Howdy all,
I just discovered a book in my library that I had not yet read. It was a part of a bunch of books a friend of mine no longer had any room for. Well I happened to glance at the title, and it lept out at me. The book is called "The Long Walk", by Slavomir Rawicz.
Let me tell you this fella did one hell of a thru hike. A polish cavalry officer Rawicz was captured by the russians in 1940, and sent to the ass end of Siberia in 1941 on a 25 year hard labor sentence. He escaped with a small group of prisoners and walked from Siberia through western china, across the Gobi desert, into tibet over the Himalyas and finally made his way to India.
That is one hell of a hike. Oh, and by today's standards they would be ultra-lite hikers.
Pretty good book, unless one is a Commie sympathizer/apologist. Check it out.

I read this one a few months ago. Good read, but the particulars are somewhat lacking as it is a 40+ year old memory when the book was written. Besided that they hiked without maps or real knowledge of the geography so seldom knew exactly where they were or where they were going. Still an incredible story.

It is one of the best books I have read. A similar book is "Endurance" about Ernest Shackelton's ill-fated trip to Antarctica in the early 1900s. Both are outstanding.

Howdy All,

I just finished the book. Wow, great story. What a testament to human endurance, and courage. Great Book, Great Story, Great Read.

Read this a couple of year's ago at Stitches' suggestion. Yep: Great read, incredible story -- you even become inured to the hardships yourself after awhile, like feeling fatigue in your knees and hunger in your gut when reading about throughhiking. Read it long enough, and you forget(/forgive?) the hardships and focus on food and rest.

Not good for dieting urbanites, howsomeever.

Thanks for the headsup. I will look for the book.

Another "The Long Walk" that has always been a favorite of mine is a short novel written by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King). It is fiction.

100 young men are chosen every year for the "Super Bowl" of events. They start walking and the last man standing wins "the prize". Everything he wants for the rest of his life I believe. The setting is from the Canadian/US border at Limestone, Maine down into NH. The finish line is when there is only one left.

The rules?

1. You can carry nothing
2. You will be given a concentrate belt for food on a preset schedule
3. You will be given a fresh water canteen any time you want it
4. You will maintain 4 mph
5. You will be given a warning if you fall below 4 mph
6. For every hour you go without a warning, you will lose one (if needed)
7. There is no fourth warning. You are shot on site (How else would SK do it?)

Kinda takes a shot at HYOH doesn't it? :-?

pcm

The rules?

1. You can carry nothing
2. You will be given a concentrate belt for food on a preset schedule
3. You will be given a fresh water canteen any time you want it
4. You will maintain 4 mph
5. You will be given a warning if you fall below 4 mph
6. For every hour you go without a warning, you will lose one (if needed)
7. There is no fourth warning. You are shot on site (How else would SK do it?)

Kinda takes a shot at HYOH doesn't it? :-?

pcm

I also liked that story. Set it on the AT and it would make great "Reality TV". We could just randomly label them Terrorists, you no longer need any other justification. The ratings would be huge.