Hiking the Holy Mountain: Tales of Monks and Miracles on the Trails of Mount Athos, Greece($16.36Value)

Description

John McKinney traveled to Mount Athos, Greece, with a simple assignment: hike around the legendary Holy Mountain and write a story about one of the world's most unusual hiking destinations. Instead, he found himself on a journey that would change his life. Joining him was his friend Spiro, a devout Greek Orthodox Christian who believed deeply in saints, miracles, and the wonder-working power of sacred icons. John, a longtime hiking columnist and admitted skeptic, believed in good trails, sore muscles, and little else. Together they set out across a rugged peninsula where ancient monasteries cling to mountainsides, pilgrims travel by foot from monastery to monastery, and a thousand years of spiritual tradition remain very much alive. By turns reverent and irreverent, humorous and heartfelt, Hiking the Holy Mountain follows two unlikely companions through a landscape unlike any other on earth. Along the way they encounter colorful monks, unexpected hardships, astonishing coincidences, and a series of events that challenge John's assumptions about faith, prayer, and miracles. Then the journey takes an even more surprising turn. As John and his wife struggle through the emotional uncertainty of an international adoption, events on and off the Holy Mountain begin to intertwine in ways neither he nor Spiro can explain. What began as a hiking trip gradually becomes something far more personal—a search for meaning, family, and grace. Part travel adventure, part memoir, and part spiritual quest, Hiking the Holy Mountain invites readers into a hidden world where monks share ouzo with wandering pilgrims, ancient traditions shape daily life, and heaven and earth sometimes seem separated by only a mountain trail. Whether you are a hiker, traveler, seeker, skeptic, person of faith, or simply someone who loves a well-told story, this unforgettable journey reminds us that the trails we choose often lead somewhere we never intended to go "The best kind of travel writing... the most important terrestrial journeys explore the geography of the soul." — Ben Daniel, author of Thoughtful Christianity Also by John McKinney Hiking on the Edge: Dreams, Schemes, and 1,600 Miles on the California Coastal Trail John McKinney is the author of 30 books about hiking, parklands and nature, including The Hiker's Way and Hiking on the Edge: Dreams, Schemes, and 1600 Miles on the California Coastal Trail . For 18 years, John, aka The Trailmaster, wrote a weekly hiking column for the Los Angeles Times , and has hiked and enthusiastically described more than ten thousand miles of trail across America and around the world. The intrepid Eagle Scout has written more than a thousand articles about hiking plus numerous trail guidebooks, including HIKE Southern California: A Day Hiker's Guide and Day Hiker's Guide to California's State Parks . One of the nation's top hiking experts, John is particularly passionate about sharing the trails of his home state of California. John solo-hiked the entire California coast while pioneering the California Coastal Trail and is the only one to have visited, hiked - and written about - all 270 California State Parks. When John McKinney says, "Take a hike!" people do. Many people - hikers and not - credit John's talks and books with inspiring them to hit the trail to a better life. John and his team created The Trailmaster Pocket Guides to share the best day hikes around California, and to give hikers the information they need in an engaging and easily accessible way. A passionate advocate for hiking and our need to reconnect with nature, John McKinney shares his expertise on radio, TV, online, and as a public speaker. John has been featured or interviewed in major media from the Los Angeles Times to NPR to ABC World News, and appeared on numerous regional talk shows and news programs. Organizations that ask John to share his tips, trails, and inspiring tales include: schools and colleges, churches and retreats, the health and wellness community and conservation and trails organizations. As John explains it: I've walked a lot of life trails, happy and sad, easy and challenging, and, frankly, more than one path to nowhere. What I've learned along the way I want to share and help others enjoy the benefits of hiking.