It's a bummer for me, but you should have his book

I was super bummed to read in the Times this weekend that Milt McAuley passed away. If you have ever hiked the trails in Los Angeles and southern California well you probably did so because of him. If you've ever hiked backbone, it was definitely because of him as his feet were some of the first to tramp across those ridges. Even moreso for me cause he was the grandfather of one of my dearest friends. This is my second family and not only did I love Milt (and his fabulously long eyebrows and his wife Maxine; they were married 66 YEARS!!!) but I helped them move tens of thousands of his books into storage cause all the other kids lived elsewhere. I loved doing it as these are truly some of the best people that ever graced this earths surface. I'll miss him and miss asking him how to get my eyebrows like that ("let them grow" and "comb them") but atleast I know that some of the places that I love to hike are there and documented well because of him. Thanks Milt and hopefully I haven't missed the services but if his grandson would pick up his phone every once in a while then I'd know!


Milt McAuley, Santa Monica Mountains hiking guru, dies at 89 - Los Angeles Times: "Milt McAuley, the patriarch of hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains whose guidebooks and guided hikes greatly popularized the trails that cut through Los Angeles backcountry, has died. He was 89.

McAuley, who continued hiking until three years ago, died Wednesday of natural causes at his longtime home in Canoga Park, said his daughter Pat Romolo.

Milt introduced a whole generation of people to the Santa Monica Mountains,' Joe Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, told The Times on Thursday.

'He was a real pioneer. There was a time when his books were the only thing you could get that let you know how to enjoy the mountains. His books are the most thoroughly researched. He hiked those trails every week,' Edmiston said.

McAuley's first book -- 'Hiking Trails of the Santa Monica Mountains' -- came to be considered a local hikers' bible after it debuted in 1980. He wrote it on a dare.

'There was no adequate hiking guide at the time,' McAuley said in 1986 in The Times. 'I made the statement that you would think an average person could do a better job than this. Someone said, 'Prove it.' So I did."