I went over the backpacking cookbooks offered on Amazon using the extremely useful viewable pages, and selected the three I thought were best. Of the three I purchased, the Well-Fed-Backpacker is notably more informative. It is in that class of books known as perennial favorites, first published in 1976 and still a very strong book today in its third edition. If you are buying one or three as I did, be sure to include this book.

Having been out with June twice on winter camping trips, and having used her book for many of my own outings, I can say without reservation that when it comes to taking food to the outdoors, June knows her stuff.

Her house is always filled with wonderful smells of newly dried foods and experimental recipes. Fellow backpackers don't walk out of the dinner tent at night -- they roll out.

The beautiful part of June's philosphy is that she's realistic -- not all of us have the space and time to dehydrate our own food (like 75 percent of the recipes in that newer "Lip Crackin' Backpackin'" book from Rodale.) She encourages you to find the semi-prepared dried foods you need at the supermarket as a base, and then build from there as much as you're willing to experiment.

My favorite part of the book is a list of "one-liners," quick recipes you can throw together in a single baggie that are no-brainers to cook. They're delicious.

One note -- the latest edition was published in '86, I think. A few details in the book are dated, but 95 percent is still completely, utterly relevant.

Getting ready to go on a seven-day backpacking trip, I decided to do some reading. This book was extremely helpful for me to choose foods for the trip that are lightweight and affordable. The author gives you options of buying your foods at the grocery store, health food store, and also a sporting goods store, listing foods that pack well as well as being fairly healthy and lightweight. I am more prepared for my trip than I was before reading this book.

I know why Fleming's readers stay found: after they set up their maps to take a bearing they are reluctant to move again.

Friends of mine use Fleming's method of laying their maps on the ground and orienting everything just so before they transfer bearings to the map. It's time-consuming and they often goof up because the darned map moves around. (Fleming suggests putting rocks on the map edges.) My objection is that there is a much quicker, easier and foolproof method and other map and compass books (and compass manufacturers' handbooks) that I've seen use it: Use a compass with settable declination and when you transfer your bearing to the map, align your compass's meridian lines with the map's grid lines. You don't need to orient your map; you could be standing on your head and it wouldn't matter. This method only takes a few seconds to accomplish (as long as you don't stand on your head). To be fair, Fleming includes this method in an appendix for people who can't find a flat place (and people who maybe don't have all day to take bearings).

Fleming's objection to the faster, easier method is that grid north is not the same as true north. In my area, there's about 1/2 degree difference so big woo. If it matters, draw lines of longitude on your map before you start.

I think Fleming is in love with her "main" method even though it's not very practical for the kinds of people she's addressing. Give it up, June, and you'll have a better book.

Fleming's objective is to provide a way of using a map & compass that is easy to remember as well as being not intimidating, and she achieves these results remarkably well in her book Staying Found. I have been out in the woods backpacking off-trail and have been able to use these techniques successfully, not only "staying found" but also navigating to small hidden lakes. Carol in California is lucky - in MY area, the declination is currently 19 degrees. Considering this value drifts back & forth, and that being even one degree off when you're taking your compass bearing can get you seriously lost, I think I'll stick with June's method rather than draw lines on my map that change from year to year.