Or rather, why I'm not an ideal choice as a hiking book author. Reason 1: I'm not terribly discriminating. If it's a path through the woods, I like it. If there's pinestraw on the ground, I love it. Something about the smell, I think. Anyway, I just really like walking through the woods regardless of terrain, weather or scenic beauty, and tend to give five of five stars to every trail I've ever been on that didn't actually involve quicksand or fording a river.
Reason 2: My chief goal in life is getting lost. Ideally, I want to get lost somewhere I don't speak the language and the populace is hostile. I remember trying to get lost in Moscow. In the middle of winter. At the height of the Reagan phase of the Cold War. Without a word of Russian. In a green American parka that looked REALLY out of place. I couldn't do it. It's not that I have a great sense of direction; I have a terrible one. But I'm really good at remembering landmarks. And I don't panic, ever. And if I'm honest, I have better common sense than to go anywhere I can't find my way back from. I guess the last two are the reasons I am a good choice as a hiking book writer.
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