Which AT book?

[MDSection12]

OK, so to be completely honest I kind of resent the 'I hiked the AT, now I can write a book' attitude that seems to be pretty common in the last decade or so. Hiking the AT seems like a great adventure for sure, but not one that we need a thousand books about... To me the thing that makes it so unique is that the trail itself isn't the focus it's the personal experiences that seem to vary so greatly from person to person. Because of that I just don't understand how so many books can be written on the subject; it seems to me they'd end up being more about the person writing than the trail.

With that said, I have not thru-hiked the AT and have only in the last year begun section hiking in my area. The more time I spend on the trail the more time I want to spend on the trail, and recently a thru has been added to my list of aspirations and seems to be moving towards the top. So now I'm thinking I'd like to read a book on the subject. I do not intend to start reading book after book about it though. I want to read one book, hopefully the AT book if one does exist. I am looking for something with a narrative, an account of one hikers thru, but at the same time I'd like it to be more informative about the trail rather than full of introspection on the writer.

So if you were only going to read one AT book, given the above, what would you pick?

[Sandy of PA]

AWOL by Dave Miller

[MyName1sMud]

AWOL on the AT

Thats the only one I can think of that actually talks about the Trail alot.

Bill Bryson's book will give you AT history and what have you.... but it's exactly what you described above. It's more about him and his friend that it is about the AT.

[Lyle]

I've read many books over the years. Some are good, interesting, humerus, reads, others not so much. AWOL is one of the good ones, well worth a read. My absolute favorite, however, is still the Two Volume set edited by Hare. It is long out of print, but available used on Ebay quite often - expensive. There is a new book out that selects a few of the included accounts from the original.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Stories-Hiking-Appalachian-Trail/dp/0811705986

Not about the modern trail, obviously, but still the most exciting read for me.

[10-K]

Hiking the Appalachian Trail, vols 1 and 2.

Stories from back in the day that I find very inspiring. Most particularly the first few women to hike the trail.

Definitely will read more about the trail, almost nothing about hostels and get an idea of what trail magic originally meant.

[Chaco Taco]

read one you have read them all, in my opinion.

[Slo-go'en]

read one you have read them all, in my opinion.

Pretty much. I was amazed at how many AT thru hiker books are on Amazon now. There seemed to be no end to them. Or you can just go to trailjournals and read some journals. Pick the ones with the most entries.

[Chaco Taco]

Although its not a thruhiking book, Not Without Peril is a great read.


Pretty much. I was amazed at how many AT thru hiker books are on Amazon now. There seemed to be no end to them. Or you can just go to trailjournals and read some journals. Pick the ones with the most entries.