A MUST for any past, present or future hiker

books:


	• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail Bill Bryson Anchor, 2006 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 56 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A laugh-out-loud book about hiking

Despite all the references to people dying on the trail, reading this book made me want to hike the Appalachian Trail. This book is a hilarious travelogue of hiking in the Eastern United States. It also includes interesting information about the history of the trail. Recommended for light entertaining reading.

A MUST for any past, present or future hiker

Heard A WALK IN THE WOODS, written and read by Bill Bryson

It is the true tale of the author's attempt to walk the 2,100 Appalachian
Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine . . . although he ultimately
was not successful in completing the entire AT (as it is called), it wasn't
for lack of trying.

You'll find yourself actually laughing out loud at much of his
account . . . also, you'll shake your head in disbelief about his
having to deal with his walking companion: an out-of-shape
Stephen Katz who thinks nothing of discarding provisions in
order to lighten his backpack.

In addition, Bryson makes history come alive as he describes
the evolution of the trail . . . he further makes you appreciate
the need to maintain such areas and in doing so, takes
the National Park Service to task for not doing enough.

Much of the writing is brilliant, such as this passage describing what
it feels like when you've finally reached one of your goals:
* When, after ages and ages, you finally reach the tell-tale world
of truly high ground, where the chilled air smells of pine sap and
the vegetation is gnarled and tough and wind-bent, and push through
to the mountain's open pinnacle, you are, alas, past caring. You sprawl
face down on a sloping pavement of granite, pressed to the rock by the
weight of your pack, and lie there for some minutes, reflecting in a
distant, out-of-body way that you have never before looked this closely
at lichen, not in fact looked this closely at anything in the natural world
since you were four years old and had your first magnifying glass. Finally,
with a weary puff, you roll over, unhook yourself from your pack, struggle
to your feet and realize--this is the barest fraction of what you will traverse
before you've finished.

Bryson's use of dialogue was equally impressive, as evidenced by this
hilarious account of what happened when Bryson and Katz had their first
encounter with a bear:
* "Have you get anything sharp at all?"

He thought for a moment. "Nail clippers."

I made a despairing face. "Anything a little more vicious than that?
Because, you see, there is definitely something out here."

"It's probably just a skunk."

"Then it's one big skunk. Its eyes are three feet off the ground."

"A deer then."

I nervously threw a stick at the animal, and it didn't move, whatever
it was. A deer would have bolted. This thing just blinked once and
kept staring.

I reported this to Katz.

"Probably a buck. They're not so timid. Try shouting at it."

I cautiously shouted at it: "Hey! You there! Scat!" The creature blinked
again, singularly unmoved. "You shout," I said.

"Oh, you brute, go away, do!" Katz shouted in merciless imitation. "Please
withdraw at once, you horrid creature."

"F*ck you," I said and lugged my tent right over to his. I didn't know what
this would achieve exactly, but it brought me a tiny measure of comfort
to be nearer to him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm moving my tent."

"Oh, good plan. That'll really confuse it."

Reading A WALK IN THE WOODS will motivate any past, present
or future hiker to check out the AT . . . as for me, I think I'll take a
pass . . . yet I will commend you, if you give it a try, and I'll look
forward to reading about your efforts as I bask in the comforts of home.

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NO PICTURES. How come?

This is not a how-to hike the Appalachian Trail book. This not a serious hikers diary of thru hiking the whole AT either. I'm not even sure it's nonfiction. It was historically informative in spots and funny in spots.
Ecology info was shocking. Yes humans are destroying the world. That's an undisputable fact. I know you don't want to hear it. Neither do I, which is why I had to stop subscribing to National Geographic, Audubon, Outside...
I still give to National Wildlife and Nature Conservancy but I don't dare read the mags. Too depressing. So I understand not wanting to hear about the bad things: but you can't condemn the book for that.
The first four chapters are good. After that its spotty. As for the actual hike I'm not sure I believe it all happened.

I've done a fair amount of backpacking since 1967 (most all Yosemite, parts of Pacific Crest Trail-oregon, Trinity Alps Wilderness, Marble Mts.etc..
So I took Stephen Katz right away as Bryson's IMAGINARY travelling companion, and a lot of the situations and people as made up. No one tosses equipment or food. I've never seen it anyway. You don't live off of snickers bars and all the garbage they supposedly took with them. Of course maybe the east coast hiker is different.

Hiking can be explained only so much. It can be intoxicating at times, taxing to the extreme (i remember half way down Benton pass in Yosemite breaking down in tears of frustration, my knees wobbling in pain unable to take any more down hill but scared to stop for fear they'd seize up on me), exciting (running to get off of bare granite hills during a fabulously beautiful & booming electric storm), hot always hot, water always cold as ice BUT walking is walking. There's not much excitment nor is there much wildlife (just imagine all the wildlife in the West before 1800).
Bryson describes the first days wonderfully on pages 35 and 36. After that it's weak and unreal. Not near as good as his other works.

Two memorable paragraphs

"I was especially riveted by an amateur photograph in Herrero's book, taken late at night by a camper with a flash at a campground out West. The photograph caught four black bears as they puzzled over a suspended food bag. The bears were clearly startled but not remotely alarmed by the flash. It was not the size or demeanor of the bears that troubled me - they looked almost comically unaggressive, like four guys who had gotten a Frisbee caught up a tree - but their numbers. Up to that moment it had not occurred to me that bears might prowl in parties. What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die, of course. I would blow my sphincter out my backside like one of those unrolling paper streamers you get at children's parties."

"When, after ages and ages, you finally reach the tell-tale world of truly high ground, where the chilled air smells of pine sap and the vegetation is gnarled and tough and wind-bent, and push through to the mountain's open pinnacle, you are, alas, past caring. You sprawl face down on a sloping pavement of granite, pressed to the rock by the weight of your pack, and lie there for some minutes, reflecting in a distant, out-of-body way that you have never before looked this closely at lichen, not in fact looked this closely at anything in the natural world since you were four years old and had your first magnifying glass. Finally, with a weary puff, you roll over, unhook yourself from your pack, struggle to your feet and realise-- this is the barest fraction of what you will traverse before you've finished."

Other Bill Bryon books I've read: I'm a Stranger Here Myself: GREAT! In a Sunburned Country GOOD, A Short History of Nearly Everything: GOOD

Ever read TIM CAHILL? He's good, he's funny, he's the real deal (hiker) and surprisingly he looks like he could be Brysons younger brother (weird). Anyway I highly recommend all Cahills travel books (except for 'Pass the Butterworms' and maybe 'Road Fever'). 'Dolphins' and 'Lost in my own Backyard' I haven't read yet.

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One of the Best Books I ever Read

A laugh-out loud tale of Bill Bryson as he hikes the Appalachian Trail. This was one of my first adult-type books my mom let me read. A hiker myself, I have read this book three times and it never fails to amuse me. The experiences listed are realistic for hiking on the AT, and Bryson's unique writing style as, in all of his books, never lets the reader down.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America?majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you?re going to take a hike, it?s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaing guide you?ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way?and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).

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