Nick's Long Walk || Pacific Crest Trail 2001

Press Release

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EAST BAY HIKER TAKES TO THE 2,650 MILE LONG PACIFIC CREST TRAIL FOR BAY AREA WILDERNESS TRAINING (BAWT), TAKING US ALONG ON A VIRTUAL EXPEDITION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DATE: April 15, 2001
CONTACT: Kyle Macdonald, Executive Director, BAWT. (415) 788-3666 ext. 125, kyle@bawt.org

OAKLAND - An Oakland-based adventurer, artist and photographer is taking to the Pacific Crest Trail to raise awareness and support for the urban youth wilderness program Bay Area Wilderness Training, a project of Earth Island Institute. The trail runs 2,650 miles, and Nick Brown will be walking its entirety from Mexico to Canada, equipped with his wireless device and camera, so he can send posts and photographs along the way.

Brown writes in his first journal entry, "On my long hike in '99 I was not so much surprised as disappointed by the lack of cultural diversity that I observed among those hiking the trail. . . Over four months and 1800 miles I met only three people of color. The fact that the trail so poorly represented the diversity of the state was especially conspicuous. If someone does not want to be in the woods that is fine - it is not my desire that everyone become a modern-day John Muir. But if they are not in the woods simply because they have never had the opportunity or the resources that is problematic." When Brown returned from his hike, he called up Kyle Macdonald, the founder of Bay Area Wilderness Training, and offered to help.

BAWT is a nonprofit organization that provides Bay Area youth service agencies with professional wilderness training and quality equipment in order to provide urban, often underserved youth with the opportunity to explore the power and beauty of California's back country.

"The wilderness is a powerful tool for teaching" says BAWT founder and Executive Director, Kyle Macdonald. "Our philosophy is to train teachers to use this tool. Through our trainings, we teach the basic skills: How to keep kids safe in the wilderness, use a map and compass, tread lightly on the land. As a youth worker you translate those skills -- teamwork, safety, and cooperation -- in ways appropriate for yourself and the population you are serving." Many of the organizations that have been trained by, and borrow equipment from BAWT are urban youth agencies and centers who's youth have never seen the Sierra; in fact many have never been to Marin's Mt. Tamalpias, a few miles from the Bay Area's urban centers. Past organizations trained with BAWT include Life Learning Academy (San Francisco), Vision Youthz (Santa Clara), the Oakland YMCA's Future Choice Program, and several Bay Area high school programs.

Nick will regularly provide journal updates and photos to his extensive website, www.nickslongwalk.org. To raise funds for BAWT, he is asking companies, businesses, organizations and people from throughout the area to sponsor each hard-fought mile of the trail at the rate of $10 per mile to raise a total of $26,500 for BAWT's programs.

"Hiking a trail like the PCT is different from climbing a mountain," Brown says. "You have to motivate each morning to get up and keep going. It's more of a mental challenge." It will take Brown approximately five months, averaging 20 miles a day, to hike the entire trail from the Mexican border to Canada. At 6'9" Brown does have the advantage of a huge stride, which will afford him 1/3 less steps than most others hiking the trail.

Starting date for the trek is April 27. Nick will begin at the Mexican border and make his way northward through the summer months, hoping to end in mid-September.

NOTE: For more information, or photos, contact BAWT at www.bawt.org or call 415-788-3666 ext. 125. Donations may be sent to BAWT c/o Earth Island Institute, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, CA 94133.

Newspaper Articles

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), April 18, 2001 - Summer vacations that get the heart pumping

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin), April 18, 2001 - Pacific Crest Trail adventure

The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), April 19, 2001 - Walking with Nick

Earth Island Journal (San Francisco, California), Summer 2001 - Nick's Long Walk

Environment News Service, May 3, 2001 - Nick Brown Takes A Long Walk For Bay Area Youth

Earth Island Institute, May 4, 2001 - Nick's Long Walk - A Fundraising Hike to Benefit Urban Youth

To request a complete media kit please contact Kyle Macdonald, Executive Director of Bay Area Wilderness Training, at 415/788-3666 ext. 125 or kyle@bawt.org.