View Full Version : Good Books to read about hiking the AT
SueJhiker
02-11-2017, 18:23
I love to hike, but it is tough in the cold PA winters so I read about hiking. I am currently reading (second time through) "Lost on the Appalachian Trail" by Kyle Rohrig. I love it! But now I am searching for another good book about hiking the AT (my longing). I see some on Amazon, but I thought I would ask first..does anyone have any opinions on good books about hiking the AT?
johnnybgood
02-11-2017, 18:34
The Barefoot Sisters : Southbound and their follow up flip flop return home hike entitled " Walking Home " were both well written books on hiking the AT.
LuckyMan
02-11-2017, 18:55
I loved Grandma Gatewood's Walk. AWOL on the Appalachian Trail is good. At one hostel i enjoyed reading an unusual memoir of a hike in the early 70s, As Far as the Eye Can See, featuring crazed violent hillbillies. The hostel owner assured me that Erwin was no longer as bizarre as it was portrayed in this book.
A remarkable hiking book I'm reading now that's not about the AT is Walking the Amazon.
There is a books forum with links to free books each week too.
https://whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdisplay.php/426-Books
Dan Roper
02-11-2017, 19:53
As Far as the Eye can See, by David Brill, is about a 1979 thru hike. It's the finest AT book I've read. Brill's description of experiencing spring on the AT is pure genius. In fact, I consider the book literature. It's that good.
The Appalachian Trail: A Journey of Discovery, by Jan Curran, is about an early '90s thru hike by a just-retired Army colonel in his early 50s. Some people don't like Curran, because of his no-nonsense, military demeanor, but I really like his writing. He began in June and reached Harper's Ferry in August. He finished the hike the following year and wrote a sequel.
When I'm on the AT, I enjoy reading pure excellent fiction. Some that have been fun: Clancy's Red Storm Rising and Patriot Games, a western called The Unforgiven (I don't recall the author), Crichton's Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain, and Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.
Pringles
02-11-2017, 20:18
I third the support of As Far as the Eye can See.
I'd recommend Endurance, about Shackleton's failed attempt to cross the South Pole. Guys sleeping in slush for months on end, truly embracing the suck. Just reading it will toughen you up.
Christoph
02-11-2017, 20:34
I really enjoyed Awol on the AT. Still reading Barefoot Sisters. OK and I'll be the 1st to admit it, I liked A walk in the woods. :)
Trailweaver
02-12-2017, 02:16
Books are great, & I've read several, but I also love reading the trail journals every year. Some people just report their miles, weather, & people they are hanging out with. Others are writing their own book and it just hasn't been published yet.
I liked Walkin' on the Happy Side of Misery, Appalachian Trials, and Hiking Through (a bit too religious for me, but still good)
Sandy of PA
02-12-2017, 10:38
Three hundred Zeros.
Jennifer Pharr-Davis's books......
blue indian
02-12-2017, 13:00
"Wheres the Next Shelter?" by Gary Sizer
crushing it on amazon and just got into Barnes and Noble in Ashville.....go Green Giant!!
Mr. Bumpy
02-12-2017, 18:22
There is a young adult fiction called Halfway to the Sky by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. It is about a teenage girl who tries to run away on the AT. As a former middle school teacher I had my kids read it and learn a little bit about the AT, and then we would take an overnight field trip at an outdoor adventure type place or have a camp out at school. For what it is, I thought it good enough and suprisingly realistic.
"Walking Home" by Kelly Winters. Provides an interesting view from a woman's perspective on hiking the AT.
rocketsocks
02-12-2017, 20:53
I've read many of these books...
"as far as the eye can see" by David Brill runs a close second for me, but my favorite is "a walk in the woods" a very funny light read, with some history and science thrown in.
4eyedbuzzard
02-12-2017, 21:39
For a bit of a historical perspective, and to get an idea of what the AT used to be like, read "Walking with Spring" by Earl Shaffer, and "Appalachian Hiker" by Ed Garvey.
I have read everything I could and I really enjoyed this one.
So I give a PLUS 1 for
Walkin' on the Happy Side of Misery - A Slice of Life on the Appalachian Trail
bigcranky
02-13-2017, 10:43
Then the Hail Came, by George Steffanos, is always my favorite AT journal read. It's online only, at this link. (http://skwc.com/exile/Hail-nf.html)
+1 on the David Brill book.
For something completely different, I like The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen King.
SueJhiker
02-13-2017, 11:00
I have read that book through a couple times and probably will again! What a story!!
I'd recommend Endurance, about Shackleton's failed attempt to cross the South Pole. Guys sleeping in slush for months on end, truly embracing the suck. Just reading it will toughen you up.
dwcoyote
02-13-2017, 11:33
My Appalachian Trial I: Three Weddings and a Sabbatical by Steve Adams. This is the first of three books he has and I just finished it. He has a podcast that you can find if you google: Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail podcast. He actually reads 1 chapter of this book at the end of each podcast. That is what led me to getting this book and number two is being delivered today.
Then the Hail Came, by George Steffanos, is always my favorite AT journal read. It's online only, at this link. (http://skwc.com/exile/Hail-nf.html)
Agreed. I've printed both his and the 'A Limp in the Woods (http://www.alimpinthewoods.blogspot.com)' journal, so I could read them during thru-hikes. They're such great reads (better than most AT books, in fact) that it feels criminal to use them to start campfires after perusing them!
I'm looking forward to Rolling Thunder's hike on the AT this year too. He's a news journalist by trade who's thru-hiked both the PCT and CDT, but I'm not sure if he'll be blogging along the way or not. I hope so.
Awol on the appalachian trail by david miller, Appalachian Trials by zach davis, Skywalker by bill walker, Becoming Odyssa by jennifer pharr davis, On Trails by robert moor, and the obligatory A Walk in the Woods.
Hiking Through by Paul Stutzman
BlackCloud
02-13-2017, 21:16
For a different type of read that is riveting, may I recommend Murder on the Appalachian Trail, by Jess Carr
rocketsocks
02-13-2017, 21:34
For a different type of read that is riveting, may I recommend Murder on the Appalachian Trail, by Jess Carri read that one...pretty damn spooky!
Cookerhiker
02-13-2017, 21:38
Putting in a word for On the Beaten Path by Robert Rubin. The author is a professional editor and his writing skill is quite impressive.
One of my favorite AT memoirs is Skywalker by Bill Walker. Same goes for his PCT book. I haven't finished his Camino book yet.
I'd recommend Endurance, about Shackleton's failed attempt to cross the South Pole. Guys sleeping in slush for months on end, truly embracing the suck. Just reading it will toughen you up.
An excellent book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bToqGFvAcM
I really enjoyed Awol on the AT. Still reading Barefoot Sisters. OK and I'll be the 1st to admit it, I liked A walk in the woods. :)
Why would you be the first? It's a fun book. AWOL was pretty bland for me, and I had hoped it would be more considering he was a father leaving his wife/kids behind to do a thru-hike.
As Far as the Eye can See, by David Brill, is about a 1979 thru hike. It's the finest AT book I've read. Brill's description of experiencing spring on the AT is pure genius. In fact, I consider the book literature. It's that good.
I'll read this one next. And since nobody mentioned this, Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is a good one.
rocketsocks
02-14-2017, 12:36
I'll read this one next. And since nobody mentioned this, Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is a good one.good read, E Abbey. If we're going off the AT, then I gotta plug Peter Jenkins "A Walk Across America" it was the first travel naritive I read, and then his second book by him and his wife "The Walk West"
My Appalachian Trial I: Three Weddings and a Sabbatical by Steve Adams. This is the first of three books he has and I just finished it. He has a podcast that you can find if you google: Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail podcast. He actually reads 1 chapter of this book at the end of each podcast. That is what led me to getting this book and number two is being delivered today.
ive read all three --the third is free.
He takes ownership of all his flaws.
Just Bill
02-14-2017, 15:23
This book sucks, don't read it:
https://www.amazon.com/Lying-Trail-William-Townsend-III/dp/150319387X
Jen's book is $2 on kindle these days and I think a great all around book-
https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Odyssa-Adventures-Appalachian-Trail-ebook/dp/B004I8VGYO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487100020&sr=1-1&keywords=finding+odyssa
A walk in the woods is different. The barefoot sisters were nice alternatives to "trail journal" style books.
"In Walking Distance" by Jamie Cannon. He begins his thru-hike in Maine (2006) with brand new stiff boots and a pack weighing 58 pounds. As I recall, his light source is a flashlight that uses four D-cell batteries (never heard of a headlamp). His cooking pot is from his apartment kitchen set. By mile 50, he has used up four packs of mole skin and starts duct-taping pieces of a camp towel to his feet. But he eventually figures it out.