Backpacking icon Fletcher dies: Peninsula: Health deteriorated after accident in 2001.

Byline: Laith Agha and Dania Akkad

Jun. 14--Colin Fletcher, a backpacking guru who wrote the book on the art of a good walk, died Tuesday at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. He was 85.

"He is sort of a cult icon in the backpacking world," said Annette McGivney, the Southwest field editor for Backpacker Magazine. "He was like the Jerry Garcia of backpacking."

Fletcher lived in Carmel Valley for many years. He was struck by a vehicle in 2001 while walking to a town hall meeting about the proposed incorporation of Carmel Valley, but survived major injuries. He lived in Flanders Court, an assisted living facility, for about three years before being admitted to the hospital earlier this week after a period of declining health, according to his bookkeeper, Chris Cassidy. …

Backpacking icon Fletcher dies: Peninsula: Health deteriorated after accident in 2001.

Byline: Laith Agha and Dania Akkad

Jun. 14--Colin Fletcher, a backpacking guru who wrote the book on the art of a good walk, died Tuesday at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. He was 85.

"He is sort of a cult icon in the backpacking world," said Annette McGivney, the Southwest field editor for Backpacker Magazine. "He was like the Jerry Garcia of backpacking."

Fletcher lived in Carmel Valley for many years. He was struck by a vehicle in 2001 while walking to a town hall meeting about the proposed incorporation of Carmel Valley, but survived major injuries. He lived in Flanders Court, an assisted living facility, for about three years before being admitted to the hospital earlier this week after a period of declining health, according to his bookkeeper, Chris Cassidy. …