Robert C. Birkby is an American adventure guide, author, photographer, speaker and trail designer.

Birkby grew up in Sidney, Iowa

Sidney, Iowa

Sidney is a city in Fremont County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,300 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Fremont County and is one of the smallest county seats in Iowa....

. As a Boy Scout, Birkby was on staff at summer camp, made a trek at Philmont Scout Ranch

Philmont Scout Ranch

Philmont Scout Ranch is a large, rugged, mountainous ranch located near the town of Cimarron, New Mexico, covering approximately of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico...

 and earned Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

. In 2010 Birkby also received the Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

's highest award for conservation: the William T. Hornaday Gold Award

William T. Hornaday Awards

The William T. Hornaday Awards are a series of awards presented by the Boy Scouts of America for service in conservation and ecology. The program is designed to encourage learning about natural resource conservation and the environment, teach sound stewardship of the natural resources and the...

. While attending college, he spent his summer breaks working at Philmont in positions such as a trail crew foreman and director of conservation.

After college, Birkby was an English instructor at Missouri State University

Missouri State University

Missouri State University is a public university located in Springfield, Missouri, United States and founded in 1905. It is the state's second largest university, with an official enrollment of 20,802 in fall 2011...

. He thru-hiked

Thru-hiking

Thru-hiking is the process of hiking a long-distance trail from end to end. The term is most commonly associated with the Appalachian Trail, but is also used for other lengthy trails and long distance hikes, including the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. Thru-hiking is also...

 the Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...

. Moving to Seattle, he became an author, writing magazine articles for Boys' Life

Boys' Life

Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...

and merit badge

Merit badge (Boy Scouts of America)

Merit badges are awards earned by youth members of the Boy Scouts of America , based on activities within an area of study by completing a list of periodically updated requirements. The purpose of the merit badge program is to allow Scouts to examine subjects to determine if they would like to...

 pamphlets on subjects such as backpacking. He worked for the Student Conservation Association

Student Conservation Association

The Student Conservation Association is a non-profit group in the United States whose mission is to build the next generation of conservation leaders and inspire lifelong stewardship of our environment and communities by engaging young people in hands-on service to the land through service...

, directing trail building across the US.

Birkby met Scott Fischer

Scott Fischer

Scott E. Fischer was an American climber and guide, and the first American to summit 27,940-foot Lhotse, fourth highest mountain in the world.-Career:...

 in 1982, and was convinced to climb Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...

. He then worked for Fischer's adventure travel company Mountain Madness as a writer and guide, co-leading adventure trips to the Cascade Range

Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...

, Alaska, Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...

, Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus is an inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's peak is the highest in the Caucasus, in Russia...

 and Nepal. After Fischer's death in the 1996 Everest disaster

1996 Everest Disaster

The 1996 Mount Everest disaster refers to the events of 10-11 May 1996, when eight people died on Mount Everest during summit attempts. In the entire season, fifteen people died trying to reach the summit, making it the deadliest single year in Mount Everest's history...

, Birkby wrote the biography Mountain Madness.

Birkby wrote the 10th, 11th and 12th editions of the Boy Scout Handbook

Boy Scout Handbook

The Boy Scout Handbook is the official handbook of the Boy Scouts of America. It is a descendant of Baden-Powell's original handbook, Scouting for Boys, which has been the basis for Scout handbooks in many countries, with some variations to the text of the book depending on each country's codes and...

and the 4th edition of the Fieldbook.

Starting in 2008, Birkby aided in the construction of the Great Baikal Trail

Great Baikal Trail

The Great Baikal Trail is a non-profit project to create a hiking trail around Lake Baikal in Siberia with a total length of about . Although the idea for such a trail was born in the 1970s, construction only started in 2003 with the help of volunteers from around the world...

, an environmental trail system along Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...

 in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

.