Paul Gerald has written professionally for newspapers, magazines and websites for more than 30 years. After growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, and graduating from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he moved to Portland in 1996 to be closer to the mountains and ocean. Since then, he has written hundreds of freelance articles and four books in addition to this one: Peaceful Places: Portland, Day and Section Hikes: Pacific Crest Trail: Oregon, Best Tent Camping: Oregon, and Breakfast in Bridgetown: The Definitive Guide to Portland's Favorite Meal. Paul's hiking life started at the age of 12, when he went to a summer camp in the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming. He's hiked in the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico to Montana and in Appalachia, Alaska, Argentina, Italy, the UK, and Nepal. He has led hikes, outings, and tours, both domestic and international, for Evergreen Escapes of Portland, Embark Exploration Co. (a Portland-based adventure-travel company), and the Mazamas mountaineering club. He is also on the board of Trailkeepers of Oregon and has worked as a driver for Radio Cab Company. His latest passion is English soccer; he's writing and publishing a travel and cultural guide called An American's Guide to Soccer in England, which is great fun except when the research conflicts with seeing his beloved Portland Timbers. Paul enjoys meeting people who use his books out on the trails; he's also grateful that none of them have appeared to be lost or angry. He does hope, however, that any feedback will be directed to him, care of the publisher, or to paulgerald.com, facebook.com/hikerpaul, or twitter.com/60hikesportland. And he hopes people will continue to enjoy and benefit from the fruits of his labor-if hiking and writing can truly be called labor.