Outdoors: Hiker pairs book signings with walks in SNP
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Jeff Alt, an avid hiker, writes a children’s series called “The Adventure of Bubba Jones.” Each book is set in a different national park and the character’s explore each one by time traveling. His second book “The Adventures of Bubba Jones: Time Traveling Through Shenandoah National Park” will be released a month early to visitors at the Shenandoah National Park on July 16-18.
Posted: Saturday, July 16, 2016 2:00 pm
The Daily Progress
After spending five months hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1998, Jeff Alt’s outlook on life changed.
“It’s hard to explain,” Alt said about being secluded in nature. Away from the rush of modern life with no schedule, Alt said, the hike opened up a “new dimension of thinking.”
“It’s the most positive experience,” he said.
Alt’s 2,160-mile journey raised money for Sunshine, a home in Ohio for people with disabilities where his brother lives. Alt, a former Charlottesville resident, documented the hike in the book “A Walk for Sunshine,” which was published in 2000.
Since then, Alt, who lives in Ohio, has spent nearly two decades hiking. When he and his wife were married, they spent part of their honeymoon hiking, and he has conducted many family hiking programs in the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks.
After spending so much time in national parks, Alt, now a father of two and a school-based speech language pathologist, became interested in each park’s history.
“There’s more than what meets the eye,” Alt said.
He created a children’s series based on a sister and brother and their grandfather, who explore national parks through time travel. Although the stories are fiction, the historical references throughout the book are accurate, Alt said.
His second book in the series, “The Adventures of Bubba Jones: Time Traveling Through Shenandoah National Park,” will be released this weekend to visitors at Shenandoah National Park and will be available nationally Aug. 25.
Tommy, the main character known as “Bubba Jones” for his sense of adventure, has the ability to time-travel to the past. An old family journal is passed down to him and contains the magic that allows him to time-travel. Bubba places his hand on the journal, says a date and everyone within 10 feet of the journal travels through time.
Each Bubba Jones book is set at a different national park. Last year, Alt published a Bubba Jones adventure to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His upcoming books are on Acadia National Park, set to be released in 2017, and Grand Canyon National Park, to be released in 2018.
“An amazing adventure can change everything,” Alt said.
Shenandoah National Park book signings are set for noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at Byrd Visitor Center; 10 to 11 a.m. Sunday after a short walk at the Byrd Visitor Center; 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday after a short walk at the Skyland Lodge gift shop; and 10 to 11 a.m. Monday after a short walk at the Byrd Visitor Center.
For a complete list of Alt’s events at Shenandoah National Park, visit http://jeffalt.com/tour-dates/.
Caitlin Ashworth reports for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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Saturday, July 16, 2016 2:00 pm.
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