landowner fence. On a 1990s … Read More
Duck, Duck; Cat, Cat: “Cat-astrophe” Averted in Phoenix
Last May 2019, I posted Wildlife management: predators and prey in the Phoenix suburbs, where my sister and her neighbors shared misadventures of a mallard duck and her family. The female had grown up in my sister’s yard (nice duck … Read More
Aldo Leopold Legacy: gone up in flames
In 1980, Congress took 200,000 acres out of the 55-year-old Gila Wilderness and named it the Aldo Leopold to honor its namesake. Conservationist Aldo Leopold spent his early career years with the Forest Service in New Mexico and persuaded the … Read More
Four Peaks Wilderness, Still Recovering from 1996 Fire
We emerged from Four Peaks scratched, beaten and sporting minor injuries. My left knee—whiny under any circumstances—started to “pop” as I clambered up steep slopes through heavy brush in Alder Canyon. David, who clipped back manzanita and thorny ceanothus branches … Read More
Wild Times
Year 2020: unprecedented. Unpredictable weather continues. Phoenix, our winter home, missed its monsoon rains last summer but got them in fall and winter with cool temperatures. In late January we returned to Idaho for skiing. One small snowstorm and no … Read More
Melissa Green: Gila Trails Keeper
Steward Quit Job to Save Trails in Nation’s Oldest Wilderness Six weeks backpacking in the Gila Wilderness in 2000 sealed a long-term commitment. Melissa Green found a life purpose in the Gila, an extensive area of mountains, canyons, rolling ponderosa … Read More
Going to the Wilderness
It started in Virginia. And it led to revisiting favorite places across the country and rediscovering our own need for wilderness. A plan to visit all the wilderness in Virginia—and write a book about our adventures—was born in summer 2012. … Read More
The GILA WILDERNESS nears 100; lost legacy?
I recently made my 10th visit to the Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico—the nation’s oldest wilderness lying along a vast ridge and valley landscape with forests of ponderosa pine and oak-pinyon-juniper on ridges above Middle and West forks of … Read More
Wilderness Need Named Among 30 Top Wilderness Blogs
My WildernessNeed blog has been selected by Feedspot, an international marketing/promotion company, as one of Top 30 Wilderness Blogs in the world on the Internet. This Top 30 is an eclectic collection of adventure travel, advocacy, therapy and personal views … Read More
Elk Trail Management in the Pioneer Mountains
As an avid hiker I’m saddened by loss of legacy trails, especially on National Forests. The U.S. is blessed with a vast trails system on public lands. Some were early Indian and trapper routes; others built for mining, grazing and … Read More
Exploring Angst on the Appalachian Trail
Thru-hiking seems on the rise. Some even do a “triple crown”—Appalachian (AT), Continental Divide and Pacific Crest (PCT) Trails for a total 7,750-miles. I love trails. The idea of the 2000-mile trail AT intrigues me. I longed to do it … Read More
Earworms, The Cars, power of music and memories
Blogger’s note: since I have other interests besides hiking wilderness (including reading, writing, music, physical fitness, triathlons, spirituality), I will sometimes weigh in on these topics when we’re taking a break from our explorations. An earworm, also known as a … Read More
The Grand Surprise
I’ve posted an article on our recent revisit to Grand Gulch—a long canyon in southern Utah winding down from high mesas to the San Juan River and chock full of cliff dwellings, granaries, kivas and petroglyphs from a group of … Read More
Wildlife management: predators and prey in the Phoenix suburbs
Wildlife are up close and personal in northern Phoenix. A patchwork of desert preserves, parks and arroyos along with an artificial river/ lake environment offer habitat for the original residents of this desert valley. My youngest sister’s house backs right … Read More
Humbled by hot, grassy wilderness and high-mileage hiker
Okay, I admit. I’m a bit jealous. David and I met at the UA Ramblers hiking club in 1975. We soon were known as the “hard core” hikers. My minimum backpack day was 15 miles and 20 was about right. … Read More
Happy Earth Day from Return to the Wilds!
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. (Psalm 24) A brief talk and book signing officially launched my new youth novel Return to the Wilds Saturday, April 20, at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. Almost all of … Read More
Syringa Mountain School: Book Fair author
As posted before, I have been pleased to learn that 6th graders like reading and writers! Last week I expanded my student sample to 70 4th to 7th graders at Syringa Mountain School, a private school just down the road … Read More
Helen Price: Ramblers
Campus Hiking Club Follows Footsteps of 1940s Pioneers… New Jersey native Bill Price came to Tucson in 1943 to study geology at the University of Arizona (UA) and immediately fell in love. “He took one look and fell in love … Read More
Talking to 500 6th graders about writing
I was terrified. I was the featured Author at the “Inspired Writers” project in Lincoln County Oregon. Over the next four days, I would talk about “The Writer’s Life” and offer writing tips and exercises to 6th grade students: 490 … Read More
Chiricahua Wilderness Volunteers
Mapping & Clearing Trails: a labor of love… Spend much time in the Chiricahua Wilderness and you may run into Jonathan Patt or John Sumner. Patt, who lives in nearby Portal, hikes the area at least weekly. He plans to … Read More
Connecting with Urban Kids in the Woods
About a decade ago, I managed a Forest Service program, “Urban Connections,” aimed to connect urban dwellers in Eastern and Midwestern cities with their national forests. We sponsored dialogues with urban conservation and youth groups that led to collaborative projects … Read More
Welcome to your wilderness!
I’m Cindy C and I will be your guide for your next wilderness adventure. David and I have been exploring wild places since our early hikes with the University of Arizona Ramblers in Tucson decades ago. Wilderness Need is based … Read More