By Cynthia Hubert

May 29, 2024

During the pandemic, Ashley Shult Langdon spent months exploring rambling paths, hidden trails and other wild spaces along the lower American River. She documented the locations of beaches, parking lots, benches and bathrooms. She noted places where salmon, river otters and herons gathered.

The information she gathered eventually became the basis for her new book, “Mildly Scenic,” which offers outdoor enthusiasts new ways to enjoy the lower American River and its surrounding greenbelt.

The final step was to produce detailed maps. With neither the knowledge nor the software to create them, she turned to Sacramento State’s Geography department for help – and got much more than she anticipated. Department Chair Matt Schmidtlein and Professor Anna Klimaszewski-Patterson offered to make the project the center of an upper-division course last fall….