More than 50 people took nearly every chair and packed a room Wednesday evening at the Tuolumne County Library on Greenley Road to hear Twain Harte resident and author Kathi Joye speak about geology, culture, history, and hiking along the Highway 108 corridor. Joye has published two books, “Day Hikes Along the Highway 108 Corridor” in 2014, and “More Hikes along the Highway 108 Corridor with Snowshoe and Cross-Country Ski Treks” in 2015. Sonora resident Joanne McCullough, who recently moved to Tuolumne County, introduced Joye by thanking her for her research and writing.
“I’ve only been here for two and a half years,” McCullough told the audience. “For the first week or two, I had no idea where to go. Then I saw at Schnoogs a book about hiking and 108 and I got it and I loved it.
I’ve taken so many hikes. It’s just a wonderful book.” Joye started by talking about her experiences hiking, hosteling, and backpacking before she came to Tuolumne County in 2008.
She was born in Virginia and grew up in a military family. She said she learned about hiking and “caught the bug” while she was attending a Department of Defense high school in England. One of her teachers ran a hosteling club and organized trips in different places in the United Kingdom.
They would hike from one hostel to another with a support vehicle to carry their gear, “backpacking made easy.” They also went to Ireland and backpacked from hostel to hostel — literally carrying their gear .