We mean this in the best way possible—take a hike! John McKinney, the former hiking columnist for the Los Angeles Times, is one of the state’s foremost experts on hiking throughout California. In Alta Journal’s Issue 32, McKinney shared his picks for the best hikeable vistas in Los Angeles. For this special episode of Alta Live, McKinney, aka the “Trailmaster,” will share his favorite treks throughout the Golden State, including his picks for the most stunning and underappreciated views, and suggestions for hikes (or strolls) for those of us who aren’t quite ready to summit Half Dome. Pull on your virtual hiking boots and join us!

About the guest:

John McKinney shares his unique trail philosophy and the many mental, physical, and even spiritual benefits of hiking in his 30 hiking-themed books, as well as in his talks and videos. For 18 years, he wrote a weekly hiking column for the Los Angeles Times, and the intrepid Eagle Scout has hiked and enthusiastically described more than 10,000 miles of trail across California and around the U.S. McKinney, aka the “Trailmaster,” has written more than a thousand articles and stories about hiking, numerous regional bestselling guidebooks, including Hike Southern California: A Day Hiker’s Guide and Day Hiker’s Guide to California’s State Parks, and created the new 10-book Hiking California’s National Parks Series. A proud Californian, McKinney is the only one to have visited and written about all 280 California State Parks and to solo hike the entire length of the California Coast.

Here are some notable quotes from the event:

  • On what makes a hike special: “I’ve had a lot of time to contemplate this. One of the challenges when I was writing the hiking column every week, for more than 18 years, was to differentiate one hike from another. Why should you take this hike? I would always look for something that makes it special, and that might be bird-watching, that might be history, it might be an epic view. And it’s kind of all based on what you’re looking for and the companions that you take along the way, because sharing the trail is ever so special.”
  • On California’s hiking superiority: “Let’s face it, other states have forests and high peaks and vast deserts and even long coastlines. But only California has all of these, and it has fabulous examples of all of them preserved in our state and national parks. Just choose your scenery—mountain, desert, forest, coastline—and off you go on one of the best trail systems of any state in the union.”
  • On hiking the 1,600-mile-long California coastline: “I did it in 100- or 200-mile chunks. And if I put it all together, it was about four and a half months. It was an amazing journey. I started out kind of like an athlete with something to prove, thinking, ‘I’m going to hike up the whole thing.’ And then the coast worked its magic. I became more like a traveler with something to learn.”

Check out these links to some of the topics brought up this week.