Karen Berger is the author of 12 books and hundreds of magazine and Internet articles. In the last year, she's written for Westways, Texas Journey, New Mexico Journey, Vox (Hamptons), Away.com, Gorp.com, Scouting, France Guide, Epic.com, National Geographic's "Journeys of a Lifetime," and many other publications.
What's on this site?
HikerWriter.com contains information for outdoorspeople and travelers from hiking expert and long-distance backpacker Karen Berger. Please check back often, because I'll be adding new info about adventure destinations; articles about gear, technique, and great outdoor reading; reader questions and answers, and outdoor news. Check
Site contents for articles and resources.
Karen's eleventh outdoors book:
Backpacking and Hiking
I'm delighted to announce the publication of
Backpacking and Hiking. It's one of the inaugural books in the new lavishly illustrated, information-packed DK series,
Eyewitness Companions.
I'm especially excited about this one, because it was published both in the US and in Europe (although in Europe, the title is simply "Hiking." On the other side of the pond, the term "backpacking" is generally understood to mean budget travel from hostel to hostel.) The book was also published in Spanish under the title "Senderismo."
DK lavishly designed and produced this title. More than 1000 color photos include images of mouthwatering vistas to get you inspired, as well as detailed pictures of all manner of equipment and techniques to make your trip as safe and enjoyable as possible. The text includes up-to-date and wide ranging information about both American and international destinations. Hope you like it!
Just out:
National Geographic's Journeys of A Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips
I wrote three of the stories in National Geographic's new coffee table book, which is apt to keep you planning trips for the foreseeable future. The book covers adventures on foot, car, bicycle, ship, kayak, horse, and anything else you can think of on all seven continents. My pieces feature Cruising in Tahiti (in the footsteps, or, rather, wake, of Captain Cook), Hiking Montana's Continental Divide (in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark), and Helicopter Hiking in British Columbia.
New!
You can read all of Karen's 40+ *
Outdoor Smarts columns from Scouting magazine. The columns cover topics ranging from health and safety to gear, to outdoor myths, to weather, to skills, to paddling, to winter and more. Click on the link then choose a topic.
Hiking Light Handbook
The Hiking Light Handbook, published in 2004 by Mountaineers Books in cooperation with Backpacker magazine, is continuing to do well. If you're like most backpackers, you've learned the hard way that too much weight on your back makes long climbs longer, hard miles harder, and rainy days rainier. Okay, maybe not that last, but it sure can seem that way... This book gives you scores of safe, sane ways to reduce your packweight without compromising safety and comfort.
Ask Karen
It's been called the hardest endurance climb in the lower 48 states. People who race in marathons and triathlons say it's the toughest thing they've ever done. Here's the low-down on the high climb: Washington's Mt. Rainier.
The Electronic Trailhead
A directory of Internet hiking sites contains links to and descriptions of sites focusing on the national scenic trails.
In the Footsteps of the Gods.
I had a choice: Late winter in New York. Or a place
featuring the descendents of a race of ancient warriors (who once threw girl babies off of cliffs), frescoed saints with gouged-out eyes, ruined cities, and the gates of Hades. Well c'mon, what would you have done? Join me on a walking tour of Greece's Peloponnese Peninsula.
Archives and Contents
Click
here here for a complete list of what's on this site, including links to FAQs, hiker Q and As, electronic trailhead, book reviews, and more magazine and Internet articles.
Your Host: Karen Berger
In the last 12 years, travel writer Karen Berger has walked more than 17,000 miles on six continents through deserts, mountains, canyons, forests, and some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. Her outdoor pursuits include hiking and backpacking, climbing, kayaking and canoeing, scuba diving, horseback-riding, snowshoeing, and back-country skiing. She also enjoys learning about (and writing about) music, culture, and history.
In her books, magazine articles, slide shows, classes, Internet writing, and on this web-site, she shares her experiences and her knowledge about the outdoor world.
* More than 500,000 copies of
Karen's books are in print!
* Two of her books were "Book of the Month Club" selections.
* Need more info? Go to
Bio Page.
Awards
Finalist, Banff International Mountain Books Competition, for the book,
Advanced Backpacking.
Recipient of 3 EdPress (Educational Press Society of America) awards. "Distinguished Achievement Award," for an interview with flutist James Galway. Finalist in 2004 and 2005 for her instructional column, "Outdoor Smarts" for Scouting Magazine.
My Other Life
A grand piano may not fit inside a backpack, but I have no trouble carrying music in my heart, even if I'm on a mountaintop on another continent. I have another life as a classically trained pianist and jazz aficionado. I teach piano in my homes in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, play local (and sometimes not-so-local) gigs, and have written a book for beginning pianists. The
Pocket Idiot's Guide to Piano Chords explains how to build chords. If you've ever wanted to play the piano (or once had lessons and have forgotten everything you ever learned) give it a try: The point is to get you playing songs as quickly and easily as possible.
