Best known by his trail name, Nimblewill Nomad, M. J. Eberhart is an Armed Forces veteran. After serving, he settled in as the senior practitioner in a busy three-doctor optometric practice in Florida. Eb, as most off-trail friends know him, began hiking and backpacking in the early '80s. Always an avid outdoorsman, now retired, he's making up for lost time after being cooped up in examination rooms with no windows for nearly 30 years.

Barbara Egbert, a.k.a. Nellie Bly, is an experienced hiker, backpacker, and travel writer. She has worked in print journalism for more than 30 years. She lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Greg Hlavaty worked in NOC Rentals for four years. His essays have appeared in various magazines and literary journals, including Arts and Letters, Barrelhouse, Yale Anglers' Journal, and Bird Watcher's Digest. He has taught survival skills classes and led outdoor trips in North Carolina and Alaska. He lives in Graham, North Carolina, with his family.

Payson Kennedy began year-round work at the NOC in June of 1973. He served as president and later as CEO, chairman of the board, and CPO (chief philosophical officer). He guided regularly on six rivers, taught canoeing and kayaking courses, worked as a ropes course instructor, and led extended trips in Central America, the Cayman Islands, and Nepal. Since retiring from full-time work, he has continued to serve on the NOC Board, guides a few trips on the Nantahala River, and enjoys bicycling, working in his pond, and continuing to do adventure travel trips.

Since age 10, Winton Porter has found it hard to stay indoors. At 21, he opened B. Bumblefoot and Co., producing hiking sticks for retailers throughout the southeastern United States. In 2001, at age 35, he bought the venerable Mountain Crossings store, a hiker's mecca deep in the Georgia woods near the southern end of the Appalachian Trail. Now called the Guru of the Appalachian Trail, Winton is famous for his ?shakedowns? to help weary hikers lighten their loads. His memory for dialogue, eye for detail, compassion for those in trouble, and gift for humor come together in his debut book, Just Passin' Thru.

Charlie Walbridge is a nationally known whitewater safety expert with more than 50 years of river-running experience. He was an A-ranked C-1 slalom and wildwater racer in the mid-1970s and worked part-time as a river guide until the mid-1980s. He has collected and published reports of US whitewater fatalities for more than 40 years and has written books and articles on whitewater safety. Charlie has been active in both the American Canoe Association (ACA) and American Whitewater (AW). He held the position of safety chairman for both organizations and now serves on the AW board of directors. As a member of the ACA Instruction Committee, he helped develop programs in whitewater canoeing and swiftwater rescue, and he trains students and instructors in swiftwater rescue.