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Thread: Books!

  1. #1
    Thunder
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    Default Books!

    Looking for people's suggestions on books about peoples thru hikes on any of the Major American trails. Have read the barefoot sisters books, the cactus eaters and a few others.
    Thanks
    Last edited by salsi; 11-18-2015 at 23:22.
    "In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks." -John Muir
    "Because in the end you won't remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn. Climb that ******* Mountain!" - Jack Kerouac

  2. #2
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    I love to read and have read at least 30plus books about the AT/PCT/CDT/etc. I'll have to say that there have not been any that I didn't like in some way or another.
    My favorites have been "Southbound" and "Walking Home" by Lucy and Susan Letcher about 2 sisters hiking the AT
    "Walking North" by Mic Lowther about a family hiking the AT
    "Becoming Odyssa" by Jennifer Pharr Davis about a young girl hiking the AT alone
    "Zero Days" by Barbara Egbert about a family hiking the PCT
    "Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins about a young guy who walks from NY to Louisiana.
    Happy Reading!

  3. #3
    Thunder
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    Quote Originally Posted by wi11ow View Post
    I love to read and have read at least 30plus books about the AT/PCT/CDT/etc. I'll have to say that there have not been any that I didn't like in some way or another. My favorites have been "Southbound" and "Walking Home" by Lucy and Susan Letcher about 2 sisters hiking the AT "Walking North" by Mic Lowther about a family hiking the AT "Becoming Odyssa" by Jennifer Pharr Davis about a young girl hiking the AT alone "Zero Days" by Barbara Egbert about a family hiking the PCT "Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins about a young guy who walks from NY to Louisiana. Happy Reading!
    Just finished reading the barefoot sisters books, loved them. Thanks for your suggestions
    "In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks." -John Muir
    "Because in the end you won't remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn. Climb that ******* Mountain!" - Jack Kerouac

  4. #4

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    As Far As the Eye Can see by David Brill
    Walking on the Happy Side of Misery by J.R. Tate
    A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
    And Then the Rain Came by George Steffanos
    Walking Home by Kelly Winters

    Also, the two volume Rodale edited set of short memoirs and essays. Great read of how it was in the 50s, 60s, etc.

    I have over a 100, in case you want more titles.
    [I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35

    [url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]

    .

  5. #5
    Springer to Elk Park, NC/Andover to Katahdin
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    Yes Rain Man, "As Far as the Eye Can See" is one of my favorites along with "Hiking Through" by Paul Stutzman.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    I am not young enough to know everything.

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    AWOL's book is excellent. He takes his time.
    Matt Kirk's book is also excellent (Kindle only?). He takes the opposite approach of AWOL and hauls the AT in less that 60 days.

    Both books are entertaining and full of really good information about the AT.

  7. #7
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    To get ready...

    The Complete Walker or The New Complete Walker by Colin Fletcher. Timeless.

    Wayne
    Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
    https://wayne-ayearwithbigfootandbubba.blogspot.com
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  8. #8
    Thunder
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    Thanks for all your suggestions guys, I'd like more titles rainman. Keep the suggestions coming
    "In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks." -John Muir
    "Because in the end you won't remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn. Climb that ******* Mountain!" - Jack Kerouac

  9. #9
    Registered User Just Bill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rmcpeak View Post
    AWOL's book is excellent. He takes his time.
    Matt Kirk's book is also excellent (Kindle only?). He takes the opposite approach of AWOL and hauls the AT in less that 60 days.

    Both books are entertaining and full of really good information about the AT.
    Here's the thread for Matt's book- it is available in paperback or kindle- http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...Light-amp-Free

    Camping and Woodcraft by Horace Kephart (and Our Southern Highlanders) is available for free on most platforms.

    As a Canadian you may enjoy Runes of the North by Sigurd Olsen.

    All the Leatherstocking Tales (Last of the Mochicans series) are free on many platforms.

    If you want to pick up the pace- Trail Life by Ray Jardine remains a favorite.

    I'm partial to this book, though most folks in this thread report it's pretty crappy- http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...48-I-am-a-Liar

  10. #10
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    I'm just happy to know that there are still some 18 year-olds who can read something other than Twitter or Facebook or Instagram (et al).

    I just returned to the US from England and nearly every American kid had his or her fat face glued to a "smart"phone, whilst most the English ones were reading those outmoded print versions called books.

    Keep reading kid; you'll be wiser than most for it.

  11. #11
    Registered User dudeijuststarted's Avatar
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    "Not Without Peril."

    It is not a thru-hike book, but it is about the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, which the AT travels through. It's an amazing book about people underestimating the Presidential Range and getting killed for it.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Uriah View Post
    I just returned to the US from England and nearly every American kid had his or her fat face glued to a "smart"phone, whilst most the English ones were reading those outmoded print versions called books.
    Your observation doesn't jive with reporting from the UK ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education...parenting.html

    And if you look at this thing in a global sense, you see it's pretty much the entire world; people love information, especially when it's entertaining, at least to them.

    When looking at the numbers in the chart it's very important to take the country's population in account. The UK only has a population of about 64-million. http://www.emarketer.com/Article/2-B...y-2016/1011694

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pedaling Fool View Post
    Your observation doesn't jive with reporting from the UK ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education...parenting.html

    And if you look at this thing in a global sense, you see it's pretty much the entire world; people love information, especially when it's entertaining, at least to them.

    When looking at the numbers in the chart it's very important to take the country's population in account. The UK only has a population of about 64-million. http://www.emarketer.com/Article/2-B...y-2016/1011694
    Oh, believe me, I realize all this; I travel internationally quite a bit. And each time I do, I see more and more "phone-face" and less and less human interaction or book-reading. It's one of the reasons why I'm learning to prefer visiting the "poor" countries, where humans still behave like humans and not robots. Of course, they're changing too.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pedaling Fool View Post
    Your observation doesn't jive with reporting from the UK ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education...parenting.html

    And if you look at this thing in a global sense, you see it's pretty much the entire world; people love information, especially when it's entertaining, at least to them.

    When looking at the numbers in the chart it's very important to take the country's population in account. The UK only has a population of about 64-million. http://www.emarketer.com/Article/2-B...y-2016/1011694
    Good article in The Telegraph. I've been observing these concerns for several yrs and largely they are not being addressed as the economic technological freight train rolls on. What is NOT being said is when we connect to some thing(s) we by definition disconnect from other things. What is NOT being addressed, as the economic technological tidal wave speeds forward, are the things we are being disconnected from and the quality of interactions that are even decreasing.

    The metric correlated with electronic use that has to be considered is not population of a country but the affluency in per capita income of a country. In more affluent countries electronic use AND ADDICTION spreads out to lesser affluent countries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Uriah View Post
    Oh, believe me, I realize all this; I travel internationally quite a bit. And each time I do, I see more and more "phone-face" and less and less human interaction or book-reading. It's one of the reasons why I'm learning to prefer visiting the "poor" countries, where humans still behave like humans and not robots. Of course, they're changing too.
    Congrats to you for being more SOBERLY AWARE ESPECIALLY AS AN 18 YR OLD.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    To get ready...

    The Complete Walker or The New Complete Walker by Colin Fletcher. Timeless.

    Wayne
    This is the book that I got started with.
    To this day I carry a single stick/staff (though now metal extendible to fool angry unicorns if I ever run into one out in the woods!

  16. #16

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    I had read a bunch of the beginner-goes-hiking "I did it!" type books until I tired... such a lot of happy face all over the place. Then I found "Between and rock and a white blaze" by the Urby couple. These were advanced, seasoned hikers who were blunt about all the problems they faced. I enjoyed the reality check for a refreshing change.

  17. #17
    Getting out as much as I can..which is never enough. :) Mags's Avatar
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    Check out this site:
    http://www.booksforhikers.com/
    Paul "Mags" Magnanti
    http://pmags.com
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    Facebook: pmagsblog

    The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau

  18. #18
    Registered User Sandy of PA's Avatar
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    Foot Path My Ass, the writers trail name was Bluebird. I gave the book to my sister, so I can't give her real name.

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    The Appalachian Trail Reader, David Emblidge
    Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. -Kahlil Gibran

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Uriah View Post
    I just returned to the US from England and nearly every American kid had his or her fat face glued to a "smart"phone, whilst most the English ones were reading those outmoded print versions called books.

    Funny, I just read this after telling my son he had to get off the internet on his Kindle Fire. We live in the U.K.

    (Of course, I didn't mean he had to turn the Kindle off. He's reading Into Thin Air on it as I write this post.)

    OK, some of my favourite hiking books:

    Walking north by Mic Lowther
    As far as the eye can see by David Brill
    On the beaten path by Robert Rubin
    Crossing Arizona by Chris Townshend
    The thousand mile summer by Colin Fletcher
    (trailname: Paul-from-Scotland)

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