M. John Fayhee

M. John Fayhee's latest book, “A Long Tangent: Musings by an old man & his young dog hiking every day for a year,” was released by Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University in September 2023. Tim Cahill, one of the most accomplished and recognized outdoor writers in recent American history, wrote: “John Fayhee is the OG of literary outdoor writing in the modern era. His accounts of these several hundred hikes serve as contemplations on his life, trails, trucks, and abiding respect for the land he walks upon. There is a lot of hard-won wisdom in this book. And, oh yeah, it's funny.” A long-time newspaper reporter, Fayhee was a contributing editor at Backpacker magazine for more than 10 years. In 2000, along with two partners, Fayhee helped re-launch the iconic Mountain Gazette, where he worked for 12 years as editor. Fayhee is the author of "Smoke Signals: Wayward Journeys through the Old Heart of the New West," which was a finalist in the 2012 Colorado Book Awards, "Mexico's Copper Canyon Country," "Up At Altitude: A Celebration of Life in the High Country," "Along the Colorado Trail," "Along the Arizona Trail," "Along Colorado's Continental Divide Trail," "A Colorado Winter," "Bottoms Up: M. John Fayhee's Greatest Hits from the Mountain Gazette," "The Colorado Mountain Companion: A Potpourri of Useful Miscellany from the Highest Parts of the Highest State" and “Colorado Mountain Dogs.” He also contributed to "Comeback Wolves" and "When in Doubt Go Higher: A Mountain Gazette Anthology." He has written for Canoe & Kayak, the High Country News, REI Co-Op Journal, Overland Journal, 5280, Islands, Adventure Travel, Men’s Fitness, New Mexico Magazine and many others. Fayhee has hiked on five continents and has completed the Appalachian, Colorado, Arizona trails, as well as the Colorado section of the Continental Divide Trail. Fayhee is, improbably enough, a New Mexico Humanities Council Scholar. . He lives in New Mexico's Gila Country, where, despite his increasing decrepitude, he still gets out into the woods almost every day.