In Satellites in the High Country, journalist and adventurer Jason Mark travels beyond the bright lights and certainties of our cities to seek wildness wherever it survives. In California's Point Reyes National Seashore, a battle over oyster farming and designated wilderness pits former allies against one another, as locals wonder whether wilderness should be untouched, farmed, or something in between. In Washington's Cascade Mountains, a modern-day wild woman and her students learn to tan hides and start fires without matches, attempting to connect with a primal past out of reach for the rest of society. And in Colorado's High Country, dark skies and clear air reveal a breathtaking expanse of stars, flawed only by the arc of a satellite passing--beauty interrupted by the traffic of a million conversations. These expeditions to the edges of civilization's grid show us that, although our notions of pristine nature may be shattering, the mystery of the wild still exists--and in fact, it is more crucial than ever.

Carrying only basic camping equipment and a collection of the world's great spiritual writings, Belden C. Lane embarks on solitary spiritual treks through the Ozarks and across the American Southwest. For companions, he has only such teachers as Rumi, John of the Cross, Hildegard of Bingen, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Thomas Merton, and as he walks, he engages their writings with the natural wonders he encounters--Bell Mountain Wilderness with Søren Kierkegaard, Moonshine Hollow with Thich Nhat Hanh--demonstrating how being alone in the wild opens a rare view onto one's interior landscape, and how the saints' writings reveal the divine in nature. The discipline of backpacking, Lane shows, is a metaphor for a spiritual journey. Just as the wilderness offered revelations to the early Desert Christians, backpacking hones crucial spiritual skills: paying attention, traveling light, practicing silence, and exercising wonder. Lane engages the practice not only with a wide range of spiritual writings--Celtic, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sufi Muslim--but with the fascination of other lovers of the backcountry, from John Muir and Ed Abbey to Bill Plotkin and Cheryl Strayed. In this intimate and down-to-earth narrative, backpacking is shown to be a spiritual practice that allows the discovery of God amidst the beauty and unexpected terrors of nature. Adoration, Lane suggests, is the most appropriate human response to what we cannot explain, but have nonetheless learned to love. An enchanting narrative for Christians of all denominations, Backpacking with the Saints is an inspiring exploration of how solitude, simplicity, and mindfulness are illuminated and encouraged by the discipline of backcountry wandering, and of how the wilderness itself becomes a way of knowing-an ecology of the soul.

Life changes everything. When comfort turns to restlessness it can make you itch. Many of us simply scratch but in this personal memoir Kathy ODwyer recognized the itch for what it was, the need for a more fulfilling life. Shocking family and friends she abandons her comfortable Chicago lifestyle trading in her corporate high heels for a pair of steel toe shoes and work gloves to take on management of a small ranch and retreat center in the wilderness of Aravaipa Canyon in southern Arizona. Encounters with rattlesnakes, javelinas, scorpions and coatimundis are nothing compared to the challenge of isolation and loneliness. Following an unconventional path takes courage yet Kathy soon finds it is necessary to bring about intense transformation. She stumbles along the way, strays from the path yet ultimately sheds the skin of her old life and embraces a new beginning. Reconnecting with the Earth allows her to discover her souls purpose and ultimate happiness. This work from the heart is shared through short stories and poetry during Kathys two years living next to the singing waters of Aravaipa Canyon.

Traversing six national parks, a national recreation area, a national monument, and various wilderness study areas, the Hayduke Trail is a challenging, 800-mile backcountry route on the Colorado Plateau. This guide book is designed for experienced desert trekkers seeking a thorough-hiking experience on a well-tested route.