View Full Version : Any new hiking books?
Plodderman
06-09-2009, 12:35
Love to read and have read most of the AT books but am searching for a good read this year on hiking. Anyone reading anything they would recommend?
MyName1sMud
06-09-2009, 18:12
Walking across America - Peter Jenkins
dang good book i've heard. I bought it with "Merles Door" on Amazon.
Currently reading Merles Door which has turned out to a dang good read.
MyName1sMud
06-09-2009, 18:14
Walden is my favorite book on the planet.
Have you read it?
MyName1sMud
06-09-2009, 18:15
What about that Bill Bryson book. "A Walk in the Woods"
windy city
06-09-2009, 20:38
Here is a new book I just finished and would recomend. Halfway to Heaven.
http://www.amazon.com/Halfway-Heaven-White-knuckled-Knuckleheaded-Quest-Mountain/dp/1416566996/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244590416&sr=8-1
Plodderman
06-10-2009, 10:11
I have read quite a bit of Thoreau but not sure if I have read Walden. I have read "A Walk in the Woods" and that book always causes a stir when I am out on the trail. Many AT hikers do not care for it but I found it to be quite entertaining. I will check out "Halfway to Heaven" and "Walden."
Thanks for the input.
warraghiyagey
06-10-2009, 10:35
Jenkins - Walk Across America - is a great book for sure as mentioned. .
The absolute diamond in the ruff of all backpacking books, or books in general I've ever read is -
Brad Newsham's
Take Me With You
Absolutely fantastic book!!:sun:sun:sun:sun
Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck
Blue Highways by William Least Heat
North to the Night by Alvah Simon
Not hiking books, but will feed your wanderlust !!!
Have Fun !!!
earlyriser26
06-10-2009, 12:50
Loved Blue highways. a modern day travels with charlie
Old Grouse
06-10-2009, 12:51
I second Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon - although he drives, of course.
Plodderman
06-10-2009, 15:54
Thank you I am making my list.
Old Grouse
06-10-2009, 20:17
Speaking of William Least Heat Moon, you might also like his Riverhorse, his follow-up to Blue Highways. Instead of lapping the US in van, this time he crosses the country by river in a motorboat and canoe.
pahillbillybear
06-14-2009, 00:56
I've read "As far as the eye can see" by david brill . 5 stars. "how hike the AT" by michelle ray. 5 stars. Larry luxenbergs book (title ?). 5 stars. And rhyming worms (trailname) book (title). Today I bought cliff jacobsons (canoeing authority) book "map and compass". I have always wanted to know how to read a compass. Jacobson comes across as the kind of guy who could be an authority on whatever he took an interest in. Today I also bought "ten million steps" by M. J. Eberhart. It looks like a phenomenal read as well. I've also read "a walk in the woods". Its an ok book. It is very funny. Probabley the best non AT adventure book. I've read is into the wild. Fantastic read. He lived his life on his terms and it ended up killing him. But alexander supertramp lived more in the two years comprised than most people live in their lives. Hope this helps.
Awol2003
06-17-2009, 20:50
Larry luxenbergs book (title ?). 5 stars. And rhyming worms (trailname) book (title).
Larry's book is "Walking the Appalachian Trail"
Rhyming Worm (Robert Rubin) recently released a new edition of "On the Beaten Path" with a nice afterword.
beartrack1
08-26-2009, 14:02
I just finished reading "Blind Courage" by Bill Irwin, the fist blind person to thru hike the Appalcachian Trail.
Bill's book is marvelous and through his perception he captures a vivid picture of hiking the trail even though he's blind.
A short video can be viewed on Youtube showing Bill hiking the AT with his guide dog at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__nmimgCTJI
His book "Blind Courage" is available at http://www.cathedralgifts.com/blcobo.html as well as Amazon.com. It is great reading
and highly recommended. With what he had to struggle with while hiking the trail it makes me
ashamed that I ever complained about anything while on my hike. This is a must read for any AT hiker.
MacGyver 2005 (formerly Beartrack)
"Through Hikers Eyes" - Lawrence "Baro" Alexander (two volumes)
My advice is to buy both for the reduced rate - you'll want the second half. Very entertaining read, some have argued as good or better than Bryson's, and Baro is a real thru-hiker.
http://www.trailpeddler.com/Products/Through%20Hiker%27s%20Eyes/THE%20Revised%20Page.htm
Many have complained that the price is too high. I don't agree. Sales help to support Baro's non-profit Challenge Point.
Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck!
One of my favorite books. The opening lines alone make it a wonderful book for anyone with wanderlust:
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever
and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. ... In other words, I don't improve, in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable.
North to the Night by Alvah Simon
When I moved to Colorado back in August '99, I saw this author speak at a local bookstore in Ft. Collins (since closed. :( ). Cool guy.
Speaking of William Least Heat Moon, you might also like his Riverhorse, his follow-up to Blue Highways. Instead of lapping the US in van, this time he crosses the country by river in a motorboat and canoe.
Another favorite. If you are into Lewis and Clark history (which I am), it also resonates well.
Another great quote comes from that book:
..who can say where a voyage starts - not the the actual passage
but the dream of a journey and its urge to find a way?
As I was planning my CDT journey, this book was read..and that line REALLY jumped out at me,.
BTW, I have a list of outdoor quotes up at http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php/Outdoor-Writings/Colorado-Hiking-And-Outdoor-Society-E-mail-Quotes.html
May lead to possible reads?
Finally, shameless plug..I am working on a CDT photo book I hope to have out by early November. :) Stay tuned. (Nothing fancy; going to be done via lulu.com. More a labor of love than anything)
Mr. Clean
08-27-2009, 06:20
The barefoot sisters have two books out, "southbound" and "northbound", books about their yo-yo hike. I also liked Model-t's book, "walking on the happy side of misery".
Mrs Baggins
08-27-2009, 07:35
Enjoyed The Road More or Less Traveled by Steven Otis and Colin Roberts. It's about their AT sobo hike. Don't find too many books on sobo hikes. Also this year, I read Dead Men Hike No Trails by Rick McKinney about his AT hike. And of course never overlook Earl Schaffer's Walking With Spring. I've read pretty much every single book I could find on the AT. I scour both Amazon and eBay on a regular basis hunting them down.
Rain Man
08-27-2009, 14:05
In addition to several very fine ones (and some not so fine) mentioned so far, I'll add (in no particular order)--
"Walking Home" by WB's own Amazin' Grace (Kelly Winters)
"2000 Miles on the Appalachian Trail by Donald J. Fortunato
"Story Line: Exploring the Literature of the Appalachian Trail" by Ian Marshall
"Walking North: A Family Hikes the Appalachian Trail" by Mic Lowther
"There are Mountains to Climb" by Jean Deeds
"A Woman's Journey" by Cindy Ross
"Awol on the Appalachian Trail" by David Miller
"The Trail of My Life: the Gene Espy Story" by Gene Espy
"In Beauty May She Walk: Hiking the Appalachian Trail at 60" by Leslie Mass
"Our Southern Highlanders" by Horace Kepthart
"Walking with the Ghost Whisperers" by J.R. (Model-T) Tate
and one more I just ordered and have not read yet--
"Always Another Mountain: a Woman Hiking the Appalachian Trail From Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin" by Danie Martin about her '04 thru-hike as "Mouse." My middle daughter thru'd in '04 and says she met two hikers named "Mouse," so I bought this book hoping it might mention "Grass"! LOL
Sorry if any were already mentioned. And... just to name drop... my oldest daughter went to middle school with Peter Jenkins' daughter, here in Nashville. I never knew till I read the book and recommended it to her. LOL
Rain:sunMan
.
Buzz_Lightfoot
09-01-2009, 14:34
The barefoot sisters have two books out, "southbound" and "northbound", books about their yo-yo hike. I also liked Model-t's book, "walking on the happy side of misery".
I've just started reading the Barefoot Sisters' "Southbound" and so far it is the best book I have read about the trail. I've not read them all, but I have read many. This one is a cut above the others. Recommended.
I ordered my copy from teh ATC website.
BL
pafarmboy
09-01-2009, 22:46
Also love the opening lines from Blue Highways:
"Beware thoughts that come in the night. They aren't turned properly; they come in askew, free of sense and direction, deriving from the most remote of sources."
His thoughts were to drive around the country, ours are to hike 2000 miles.......
pafarmboy
09-01-2009, 22:51
Check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-Journey-into-America/dp/0316353299/ref=cm_cr_pr_orig_subj#reader
Give the "look inside" feature a moment to load.
Don't forget to read Jan Liteshoe's book abut her hike of the Long Trail.