Cindy's Testimonial

"My daughter, Sierra and I came to Yosemite and its Gateways for three reasons: Sierra was doing a research project for temple U., Phila on geo-tourism in the Yosemite area, I was working on a magazine article of the same vein, and we wanted to make a mother/daughter memory. We used Kris Corey's CD's for EVERY portal/ gateway into Yosemite and they GREATLY enhanced our experience. They taught us amazing facts and information that made us appreciate the country we were traveling through and MANY times, I turned the car abruptly down an alternate route because Kris was expounding on what a hidden jewel lay down there. Thanks to his CD's, we discovered the Nelder Grove of Giant Sequoias. The place was deserted and in stark contrast to the very busy, crowded Mariposa Grove. We had the forest to ourselves and a beautiful free campsite with a campfire.

Thanks to Kris's CD's, we packed a picnic lunch and rambled up to beautiful Bass Lake for a evening meal in the setting sun.

So many more places were enhanced with the info and stories he shared and we found the CD's to be INVALUABLE. Because of them, my daughter, Sierra, was able to construct a much better research project, gathered great info for my story, and we came to appreciate the Yosemite region much deeper because of all we learned and were able to experience."

 

 

Cindy Ross - Author/Adventurer/Speaker

85 Red Mountain Lane
New Ringgold, PA 17960
Home- (570) 943-2198
Cell- (570) 573-2143
cindyross4@verizon.net

For the past few 30 years, Cindy Ross has found peace, happiness, and a sublime sense of contentment while walking and cycling the endless trails that are sewn into the fabric of the North American continent. She has crossed the 2100-mile Appalachian Trail as a single woman penning and illustrating her first book, A Woman’s Journey on the Appalachian Trail, which has been in print for over 25 years and has become a hiking classic. Then she tackled the 2600-mile Pacific Crest Trail through the Sierra and Cascade Mountains with her husband, Todd Gladfelter and wrote and illustrated, Journey on the Crest. (The Mountaineers Books).

Her 6th and latest book, Scraping Heaven- A Family’s Journey Along the Continental Divide (McGraw-Hill) is the rousing adventure of a family’s incredible five-summer, 3100-mile trek over the rooftop of North America. They used llamas as kid carriers and packers to carry supplies and diapers across the Rocky Mountains. The entire journey took 5 summers, hiking 500 miles a shot. The last stretch through New Mexico is all desert, so they traded their llamas in for tandem mountain bikes and pulled trailers full of 100 pounds of gear for the last 650 miles down to the Mexican border.

Cindy had her formal education in Fine Arts Painting, attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. She illustrated four of her books. She lives along the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania with her husband, Todd and their 19-year old son, Bryce and 21-year old daughter, Sierra, in a log home they built themselves from raw trees. They grow much of their own food on their rural property.

As a family, besides the Continental Divide Trail, they have traveled to Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe hiking, cycling and paddling and have traveled extensively throughout the US.

Besides Cindy’s 6 published books, she has written over 500 magazine articles for such national magazines as Outside, Backpacker, Paddler, Gray’s Sporting Journal, Outdoor Life, Canoe & Kayak, Adventure Cyclist, Sailing, Wooden Boat, Scouting, Native Peoples, etc.Travel stories in newspapers include The LA Times, The San Francisco Examiner, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Toronto Star, The Christian Science Monitor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, etc.

Cindy has appeared on Philadelphia’s NBC “The 10 Show;” Philadelphia’s ABC “Sunday Live”; NYC’s CBS News “Up to the Minute;” NYC’s Channel 11Warner Bros., “The Morning News,” and Denver’s CBS. Her family and llamas were featured on a half-hour show on Animal Planet, called “Pet Story.”

Her latest endeavor is working on a new book with the working title, Stories From an Uncommon Education – Lessons Learned Using the Whole World as a Classroom on how she educated her children. One of Cindy’s current passions is spreading the word on how important the natural world plays in educating our children, and how to get them outdoors. Cindy hopes to share her expertise gleaned from 20 years of mothering as a writer, an outdoor adventurer and a home-school facilitator, through presentations and workshops. She can also relay the nuts and bolts information on how to help starting parents get their families outdoors but also reach higher goals of outdoor adventuring and take a more active part in the education of their children.