Fritsche, 67, who retired from Northridge in 2000, and his wife, Sue, plan to take seven days to hike 80 miles from the Los Angeles Zoo to the Point Mugu. Their trek begins Saturday, March 13.

The reason for the walk, they say, is the rising cost of a college education.

"The cost of education continues to rise, and as it was when we were going to college, many geology students today need financial aid if they are going to complete their degrees in a timely fashion," Fritsche said. "We just want to help those students."

Donations raised by the Fritsches' hike will go to the Geology Scholarship Endowment Fund at Cal State Northridge and the Coast Geological Society Scholarship Fund.

The Fritsches' plan to make their trek a leisurely affair with plenty of opportunity to enjoy potential views that on clear days can offer up vistas of the Channel Islands.

They will be walking during the day and going home at night so they can post pictures and descriptions of their walk on the Web in the evenings. They also plan to break the hike into segments, with days off in between, so that friends and former colleagues and students can join the Fritsches as they walk.

The hike's schedule:

• Saturday, March 13 -- Los Angeles Zoo's picnic area to the Fryman Canyon Overlook.
• Monday, March 15 -- Fryman Canyon Overlook to Encino Hills Drive.
• Wednesday, March 17 -- Encino Hills Drive to Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
• Monday, March 22 -- Tapia Park to Kanan-Dume Road.
• Wednesday, March 24 -- Kanan-Dume Road to Triunfo Pass.
• Friday, March 26 -- Triunfo Pass to Point Mugu.

To find out more about the hike, visit the Web site

To contribute to the scholarship fund at Cal State Northridge, contact Mari Flores in the Geology Department at (818) 677-3541 or via e-mail at mari.flores@csun.edu. Checks should be made out to the CSUN Foundation, with Geology Endowment in the memo line, and can be sent to the Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330-8266.

To contribute to the Coast Geological Society Scholarship Fund, contact Scott Moors at moors@bingyen.com. The society's address is P.O. Box 3055, Ventura, CA 93006.