Kathleen Dodge Doherty first shouldered a backpack at the tender age of 10, when her dad forced her to walk around the neighborhood with a pack full of encyclopedias to prepare for her inaugural overnight outing in Yosemite National Park. From the first heavily laden step, a love affair was born, and a thirst for backcountry adventure has led Kathleen to decades of starry nights in her native California. Kathleen toasted her 30th birthday from the top of Mount Whitney after completing the John Muir Trail for the first time, and she has returned every summer thereafter. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Kathleen has also had a career developing and leading hiking and biking trips around the globe, travel writing, and advocating for urban green space. She currently resides in San Francisco with her husband and two kids, where the steep inclines of Potrero Hill provide urban training for backcountry adventures. Jordan Summers has slept on more dirt, rock, and snow than any one person should be allowed. He commonly hears words of concern such as "that can't be good for you" and "what if," as well as some words of encouragement: "OK, lots of luck."