About Seven Summers (And a Few Bummers): My Adventure Hiking the 2,650-Mile PCT:

Seven Summers (And a Few Bummers): My Adventure Hiking the 2,650-Mile PCT takes readers on a ten-summer journey involving author Bob Welch's attempt to hike the entire Mexico-to-Canada trail—while in his sixties. Often funny, sometimes poignant, Seven Summers steers clear of so many backpacking accounts that bog down in journal-like minutiae. Welch's story is just that—a story, and comes complete with drama, suspense, and surprises. For example, he was among the only PCT hikers to have been involved in an actual police lockdown. Seven Summers takes readers deep into the essence of the wilderness, other hikers, the author himself and the forces—from fire to death to COVID—that conspired to thwart his effort. In the end, it is a book of triumph, a fitting epilogue to his 2012 Cascade Summers book that drew the praises of authors Eric Blehm (The Last Season) and Bill Sullivan (Listening for Coyote).

 Author bio:

Bob Welch is the author of more than two dozen books, an Oregon Literary Award finalist (American Nightingale), and winner of the 2019 Track & Field Writers of America's Book of the year (The Wizard of Foz: Dick Fosbury's One-Man High-Jump Revolution). A longtime columnist with The Register-Guard in Eugene, he founded the Beachside Writers Workshop in Yachats and served as an adjunct professor in the University of Oregon's School of Journalism & Communication.

He is a two-time winner of the National Society of Newspaper Columnist's best writing award. His latest book, Seven Summers (And a Few Bummers): My Adventure Hiking the 2,650-Mile PCT is a sequel to his 2012 book on hiking the Oregon portion of the trail, Cascade Summer.