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Acknowledgments

I MUST BEGIN BY ACKNOWLEDGING my first editor at Menasha Ridge Press, Russell Helms, who offered me the amazing opportunity to spend the better part of the past year hiking around Northern California and call it work. Russell, I can’t thank you enough for offering me such an incredible “job.” I must also thank my second editor at Menasha Ridge, Molly Merkle, whose editing expertise, thoughtful questions, and perspective greatly improved the content of my hike descriptions. Her friendliness and positive attitude helped ease the stress associated with finishing a book. I am deeply grateful as well to author Jeffrey Schaffer, whose books on the Pacific Crest Trail helped me immensely with my research.

While hiking and writing are second nature to me, mapping is not (despite that geography degree from Humboldt State University). I owe the accuracy and detail of these maps to Menasha Ridge cartography guru Scott McGrew and also to my father, Ben Lautner, who spent one very long day with me at the computer working out the bugs of my GPS unit and mapping software. My dad’s curiosity about and interest in all that I do have been a driving force in helping me complete this book, and to him I am forever grateful. My mom, Carol Lautner, has also been an enormous fountain of inspiration; without her creative license on life and the dreams she instilled in me as a child (while we took long walks on the beaches of Lake Michigan), I may never have realized this dream.

In addition, I’d like to thank the following hiking and trail-running gurus who shared their expertise: Rachael Woods, who works at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort and spends her summers running around on the trails near Lake Tahoe; “Squarrel,” who gave me advice on packing light; Kate Reid, who recommended that I add Clark Fork to the Disaster Creek hike; Alejandro Salazar, who recommended the Warren Lake hike; Joe Bosquin, who suggested that I include the trail into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne; and all the helpful rangers I met along the way.

Finally, I’d like to thank my trail partners: my sister, Sandra Parkhurst; Kelly Boire; Mali; Carson; and, most of all, my right-hand man and the love of my life, Greg Speicher. Not only did he join me on almost every step of my journey in researching this book, but his curiosity, undying support, and zest for life made this project one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Thank you so much, Greg.