CO
CONTACT: Jennifer Redmond FACT SHEET
(619) 258-4911ext 103
PEAKS, PALMS, AND PICNICS
DAY JOURNEYS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS OF PALM SPRINGS
AND THE COACHELLA VALLEY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
By Linda McMillin Pyle
SPECIFICATIONS: 6” x 9”, softcover, 208 pages, recipes, maps
ISBN: 0-916251-57-8 PRICE: $15.95
PUBLICATION DATE: May 2002
SHORT DESCRIPTION: A guide to the trails and natural history of the many wonderful off-the-beaten-track places in the Coachella Valley. This is a revised and expanded edition of the indispensable, user-friendly guide to desert byways and recipes, designed to enrich any visitor’s experience.
Peaks, Palms and Picnics highlights natural history and lore along remote back roads, historic streets and ancient Indian trails in this popular region. Vignettes include travel routes for easy, moderate or strenuous hikes and simple recipes for delicious sandwiches, salads and desserts. This edition also features the author’s photographs of many of her favorite destinations and scenic picnic spots.
“Peaks, Palms and Picnics is a delicious read. It explains where to go for a great hike while telling compelling stories about what you see as you hike. The inclusion of recipes…is a tummy-pleasing bonus.” --Lukas Velush, The Desert Sun
AUTHOR: For more than 20 years, Linda McMillin Pyle has hiked the mountains and deserts of southern California. The author of numerous travel articles, photo essays and trail-tested recipes, she lives with her husband and hiking partner, Scott, in San Clemente, California.
ADVERTISING/PUBLICITY PLANS: The author is available for slide shows and lectures, TV and radio interviews/talk shows, and book signings. Review copies will be sent to newspapers, journals and magazines. The book will be featured at book-related trade shows.
AUDIENCE/MARKETS: Coachella Valley visitors; cooks and chefs, local tour guides, historians, naturalists and desert interpreters; those interested in the outdoors and recreation, the history and features of California, and the history of local foods and recipes.
RIGHTS: All rights available
AVAILABILITY: Directly from the publisher or through the following wholesalers: Sunbelt Wholesale Books & Maps, Ingram, Baker & Taylor.
PUBLISHER: SUNBELT PUBLICATIONS
1250 Fayette Street, El Cajon, CA 92020-1511
Tel: 619.258.4911/Fax: 619.258.4916
Email: mail@sunbeltpub.com
CONTACT: Jennifer Redmond NEWS RELEASE
(619) 258-4911ext 103
AUTHOR PAIRS HIKES AND TRAIL-TESTED RECIPES
At a time when so many books are highly specialized, it’s exciting to find one that brings together two activities that go together, hiking and picnicking, in one easy to carry and use paperback. With dozens of routes for journeys, Peaks, Palms, and Picnics solves the nagging question of visitors to this diverse region—with so many places to choose from, where do I begin? And the delicious recipes answer the other question of what to bring to eat along the way (or for a post-trail meal).
Written in the narrative style of nineteenth-century travel writers, Peaks, Palms, and Picnics highlights the natural history, history, and western lore along the trailside, pointing out sites that might otherwise be easy to miss. With subjects that range from manhunts to mountain lions and from rock art to ghost stories, the book is like taking a guided tour with a knowledgeable old desert rat.
Like trails, hikers come in all shapes, sizes, and ages, and the book has something for everyone—journeys includes routes for easy, moderate, and strenuous hikes. Each of the thirty-three day trips has been hiked by the author and her husband (in their forties), and her Mom and Dad (in their eighties), and the vignettes contain the four hikers’ experiences and their comments on trails, views, obstacles, and worthwhile detours. The delicious and “trail-tested” meal ideas are nearly as far-ranging as the journeys themselves, with recipes for such interestingly named dishes as Stuffed Medjools and Tuna Pan Bagna—not to mention Muffletas! Each journey-chapter tells a little something about an ingredient or cooking method, or gives an historic tidbit behind recipes like short ration cake and Slumgullion.
Author Linda Pyle has published numerous articles on desert travel, recipes, and plants, plus an award-winning website. A Minnesota native, Pyle says she thought of the desert as a bleak, arid wasteland, and initially resisted the idea of exploring the Coachella Valley, but soon grew to love its incredible diversity and wealth of history. The author’s black-and-white photographs show some of the beautiful, strange, and unusual places that willing adventurers will see.
TITLE: PEAKS, PALMS, AND PICNICS
AUTHOR: Linda McMillin Pyle
ISBN: 0-916251-57-8
PRICE: $15.95
PUBLISHER: SUNBELT PUBLICATIONS
1250 Fayette Street, El Cajon, CA 92020-1511
Tel: 619.258.4911/Fax: 619.258.4916
Email: mail@sunbeltpub.com
Contact: Linda Pyle
Phone 949-498-7612
email lindapyle@mindspring.com
Web site: http://www.trailwisdom.com
Register for Hike for Hope:
Call 760-779-0151
website: http://www.hike4hope.com
For Immediate Release
Hiking under the Palms for Hope
On Saturday, March 10, 2001 hikers will walk in the world’s largest stands of fan palms and thread along streams into pristine canyons all for a worthy cause. Each year, HIKE FOR HOPE, held in the Indian Canyons in Palm Springs, offers easy, moderate and strenuous guided hikes to raise money to fund women's cancer research at the City of Hope.
San Clemente resident and author, Linda Pyle, learned of this event when Lisa Scorziell, of the Desert Women’s Council, rushed up to her at the Mosaic Store on S. Palm Canyon Dr., where she was signing her book, Peaks, Palms and Picnics: Day Journeys in the Mountains & Deserts of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley of Southern California. Lisa informed Pyle that her book had been chosen to be awarded to participants in the Hike for Hope 2001!
Pyle says, “When I wrote the chapter on the Palm Canyon Trail, I concluded with the words, ‘Like witnesses in an ancient valley, the silent palms observe all who gather here to heal and nurture on the uneven path.’ Those words now take on a meaning I never could have imagined!” Eileen Stern, Palm Springs resident, hiker and event organizer, in reviewing Pyle’s book called it, “Delicious hiking– a wonderful, innovative hiking guidebook with recipes! Linda understands the magic of the Indian Canyons and the wonderful spirit that exists there. She has become a terrific supporter of this event.”
Pre-registration cost of $20.00 includes entrance to Indian Canyons, T-shirt, prize eligibility and snacks. After March 1st, entry fee is $25. Those who reach the $175 pledge level with receive Pyle’s book. Linda be signing her books at the post–hike celebration under the palm trees in the ancestral home of the Aqua Caliente band of Indians. END
For immediate release:
Ever wonder what there is to do in the desert when you’re not golfing?
When Linda Pyle’s mother first suggested that they write a book about day trips and picnicking in the desert, Linda resisted. Searing heat, flat endless terrain and dry sand washes came to mind. Though she and her husband had extensively hiked the high country, the desert wilderness seemed mysterious and impenetrable. Her parents didn’t even own a pair of hiking shoes!
Still, 4 months later, they put the desert to the test. Following the Boo Hoff Trail into the Santa Rosa Mountains, they let the story of the Coachella Valley unfold to them. The resulting new book Peaks, Palms & Picnics: Day Journeys in the Mountains and Deserts of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley of Southern California puts readers on the path to adventure as they discover:
 | Remote back roads, historic city streets and ancient Indian trails |
| Fascinating natural history and western lore of the desert |
|
Beautiful scenic picnic locations and simple recipes for the trail |
After researching and writing the book, Linda now says, “Maybe deep memories of generations surviving numbing cold winters eventually drove us to seek out the sun-swept desert.” Now living in San Clemente, CA, her family roots are in Minnesota. Digging into the history of the Coachella Valley unearthed for them some real heroines, heroes, pioneers, outlaws and renegades who they found as fascinating as the Hollywood movie stars who glamorized the Desert. Pyle says, “Whether seventeen or seventy, unexpected surprises and delights wait for those who venture into the real desert.” A list of the top 10 reasons travelers to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley should read this book follows:
Top Ten Reasons Travelers to Palm Springs and
the Coachella Valley Should Read this Book
all the time.)
- You don’t play golf (
You think a Fish Trap is an underwater sand trap. You think the Village Green is for putting practice. You think the Boo Hoff trail is probably a scary place. You don’t know where to find a wayward Bighorn named Rosie or a smiling mountain lion named Reno. Your idea of adventure is a 15 minute stroll on the sidewalk ( and you don’t own a pair of hiking shoes.)You think just anyone can be buried in Palm Springs. You think the West’s last great manhunt took place in Arizona. Your idea of adventure is a 15 mile trek up a mountain ( and you own several pairs of hiking shoes.)You’ve never tasted a date shake.
Author Biography
Linda Pyle, a graduate of the University of Minnesota, has published articles on desert travel, recipes and plants. She also publishes a web site: www.trailwisdom.com, an online guide to California’s desert, beach and mountain trails including photos and picnic recipes. It recently won a “Best on the Web Award” from OutdoorPlaces.com.
Book Information
ISBN 0-916251-57-8 Soft cover, Retail $15.95
Available from Sunbelt Publications www.sunbelt.com or 1-800-626-6579
Available at many Coachella Valley hotel and museum gift shops and online at
amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and borders.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION contact Linda Pyle
E-MAIL lindapyle@mindspring.com
For more California beach, desert and mountain trails and picnic recipes visit: www.trailwisdom.com or e-mail Linda at lindapyle@mindspring.com