Craig R. Carey grew up hiking and backpacking in the southern Los Padres National Forest. His work has appeared in New Zealand Wilderness, Islands, Hooked on the Outdoors, Rugby, The Green, and New Zealand Adventure. He wrote a popular guide to local hiking called Hiking & Backpacking Santa Barbara & Ventura: A Complete Guide to the Trails of the Southern Los Padres National Forest and spends much of his free time exploring and improving those wild spaces he so loves, along with his fellow adult leaders and members of Boy Scouts Troop 111. Craig is also a teacher at Ventura High School, teaching social studies and AVID.