Since you’re reading this, we already know you’re a fan of good beer. And, with all of New Mexico’s enchanting mountains and terrain, there’s a heck of a lot of hiking fans here, too. If you’ve been to Colorado, you know that they’re at least as serious about both topics.

Why do I bring this up? Because you will soon be able to buy a book that is for people who not only love these activities, but love to combine them. Kevin Holsapple, a Los Alamos resident, has co-written “Beer Hiking Southern Rockies,” a guide to having a beer, going out for a hike, and perhaps having another beer or two to celebrate. (There’s a video that explains the concept available on YouTube.)

I met with Kevin on a typically stormy Saturday afternoon in Los Alamos to get all of the details about the book and why he wrote it. We originally planned to do one of the hikes from his book, but given the weather, we decided to focus on the beer and conversation side of things. Oh, the stories he can spin!

Kevin has long been an avid fan of beer, going back to his days in the military. In the ’70s, he was stationed in Germany. Needless to say, the craft beer scene was in its infancy in the USA at that time, and some of the best beers in the world were (and still can be) found there. Kevin talked about how he and his buddies would spend a free weekend traveling to a distant site by train and then walk their way back, beer by beer. His love of Germany stayed with him even after leaving the service; he’s been back many times as a civilian and still enjoys visiting the country today.

Kevin’s love of travel and beer has taken him to many other countries around the world. Germany is an obvious beer destination, but some are places you wouldn’t think to associate with a beer community. Recent examples were his trips to Nepal and Bhutan in the Himalaya Mountains. There are certainly some good hikes there (and as challenging as you’d like!), but he also found some good breweries, as well. He noted with a wink that he had visited all of the breweries in a country, which of course would be a suicidal goal in the USA.

Implicit in all of this is that Kevin also has a love for writing. In addition to writing a book, he has also been posting articles to his own blog, Prime Passages , for many years now. Reading it is an entertaining and informative way to virtually take the adventures we wish we could take and that Kevin is lucky enough to do.

However, it hasn’t been all about luck. He long had a plan to retire relatively early, and through hard work has been mostly able to achieve that. Retired since the age of 56, he still looks like he could hike a 10-miler every day and not break a sweat over 10 years later.

Kevin’s new book, “Beer Hiking Southern Rockies,” covers a four-state region: New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. It’s part of a series of books covering the USA, Canada, and Europe. The development of the book was somewhat unusual; his co-author Yitka Winn had written a similar book long ago covering just Colorado, and this new book is really that content plus Kevin’s new contributions from the other three states. As a result, Colorado is heavily represented in the content (and deservedly so, being a great state for hiking and beer). There is still plenty to keep you going in the other states, though.

As for New Mexico, there are 11 hikes featured throughout the state. To make it into the book, there kind of has to be a brewery and some sort of interesting hike potential, which are things outside of Kevin’s control. As a result, Albuquerque has one entry and Santa Fe has two. Since most of our readership is in Albuquerque, I will describe its entry.

The highlighted brewery is La Cumbre, which I’m sure we all know and are fond of. Kevin interviewed owner/master brewer Jeff Erway and provided some history of the brewery, New Mexico’s third largest. (Kevin also pointed out that while he might have wanted to choose a particular brewery to feature in the book, he didn’t always get a response from the brewery.)

The format of the series of books requires that he select a single beer to feature, and in this case he chose … Elevated IPA, of course. The 3.9-mile hike, which does involve a little driving, is along the Rio Grande through the Bosque. It’s a wonderful, scenic trail right in the middle of Albuquerque, and it’s in the easy category.

To help promote his book (which will be released on August 12) and the beer-hike concept, Kevin will be involved in two events in the next few months. The first will be in Los Alamos and will be hosted by Bathtub Row Brewing. Here are the details, which are subject to change:

What: Book launch and "beer hike" event for "Beer Hiking Southern Rockies"
When: Saturday, September 27th
Where: Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op in Los Alamos
Time:
Kevin Holsapple will be in the beer garden with free map handouts for self-designed hikes starting at 9:00 AM. He will also help people design their hike.
Kevin will lead an easy guided beer hike that will start at 10:30 AM, returning to the brewery by noon.
Book sales and signings, along with beer sales, begin at Bathtub Row Brewing around noon, with Kevin available to chat and sign books until approximately 2:00 PM.
Cost: The maps and guided hike are free of charge.
Prizes: A drawing will be held for prizes, including a Beer Hiker’s Kit and Beer Hiking Journals.

We will publish any updates as the date draws near.

In Santa Fe, a similar event is planned to take place at Travel Bug on Saturday, October 18. Travel Bug is a travel-related store that brews their own beers on site, so it’s a perfect fit. Details are still being ironed out; we will publish that information at a later date.

Word of warning: To anyone out there who is a novice in either hiking or beer drinking, please don’t go overboard. Hiking can be risky on its own, and in the New Mexico summer heat, combining it with alcohol can be downright dangerous. Use good judgement, and use a designated driver when necessary! (For much of Kevin’s research, his wife was kind enough to take on that role.)

Useful links:

• Kevin’s beer/hiking blog: Prime Passages
• A map of the world showing where Kevin has beered, hiked, and blogged about it: https://primepassages.com/story-map
  
• Prime Passages YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@primepassages
  
• bookshop.org supports independent bookstores, so Kevin encourages you to buy his book at their site (though it’ll also be available at Amazon and in brick and mortar bookstores).

We hope to see you at one of the events. Now get out there and have a beer and get hiking!

Cheers!

— Reid

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Kevin’s book, but I would’ve purchased it anyway.