Must read books...

[colorado_rob]

I'm 2/3rds of the way through "Wild, from Lost to Found on the PCT" by Cheryl Strayed. I've read about a dozen AT and PCT books recently, and I think this one ("Wild") is my favorite. If you like Bill Bryson's "Walk in the Woods", check out his "A Short History of Nearly Everything". Not thru-hike related, but still a great read.

[PapaGarrettP]

Here are 2 I didn't see that I liked:
Avalanche & Gorilla Jim, by Albert Dragon
Wild, by Cheryl Strayed (PCT)

[Lyle]

I'm surprised no one had mentioned the classic yet. "Hiking The Appalachian Trail", Volumes One and Two, Rodale. This is a collection of early through hiker accounts, including many of the iconic figures. Dorthy Laker, Ed Garvey, Elmer Onstot, Eric Ryback, James Wolf, Grandma Gatewood - just to name a few. Out of print, most copies are dogeared, but well worth the read if you find a copy. They come up on Ebay fairly often.

Gives you an appreciation for just how much hiking has changed since the "good old days" and how much it has stayed the same.

[Velvet Gooch]

I'm not a religious man, but I think everyone should read the Bible at least once

[Northern Lights]

I'm 2/3rds of the way through "Wild, from Lost to Found on the PCT" by Cheryl Strayed. I've read about a dozen AT and PCT books recently, and I think this one ("Wild") is my favorite. If you like Bill Bryson's "Walk in the Woods", check out his "A Short History of Nearly Everything". Not thru-hike related, but still a great read.

Wild is an excellent read. I really enjoyed it, read it through the Smokies.

[Mags]

Out of print, most copies are dogeared, but well worth the read if you find a copy. They come up on Ebay fairly often.

Gives you an appreciation for just how much hiking has changed since the "good old days" and how much it has stayed the same.

As I type this post, the copies are just to my left at eye level.

What I found is that no matter the equipment or clothing used, the spirit is the same. A chance to be immersed in the wood for several weeks or months at a time is a longing many people have and something that has called and enthralled many people over the years.

(And I am always find it amusing when people talk about the new fangled light weight gear...there is a gear list in this book that is at 15 lbs BPW from the late 60s. White gas stove included! )

[Erin]

A Season on the AT by Lynn Setzer A hard to find book but one of my favorites. Published in 1997 before Bryson book (which I like too because it is funny)
A Walk for Sunshine by Jeff Alt
Southbound by Lucy and Susan Letcher

A new offering on the PCT Wild by Cheryl Strayed

[Seldomseen]

Walking with Spring would be at the top of my list. The latest is a fiction book called Black Heart on the Appalachian Trail (great novel), I also like A Walk Along the Crest.

[Cadenza]

Camping and Woodcraft - Horace Kephart

[Bearleg]

A Walk for Sunshine by Jeff Alt 1998 thru-hiker, Some books read like a trail journal, other seem close to fiction, this is a nice balance.

[Astro]

Nice read, but turns out to be fiction.

Actually could be mostly true, just not actually by the person for whom is was ghost written.

http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2011...t-ever-happen/

[Traveling teacher]

Is it ok to post here if you wrote a book about the AT? I just published a book titled "Sometimes the Appalachian trail is..." by J. Michael Osmond. Those who have read it find it to be very funny. Have to admit it is not always complimentary of some on Whiteblaze. Check it out on amazon or kindle.

[BrianLe]

Interesting comments about "Wild". Pretty positive here; elsewhere I've read some that are pretty negative. I'm mostly through that book now and my own reactions are more negative than positive. It seems to me that anyone can have an "adventure" by trying something challenging with absolutely no preparation or planning and then write about how they dealt with the results of that. Being tough in dealing with it is laudable; getting yourself into that situation in the first place is, IMO, not.

I guess my reaction here isn't so much about/against the book itself as a sort of "reinventing myself and finding my way" sort of book, but more a concern that this might end up considered *the* definitive PCT "thru-hike" book. In the same way that I think that Bryson's comedy is a really poor selection as *the* definitive AT thru-hike book.

[Mags]

re: Wild

A bit of shameless plug, but the next episode of our podcast is reviewing this book.

I can't speak for the others, but I though the book was a 3 out of 5 stars kind of a book. Not terrible, but not good either. Same arc as many other books and nothing too original. Thrown in a little Lifetime Network type solipsism and there you go... I realize Wild is not meant to be a book aimed at thru-hikers, but even putting that aside, think the book is mediocre.

The definitive thru-hiker memoir for the 'modern' era is, at least to me, On The Beaten Path.

[88BlueGT]

Blind Courage <------ GREAT book - story of a blind hiker who thru-hikes the AT, very inspirational
Hiking Through <------ Reading this now, almost finished. Story of a gentlemen who loses his wife to cancer and hikes the AT seeking peace and happiness. I would describe this as inspirational, spiritual and religious. Nothing extreme but does talk about his relationship with God quite often.

[StealthHikerBoy]

I read Wild recently so I will comment. I saw it as maybe a 2 out of 5 stars book.

It isn't really about the trail; it is more about a personal journey. Which is fine, as that can make for an excellent book. The reason I didn't like it is all stories need a likeable character. Apologies to the author, as it is a memoir, but she isn't likeable before she gets on the trail, when she is on it, or even when she is done. She makes all sorts of bad moral decisions and I never really saw a moment where the journey she was one transformed her to become a better person. Most of her struggles are self-inflicted, which again, makes her very hard to root for.

Not a terrible book but not worthy of the attention it is getting either. But, in terms of personal journeys I thought the Barefoot Sisters book was really well done. And, I really liked "Just Passing Through" - which captures the culture of the AT better than any other book I have read.

[oldbear]

Over the Edge : Death in Grand Canyon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/098...0M7JYFMQA1713F
The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons (Penguin Classics) by John Wesley Powell and Wallace Stegner
Any of the Complete Walkers by Colin Fletcher and CW IV by Colin Fletcher and Chip Rawlins
Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition by Marc Reisner

[Oneofsix]

A friend of mine just gave this to me and I'm almost done, loving it is not a trail journal! So tired of that genre.

[Oneofsix]

A friend of mine just gave this to me and I'm almost done, loving it is not a trail journal! So tired of that genre.

whoops meant to quote . . . As Far as the Eyes can See

[fcoulter]

I'm surprised no one had mentioned the classic yet. "Hiking The Appalachian Trail", Volumes One and Two, Rodale. This is a collection of early through hiker accounts, including many of the iconic figures. Dorthy Laker, Ed Garvey, Elmer Onstot, Eric Ryback, James Wolf, Grandma Gatewood - just to name a few. Out of print, most copies are dogeared, but well worth the read if you find a copy. They come up on Ebay fairly often.

Gives you an appreciation for just how much hiking has changed since the "good old days" and how much it has stayed the same.

A trimmed down version of these two volumes has been released by Stackpole Books. Right now it's free on a Kindle.