Cindy Ross

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 2,100-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 2,600-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, 3,100-mile trek over the rooftop of North America.

Ross lives along the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania with her
husband, Todd and their 20-year old son, Bryce and 22-year old daughter, Sierra, in a log home they built themselves from raw trees.
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, and The Baltimore Sun.