Nicknamed “Pathfinder,” Ron Strickland is inordinately fond of Rhode Island foods, French culture, and German shepherds.  He is a graduate of Georgetown University's School Of Foreign Service.  As a thru-hiker, he walked the 1200 miles of the Pacific Northwest Trail in 1983.  In 2004, he completed the Pacific Crest Trail with a 1500-mile hike from the Mojave Desert to the Columbia River.  In 2009, he thru-hiked the New England Trail.

AWARDS

June 2010: Ron and Scenic Trails Research received the prestigious L.L.Bean Outdoor Heroes Award.

October 9-11, 2009:  ALDHA, the Gathering, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA.  The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association extended "special recognition to Ron Strickland for all of his efforts in creating the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail."

November 17, 2008:  The 19th National Trails Symposium in Little Rock, Arkansas awarded Ron Strickland its Lifetime Service Award.

October, 2002: at the American Land Trust Alliance Rally in Austin, Texas, the Conservation Fund awarded him the $50,000 American Land Conservation Award.

August 2001: he received the $10,000 Chevron Conservation Award for his work to create and preserve the Pacific Northwest Trail.

2001: Ron founded the non-profit organization Scenic Trails Research, which he still heads. The mission of Scenic Trails Research is to help to develop new national scenic trails such as the 1200-mile Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (PNT) and the 7700-mile Sea-To-Sea Route.

PERSONAL

February 15, 2007: Ron proposed marriage to Christine Hartmann at Walden Pond, lying on the snowy ice. Christine has a Ph.D. in social research and is a Research Health Scientist at the VA Massachusetts and an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at Boston University. Her area of expertise is healthcare quality, particularly in the nursing home setting.

March 19, 2007:  Christine Hartmann tied the knot with Ron even though she'd been winter hiking with him on the Appalachian Trail and knew what she was getting into.

October 2-24, 2008: Christine Hartmann and Ron Strickland enjoyed a belated wedding reception in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, where Christine lived for almost 10 years.  Afterward they hiked in the Japanese Alps to learn about Japanese trails and mountain huts for Ron's forthcoming book, Leave a Trail.