Valerie Askren, after spending more than 20 years as a university researcher and professor, traded the ivory towers of academia for the great outdoors. Her background in natural resource economics and love of nature translated into a second career of writing outdoor guides, including Hike the Bluegrass and Beyond, Backpacking Kentucky, Five Star Trails: Louisville and Southern Indiana and Fly Fishing Kentucky. An avid outdoorswoman, Valerie has swum in Africa's Lake Malawi, climbed China's Mount Tai, sailed the coast of southern France, biked Nova Scotia, and backpacked the überchallenging West Coast Trail of Vancouver Island. Her honeymoon was spent kayaking the Grand Canyon with her husband, Ben. The mother of four, Valerie lives in Lexington, Kentucky and hits the trail every chance she gets.