Susan Elderkin

Susan Elderkin has been hiking since she was three years old. As a child, she explored the trails of her native Iowa, the Great Lakes, and the Rocky Mountains on day hikes with her parents. This early exposure to the outdoors galvanized a lifelong love of hiking and commitment to the environment. In 1995, while backpacking the 500-mile Colorado Trail, Susan had an epiphany: she wanted to give back to hiking trails and she wanted to write a guidebook. Susan moved to Seattle and joined the board of directors of Washington Trails Association and later the staff, where she spent seven years as website editor and communications director. It took much longer -- and some inspiration from her children -- to write the guidebook. The book was a family project that took place over 20 months when her kids were between the ages of six and eleven, but the work was informed by hiking with them as babies, toddlers and preschoolers. One or both of her children have accompanied her on more than 80 of the hikes in the books, and her husband, son, and father (as well as some friends) all contributed photographs.