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This week's long-form writer – outdoors man Steve Sorensen

Walked the San Diego and San Dieguito rivers, climbed Baja's highest mountain, hiked PCT, Chocolate Mountain bombing range

Sorensen at Woods Lake, 1979. From A Branch of the Sky.
Sorensen at Woods Lake, 1979. From A Branch of the Sky.

Steve Sorensen wrote for the Reader from 1976 off and on through 1997; he was the Reader's most adventurous writer. He walked and hiked the mountains and desert he wrote about. He covered the surfing beat extensively.

Two of his best stories will run this coming Wednesday and Friday as the Midweek and Weekend Reads.

How he came to the Reader in his words:

In 1975 I was on my way back from a surfing trip to Mexico, when I stopped in Encinitas to visit a friend and ended up sleeping on his couch for two weeks. During that time, I saw a copy of the San Diego Reader and, inspired by its irreverent style, decided to try writing my very first feature story about what it felt like to be unemployed. I submitted the story to the Reader, then forgot about it. On the day before I had to leave town, I happened to walk by a newsstand on the Coast Highway and saw that the latest edition of the Reader was out. I picked up a copy and, to my astonishment, saw that the story on the cover was mine. I quickly got on the phone with the Reader’s young editor, Paul Krueger, who offered to pay me $300 for the story and asked if I could write more like it.

My favorite Reader stories that I wrote, in no particular order, are:


Editor: See all Sorensen stories.

Some editor picks of Sorensen stories:

Hike to the source of the San Diego River

Anza-Borrego Desert – where demons thrive

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Bury my bait at Bombay Beach

The king of Moonlight Beach

Confessions of an avid eavesdropper —from Oceanside to downtown Greyhound station

The highs and lows of the SD&IV

San Diego's he-man Jerry Schad


Sorensen's books include:

A Branch of the Sky: Fifty Years of Adventure, Tragedy, and Restoration in the Sierra Nevada.

  • Heap of Bones: A Baja Surfer's Chronicle
  • Morning Glass: the Adventures of Legendary Waterman Mike Doyle
  • Day Hiking Sequoia: Fifty day hikes for Sequoia National Park
  • Day Hiking Kings Canyon.




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Sorensen at Woods Lake, 1979. From A Branch of the Sky.
Sorensen at Woods Lake, 1979. From A Branch of the Sky.

Steve Sorensen wrote for the Reader from 1976 off and on through 1997; he was the Reader's most adventurous writer. He walked and hiked the mountains and desert he wrote about. He covered the surfing beat extensively.

Two of his best stories will run this coming Wednesday and Friday as the Midweek and Weekend Reads.

How he came to the Reader in his words:

In 1975 I was on my way back from a surfing trip to Mexico, when I stopped in Encinitas to visit a friend and ended up sleeping on his couch for two weeks. During that time, I saw a copy of the San Diego Reader and, inspired by its irreverent style, decided to try writing my very first feature story about what it felt like to be unemployed. I submitted the story to the Reader, then forgot about it. On the day before I had to leave town, I happened to walk by a newsstand on the Coast Highway and saw that the latest edition of the Reader was out. I picked up a copy and, to my astonishment, saw that the story on the cover was mine. I quickly got on the phone with the Reader’s young editor, Paul Krueger, who offered to pay me $300 for the story and asked if I could write more like it.

My favorite Reader stories that I wrote, in no particular order, are:


Editor: See all Sorensen stories.

Some editor picks of Sorensen stories:

Hike to the source of the San Diego River

Anza-Borrego Desert – where demons thrive

Sponsored
Sponsored

Bury my bait at Bombay Beach

The king of Moonlight Beach

Confessions of an avid eavesdropper —from Oceanside to downtown Greyhound station

The highs and lows of the SD&IV

San Diego's he-man Jerry Schad


Sorensen's books include:

A Branch of the Sky: Fifty Years of Adventure, Tragedy, and Restoration in the Sierra Nevada.

  • Heap of Bones: A Baja Surfer's Chronicle
  • Morning Glass: the Adventures of Legendary Waterman Mike Doyle
  • Day Hiking Sequoia: Fifty day hikes for Sequoia National Park
  • Day Hiking Kings Canyon.




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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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