Less of a manual and more of a primer, this book squeezes in every last tidbit of useful information it can. Written plainly and clearly, with illustrations to help you along the way, it sparked a new eagerness for exploration in me. Though I love hiking, I never realized just how much of the land's story I was missing until I read this book. Dog-ear it, mark it up, throw it in your backpack, and haul it along on every adventure you undertake henceforth.Publisher's description: When writer and navigator Tristan Gooley journeys outside, he sees a natural world filled with clues. The roots of a tree indicate the sun’s direction; the Big Dipper tells the time; a passing butterfly hints at the weather; a sand dune reveals prevailing wind; the scent of cinnamon suggests altitude; a budding flower points south. To help you understand nature as he does, Gooley shares more than 850 tips for forecasting, tracking, and more, gathered from decades spent walking the landscape around his home and around the world. Whether you’re walking in the country or city, along a coastline, or by night, this is the ultimate resource on what the land, sun, moon, stars, plants, animals, and clouds can reveal—if you only know how to look!