new book?

[stonedflea]

*if* someone were to write another book on hiking the AT, what kind of stuff would y'all be interested in reading about?

[stonedflea]

(and what would you not be interested in reading about?)

[Hikes in Rain]

More about the history and lore of the various areas, such as was started with Model T's Walkin' with the Ghost Whisperers. There are "how-to's" and hiking journals galore, and I've pretty much read my fill of them. (After New years, I'm going to be culling the library a bit, and will be marketing some of these, that I read and enjoyed but realize I wouldn't read again). Past history, on the other hand, is either scarce or I've missed it.

[quilteresq]

What "Hikes in Rain" said - it's one reason I really enjoyed Bill Bryson's book.

[max patch]

After a while all of these "I Hiked the AT" books sound alike. For me to buy another one it would have to be a "special" type of book. Offhand, I can only think of 3 I would buy.

1. A book written by Jack Tarlin.

2. A book written by one of Doyle's expedition participants. I want to see if such a hike would be as miserable as I think it would. I don't want this book to written by Doyle as I don't want his "spin" on things. Now if Doyle decided to have one more expedition and if Jack went along as the future author that would be a heck of a book.

3. This one will never be written, but I'd like a brief paragraph of every relo and "why" it was made. (See, I told you it'd never be written.) I think the best I can hope for is that AT Journeys decides to print a brief recap of future relo's as they occur.

[Lone Wolf]

i have a book in mind. it would be in an ed abbey/hunter thompson style of writing. i got some stories...

[Just a Hiker]

After a while all of these "I Hiked the AT" books sound alike. For me to buy another one it would have to be a "special" type of book. Offhand, I can only think of 3 I would buy.

1. A book written by Jack Tarlin.

2. A book written by one of Doyle's expedition participants. I want to see if such a hike would be as miserable as I think it would. I don't want this book to written by Doyle as I don't want his "spin" on things. Now if Doyle decided to have one more expedition and if Jack went along as the future author that would be a heck of a book.

3. This one will never be written, but I'd like a brief paragraph of every relo and "why" it was made. (See, I told you it'd never be written.) I think the best I can hope for is that AT Journeys decides to print a brief recap of future relo's as they occur.

I think a book about trail relocations and their history would be interesting....alot of people enjoy piecing together the "Old AT". A book by Jack Tarlin, Lonewolf and Trek would also be interesting. I also think a book by Steve Longley and some of the old AT Hostel owners would be fun to read as well.

[4eyedbuzzard]

...if Doyle decided to have one more expedition and if Jack went along as the future author that would be a heck of a bookHasn't Murder on the Appalachian Trail already been written? :p :D

[Just a Hiker]

Hasn't Murder on the Appalachian Trail already been written? :p :D

Very true! I had dinner with Jack last week, and his dislike for Doyle is as strong as ever! :) However, the Jess Carr version of Murder on the Appalachian Trail is a good book.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Very true! I had dinner with Jack last week, and his dislike for Doyle is as strong as ever! :) However, the Jess Carr version of Murder on the Appalachian Trail is a good book.I don't know either of them personally, but I inferred from some past WB posts that the two may have slight differences of opinions on some things.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I'd like to see a new book work some of the trail's history into it the way Ed Garvey did in Appalachian Hiker. Not that it hasn't been done obviously, but many younger hikers likely won't read Ed's book due to it's age, and many are extremely unaware of the trail's history, how it came to be, and the tremendous effort it took to make it a reality.

[Just a Hiker]

I don't know either of them personally, but I inferred from some past WB posts that the two may have slight differences of opinions on some things.

The book would be fun to read!:)

[Spokes]

*if* someone were to write another book on hiking the AT, what kind of stuff would y'all be interested in reading about?

Anything but the typical chronilogical "my daily grind" format. We all know the hills are hard, what gear you use, the history of the AT, and how you have to hike when it rains. Yada, yada, yada.

Sadly, this is what most every hike the AT book is written like. You can read that kind of stuff on trailjournals all day long.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Anything but the typical chronilogical "my daily grind" format. We all know the hills are hard, what gear you use, the history of the AT, and how you have to hike when it rains. Yada, yada, yada.

Sadly, this is what most every hike the AT book is written like. You can read that kind of stuff on trailjournals all day long.

Since it's all been written already, perhaps the problem is that the written word is just a dead genre for the AT.
I'm going to suggest to CBS that they do a season of Survivor: AT

[Tipi Walter]

This one is easy. I want a long and in-depth account of birthing the feisty turtlehead in the field, for starters. Is it a two handed struggle or one? Has stool landed on your untied boot laces as you hover over a cathole? Have you ever had to birth an angry Turd on paper towels inside a tent during a blizzard?? Etc. Then I want long screeds on Man's war against nature since, heck, the writer is supposedly living in nature, right? I want rants on overhead jet planes, roaring adjacent motorcycles, and all the rest of the garbage of our heavy-handed intrusion into the mountains of the Appalachian Trail.

Then I need some long pages on gear and the weaknesses of each piece of gear used---for no tent or bag or pad is perfect. Just be honest and point out the flaws. Finally, I gotta have some mystical stuff about our relationship with the Woman of the Cold and the Wind, Miss Nature.

[4eyedbuzzard]

This one is easy. I want a long and in-depth account of birthing the feisty turtlehead in the field, for starters. Is it a two handed struggle or one? Has stool landed on your untied boot laces as you hover over a cathole? Have you ever had to birth an angry Turd on paper towels inside a tent during a blizzard?
Ya know, I think you pretty much just covered as much as that subject as most of us ever want to hear. :eek: :D

[Spokes]

Didn't someone already write a white paper on the efficacy of burying toilet paper while hiking?

[hikerboy57]

whatever hasnt yet been put into book form is right here on WB. although i like LWs idea, maybe with just a tad of kerouac.

[Del Q]

Well, certainly some interesting early spins on this subject, would hope that Mr Tarlin will correspond.............

....I was actually thinking about this the other day, haven't we all thought about our book?

Agree 100% on having a new spin ................... completely respect Tipi Walter but any book on the AT I have ever thought of writing would not have touched on his topics. Go figure.

[Lone Wolf]

This one is easy. I want a long and in-depth account of birthing the feisty turtlehead in the field, for starters. Is it a two handed struggle or one? Has stool landed on your untied boot laces as you hover over a cathole? Have you ever had to birth an angry Turd on paper towels inside a tent during a blizzard?? Etc. Then I want long screeds on Man's war against nature since, heck, the writer is supposedly living in nature, right? I want rants on overhead jet planes, roaring adjacent motorcycles, and all the rest of the garbage of our heavy-handed intrusion into the mountains of the Appalachian Trail.

Then I need some long pages on gear and the weaknesses of each piece of gear used---for no tent or bag or pad is perfect. Just be honest and point out the flaws. Finally, I gotta have some mystical stuff about our relationship with the Woman of the Cold and the Wind, Miss Nature.boring as dry white toast

[Lone Wolf]

whatever hasnt yet been put into book form is right here on WB. although i like LWs idea, maybe with just a tad of kerouac.i've read that overrated kerouac stuff BORING

[hikerboy57]

i've read that overrated kerouac stuff BORINGsome is, some isnt. dharma bums was my favorite.and although i enjoy the monkey wrench books, desert solitaire is still abbeys best writing(IMHO)

[Johnny Thunder]

This one is easy. I want a long and in-depth account of birthing the feisty turtlehead in the field, for starters. Is it a two handed struggle or one? Has stool landed on your untied boot laces as you hover over a cathole? Have you ever had to birth an angry Turd on paper towels inside a tent during a blizzard?? Etc. Then I want long screeds on Man's war against nature since, heck, the writer is supposedly living in nature, right? I want rants on overhead jet planes, roaring adjacent motorcycles, and all the rest of the garbage of our heavy-handed intrusion into the mountains of the Appalachian Trail.

Then I need some long pages on gear and the weaknesses of each piece of gear used---for no tent or bag or pad is perfect. Just be honest and point out the flaws. Finally, I gotta have some mystical stuff about our relationship with the Woman of the Cold and the Wind, Miss Nature.


walter, i've got that one percolating for you. it's called, "keychain's moldering privy ***hole." this tale of intrigue and depravity chronicles my fellow city-boy and his early attempt at pooing on cheoah bald. readers will marvel at his sustained use of the crab-walk position, cringe in terror as he rips his last paper square, and laugh out loud as he reaches for the brown leaves.

[Tipi Walter]

walter, i've got that one percolating for you. it's called, "keychain's moldering privy ***hole." this tale of intrigue and depravity chronicles my fellow city-boy and his early attempt at pooing on cheoah bald. readers will marvel at his sustained use of the crab-walk position, cringe in terror as he rips his last paper square, and laugh out loud as he reaches for the brown leaves.

FINALLY, THE VOICE OF REASON. People who backpack all the time need a backpacker's book on such events---along with the usual trails walked, shelters used and miles hiked. Here's a few more, from a book yet unbound---

ARCTIC MIDWIFERY
It takes a special breed of individual to strip half naked and to birth a mean and angry turtlehead into the snowy and frozen ground of a high mountain bald. Few are called, all must squat. Young Nanook was conceived from a meal I ate two days ago and after a 48 hour gestation was birthed using the Tundra Method: Slap him down on the snow and run like hell.
A true tundra baby will quickly form an igloo of stool and in several minutes will be as frozen as the snow around him. Ah, but yesterday I dug an unused hole so today Young Nanook's nursery was already prepared for immediate usage. Shunka The Dog as a carnivore would've eaten Young Nanook but he was across camp and I had Nanook buried quickly before Shunka's approaching breakfast.

POST PARTUM GLEE
Many people get post birth depression, but not me, the last thing I think about after squatting to release a young turtlehead is suicide, in fact, each birth makes me want to live that much more. So let's hear it for the humble turtlehead and though it gives its life smothered and buried, it allows us to go forward into the bright light of a new day, etc.



TURTLEHEAD REPORT
(Those easily offended should turn away). I went outside in the unstrung boots(still frozen)and squatted by the tent and birthed a healthy turtlehead atop the surface of the snow where it will remain until tomorrow when I'll have time to dig a proper hole and transport it in one frozen brick balanced on two sticks. As long as I don't step outside and get turtle-crocked, I'll be okay. Or maybe Shunka will find it and feast.



THE VIOLENT TURTLEHEAD
So wouldn't you know it but the first order of business after setting up the tent was to go off the ridge a bit and scrape out a hole to homebirth an angry and violent turtlehead. This newborn came in at 6.8 pounds, feisty with a fully functioning arm and hand as it reached out and tripped me up as I was walking away. And I heard a muffled chortle right before I fell.

THE FROZEN TURTLEHEAD
The normal non-Inuit turtlehead hates winter backpacking and the backpackers who do it, because since they regularly go from 100 degrees to zero(atop snow no less)in about one nano(nanal?)second--they hardly have time to survey their new kingdom before they are frozen solid. A completely frozen turtlehead though still lives and woe be to the idiot who picks up what seems to be a hard, solid wood-like object only later to find it to be, when thawed, a steaming, angry and pissed off human turd.

It's not a reptile, a frisbee or a polished chunk of knotwood, it's now a breathing, pulsating, unburied turtlehead, the worst kind. If discovered, drop immediately and call no one. Never shove soiled hands down into pants as the smell of a foreign turtlehead will elicit your own yet-unborn turtlehead to emerge from hiding to investigate in fighting form and possibly wanting intimate congress or abruptly posturing itself in a fight or flight response. If you have an alpha turtlehead buried in your shorts, be prepared for an all out fight to the death.
On the other hand, the flight response will drive your own turtlehead deeper and higher into your body, possibly up into your chest cavity or throat. Good luck. All this can be avoided by not backpacking in the winter, and if you do pick up a frozen turtlehead by mistake, don't be around when it thaws.

TO SHOVE OR NOT TO SHOVE
There's nothing as disturbing and yet as fulfilling as having to birth a combative and hysterical turtlehead into a cold morning snow and then having it look back at you with it's mournful brown eyes pleading to be reinserted and not left to freeze and be buried in a colon-less world. It takes a strong man to walk away from his own progeny and to become a dead beat Dad(dung-beat Dad?), and yet to placate, raise, retain and nurture one's own turd leads to distention, fecal impaction, severe lethargy and eventual unconsciousness. Better to have shoved and lost than to never have shoved at all.

[bamboo bob]

Please no more on the Life Changing Spirituality of hiking the AT. Please no. I can't take it. Stop, stop. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[rocketsocks]

FINALLY, THE VOICE OF REASON. People who backpack all the time need a backpacker's book on such events---along with the usual trails walked, shelters used and miles hiked. Here's a few more, from a book yet unbound---

ARCTIC MIDWIFERY
It takes a special breed of individual to strip half naked and to birth a mean and angry turtlehead into the snowy and frozen ground of a high mountain bald. Few are called, all must squat. Young Nanook was conceived from a meal I ate two days ago and after a 48 hour gestation was birthed using the Tundra Method: Slap him down on the snow and run like hell.
A true tundra baby will quickly form an igloo of stool and in several minutes will be as frozen as the snow around him. Ah, but yesterday I dug an unused hole so today Young Nanook's nursery was already prepared for immediate usage. Shunka The Dog as a carnivore would've eaten Young Nanook but he was across camp and I had Nanook buried quickly before Shunka's approaching breakfast.

POST PARTUM GLEE
Many people get post birth depression, but not me, the last thing I think about after squatting to release a young turtlehead is suicide, in fact, each birth makes me want to live that much more. So let's hear it for the humble turtlehead and though it gives its life smothered and buried, it allows us to go forward into the bright light of a new day, etc.



TURTLEHEAD REPORT
(Those easily offended should turn away). I went outside in the unstrung boots(still frozen)and squatted by the tent and birthed a healthy turtlehead atop the surface of the snow where it will remain until tomorrow when I'll have time to dig a proper hole and transport it in one frozen brick balanced on two sticks. As long as I don't step outside and get turtle-crocked, I'll be okay. Or maybe Shunka will find it and feast.



THE VIOLENT TURTLEHEAD
So wouldn't you know it but the first order of business after setting up the tent was to go off the ridge a bit and scrape out a hole to homebirth an angry and violent turtlehead. This newborn came in at 6.8 pounds, feisty with a fully functioning arm and hand as it reached out and tripped me up as I was walking away. And I heard a muffled chortle right before I fell.

THE FROZEN TURTLEHEAD
The normal non-Inuit turtlehead hates winter backpacking and the backpackers who do it, because since they regularly go from 100 degrees to zero(atop snow no less)in about one nano(nanal?)second--they hardly have time to survey their new kingdom before they are frozen solid. A completely frozen turtlehead though still lives and woe be to the idiot who picks up what seems to be a hard, solid wood-like object only later to find it to be, when thawed, a steaming, angry and pissed off human turd.

It's not a reptile, a frisbee or a polished chunk of knotwood, it's now a breathing, pulsating, unburied turtlehead, the worst kind. If discovered, drop immediately and call no one. Never shove soiled hands down into pants as the smell of a foreign turtlehead will elicit your own yet-unborn turtlehead to emerge from hiding to investigate in fighting form and possibly wanting intimate congress or abruptly posturing itself in a fight or flight response. If you have an alpha turtlehead buried in your shorts, be prepared for an all out fight to the death.
On the other hand, the flight response will drive your own turtlehead deeper and higher into your body, possibly up into your chest cavity or throat. Good luck. All this can be avoided by not backpacking in the winter, and if you do pick up a frozen turtlehead by mistake, don't be around when it thaws.

TO SHOVE OR NOT TO SHOVE
There's nothing as disturbing and yet as fulfilling as having to birth a combative and hysterical turtlehead into a cold morning snow and then having it look back at you with it's mournful brown eyes pleading to be reinserted and not left to freeze and be buried in a colon-less world. It takes a strong man to walk away from his own progeny and to become a dead beat Dad(dung-beat Dad?), and yet to placate, raise, retain and nurture one's own turd leads to distention, fecal impaction, severe lethargy and eventual unconsciousness. Better to have shoved and lost than to never have shoved at all.Walter,I think the folks might need some pictures on this one.Ya no the money shot,one good ole $--t eat'in:D What da you say?

[Jack Tarlin]

Del Q:

It's been a long and quiet winter. Answer to your question....yeah, it's a work in progress. But it may be awhile. Thanks for asking.

[Mizirlou]

Answer to your question....yeah, it's a work in progress. But it may be awhile. Thanks for asking.
Jack, it’d be interesting to read your historical perspective of Don West’s (1906-1992) influence on the AT hiking community.
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/454/entry, Paragraph 6
http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Highlander_Folk_School
http://folklifecenter.org/default.aspx

[lemon b]

Stoned Flea maybe about hiking with a dog? Even make it thru the eyes of your dog.
Looking forward to a book from Balitmore Jack had no clue he was even thinking about putting something like that together.

[WingedMonkey]

Jack, it’d be interesting to read your historical perspective of Don West’s (1906-1992) influence on the AT hiking community.
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/454/entry, Paragraph 6
http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Highlander_Folk_School
http://folklifecenter.org/default.aspx

Even a history buff like jack has more to do than respond to your troll bait, on something that has nothing to do with this subject or the AT.

[Mizirlou]

Even a history buff like jack has more to do than respond to your troll bait, on something that has nothing to do with this subject or the AT.
Bulloney. The topic is about books. Jack’s evidently writing one. I told him what I’d like to read. He’s a walking encyclopedia of trail knowledge, and the mountain of AT books to date don’t even scratch the surface. Plus I didn’t ask him to open the discussion here, but in his book. Don West had an impact on AT hikers, whether they realize it or not. It’s a valid historical topic for Jack’s book. Why’re you making an incendiary book-burning-ish statement like that? Stop the name-calling. I think you’re trolling for incendiary value.

[jacquelineanngrant]

How about a female perspective that doesn't involve tears. Or better yet, a book that captures the experience in its entirety. Less look at what I did and more of look at what I saw and the people I met. Or perhaps a collection of stories from different hikers with different perspectives.

[Pages]

for me at least, it's not just what a certain book is about, but the way it is written. i've read books on topics i don't even consider the least bit entertaining, but yet a certain writer's take on it - his/her angle - and the style of writing has made it more than interesting for me.

i've read a number of books on hiker accounts, and the ones i truly enjoy, and in some cases, absolutely love, are the ones that are written well and with an unusual style or sense of humor. and they might be the same type of story that has already been written hundreds of times.

that's why i think bryson's book was so popular - aside from the fact that he is well-know. he's a very good writer and people enjoy his work.

The bad books - and documentaries as well - come from people who simply don't know their craft. but that still doesn't mean they shouldn't go for it anyway and maybe, just maybe learn something along the way.

no one has ever re-invented the wheel, but it has been greatly improved over centuries, and it's because someone chose to take that wheel, and instead of altering it's function or purpose, made it either more easily accessible, acceptable, user friendly, or added a twist of something of their own.

everyone's book or documentary or song is going to be different than any of the others all of the time, because they will be written, or shot, or recorded by YOU and not someone else.

There's always an audience for anything.

by the way, is it just me, but in spite of all the great informative posts and discussion on this site, whiteblaze does a really good job of sucking the life out and killing the spirit of anything someone aspires to if too many people here have seen it/heard it/done it too many times?

THAT'S what really get old to me!


TV

[Mizirlou]

More about the history and lore of the various areas...Past history, on the other hand, is either scarce or I've missed it.
Me too, with a dash of the absurd like Tipi’s turtleheads.

University archives are a surprisingly good source of info – recall how many people have posted to inquire about various aspects of the AT as a starting point for their academic research. If you know how to mine university archives, it’s a largely untapped gold mine for prospective authors. That’s where I discovered a remarkable and fascinating paper on the gent who this time shall remain unnamed, to keep the peace with Monkey.

[Sly]

3. This one will never be written, but I'd like a brief paragraph of every relo and "why" it was made. (See, I told you it'd never be written.) I think the best I can hope for is that AT Journeys decides to print a brief recap of future relo's as they occur.

It seems to me you're always looking for a dubious or negative slant. I have no idea but the most likely reason for relos is land is bought and has become protected. Former trail became eroded to the point maintenance was futile. It was taken off roads, or away from neighborhoods or dwellings. The relos have better views, new shelter area, water.

[Jack Tarlin]

Mizerlou: In recent years I confess to not being much of a fan of the late Mr. West, but this was mainly for political reasons. As for his connections to, or his influence on the Trail, well this is certainly of interest to me and I'll check out the links you suggested. Thank you for sending them along.

[Mizirlou]

Mizerlou: I'll check out the links you suggested. Thank you for sending them along.
The Vault has good stuff online if you use the right keyword search (or FOIA request if you can’t find it online.) NARA has the honey pot, with 2 microfilm research rooms near the Atlanta area. Dig deep, it’s there. There’s a preponderance of disinformation on the pop Internet, political and otherwise, to lead lesser authors astray.

Keeping it real:
http://vault.fbi.gov/
http://www.archives.gov/locations/

[Lumberjack2003]

Besides Jack's book I would love to read one that detailed a conversation between 3 hikers. One from the early days, one from 20 years ago and a one who just finished. Hopefully the conversation would talk about the differences in their experiences (gear, the path of the trail, trail town experiences, etc...) and the similarities that they also experiences.

[rocketsocks]

I think one chapter should be dedicated to "**** House Poetry"