Favorite AT Books

[ArtificialSunshine]

Hi all! I love to read, and I've read two books that are people's accounts of long distance hikes, one on the PCT and another on the AT. I've been looking for other good narratives of the journey. Do any of you have any favorite books that are accounts of hiking the AT? Every time I read one I get more motivated!

[SOBO_Pace]

What PCT book did you read?

[barf_jay]

My two favorites:

A Walk in the Woods
A Walk for Sunshine

[Kerosene]

I've read a lot of AT books, and here are my favorites by far:

Southbound and Walking Home, by the Barefoot Sisters

Walkin' on the Happy Side of Misery, by Model T

AWOL on the Appalachian Trail, by AWOL

Becoming Odyssa, by Odyssa

[atraildreamer]

Hiking the Appalachian Trail by: Rodell Press.

It is now out of print, but available at many libraries. It contains account of many different thru hikers. It is a great read, but lo-o-o-ong! It comes in 2 volumes.

[Kingbee]

I know it's not a hike narrative, but I really like "Just Passin' Thru", by Winton Porter. He runs Mountain Crossings at Neel's gap.

[Therunner1Guy]

"Just passin' through" and Skywalker's book

[redseal]

My favorites:
Walk in the Woods
AWOL on the Appalachian Trail
Becoming Odyssa
Just passin' through

[whatnot]

"On the Beaten Path" by Robert Alden Rubin
"As Far As The Eye Can See" by David Brill

[slbirdnerd]

I LOVED all of these, am reading "See You Down The Trail" (Bert "Shadow" Nemcik") right now and "Becoming Odyssa" is on deck:

• Three Hundred Zeroes, Dennis Blanchard
• A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
• The Things You Find on the Appalachian Trail, Kevin Runolfson
• Skywalker, Bill Walker
• Wild, Cheryl Strayed
• AWOL on the Appalachian Trail, David Miller

[ArtificialSunshine]

Hey guys! I don't know why it didn't occur to me to include which books I had read :P I've read Wild by Cheryl Strayed and Becoming Odyssa by Jennifer Pharr Davis. I'm so happy to see some good replies to my question. I'll be checking out all of your suggestions

[Trebor66]

AWOL on the Appalachian Trail
just Passin Thru

[Swordpen]

Skywalkers book.

I just finished AWOLs book, but he doesnt really cover the social (to me - fun) part of the AT. Skywalker tho not a "party hearty" type of guy, was more sociable it seemed, & covered the different kinds of characters one meets on the trail.

what I'm looking for, is someone who had physical issues & issues on the trail from it, but was able to thru hike. That would be inspiring to me.

[perrymk]

what I'm looking for, is someone who had physical issues & issues on the trail from it, but was able to thru hike. That would be inspiring to me.

Blind Courage
by Bill Irwin
http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Courage-...ds=bill+irwion

[stumpknocker]

Hi all! I love to read, and I've read two books that are people's accounts of long distance hikes, one on the PCT and another on the AT. I've been looking for other good narratives of the journey. Do any of you have any favorite books that are accounts of hiking the AT? Every time I read one I get more motivated!

"Mountain Girl" by Ken Byerly.

Fiction, but knows the Appalachian Trail well. Doesn't get to the trail part until later in the book, but the author has actually section hiked the whole trail.

Best book I've read in a while. Started out a little hard to read because of the Hemmingway influenced writing style of shorter and to the point sentences. Got used to that after about the third chapter and went on to really enjoy this book.

Kind of a love story about good friends starting early in life, growing up in NC, and not coming together for years.

Both Wade and Becky leave home at college age and end up going at life in totally different directions. The story moves over to Europe and the Mediterranean for a while, then back to the states.

Brings you through the civil rights era to the Bush era as seen by Wade the reporter.

Getting to the Appalachian Trail later in the book and in life as a couple section hiking the trail, but only one ends up hiking it to keep a promise.

Get the revised edition starting, I think, in 2012 if you are interested in the book I'm talking about.

I do know the author, but I know the authors of quite a few of the books about the Appalachian Trail.

I have also read some of the more traditional, journal/personal type of Appalachian Trail books mentioned by others in this thread and enjoyed most of them.

[nastynate]

AWOL, Stumbling Thru, both of Skywalkers books. I really enjoyed Stumbling Thru and I can't wait for the next volume.

[RyanK817]

The Road More or Less Traveled is awesome, a very under-appreciated AT memoir of a southbound thru.

[Kerosene]

I thought that Skywalker's PCT book was much better than his AT book, probably because it was his second book. His Camino book was written well, but it also made me realize that that trek isn't for me.

[The Gambler]

Walking With Spring by Earl Shaffer is my favorite...AWOL on the AT is good.....a different type of book but really interesting and funny is Appalachian Trials by Zach Davis

[Swordpen]

Thank you!