since you don't have the booster, sounds a lot like a master cylinder issue. If your wheels had bad parts, you would know it ahead of time or could easily tell by pulling your wheel, checking for goo and sludge inside the drum or wherever your cylinders/calipers are.... if your fluid is old, you could also try to do a complete system bleeding, this will require reverse bleeding of the master cylinder and at the other ends... I did this in a mid60s ford and it did wonders.... but for you to have lost suddenly, though gradually, mmm, sounds like a busted something.
As for a place to go wolmping.... consider the Santa Catalinas in AZ.... 9200 feet of pleasure trails and hills, I recommend the fire trials if you really want a challange!