A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Subtitled "Rediscovering American On The Appalachian Trail, this book was a must read for me. Bryson is an American writer who lived in England for many years. He returned to America and got it into his head he would try the AT hence the subtitle. I have hiked parts of the AT and entertained the idea of doing the whole thing. Also I deduced that Bryson moved to or near Hanover, N.H. I spent all my summers as a boy near Hanover. Those summers including many backpacking trips many of which were on the AT.
Bryson describes his dislike for the technical details of backpacking equipment. There is a funny scene when he is preparing for this trip. This scene reinforced my guess that Bryson had returned to or near Hanover, New Hampshire. It seemed clear he was shopping at the same hiking equipment store I shopped at in the past. I too visited the Dartmouth Bookstore which was next door.
I hiked sections of the AT. It is a long trail that goes from Georgia to Maine. Bryson was going to attempt the entire trail also doing it section by section. He rounds up a companion, gets ready and they set off. Bryson's companion, Katz, is a recovering alcoholic. It is clear this pair made the right decision to NOT try a through hike. The relationship between them helps carry the story along.
Katz is even more out of shape than Bryson. He seems to bring too many things. He always wants "Little Debbie" or other snacks. The first day of a backpacking trip is always the toughest because you are most out of shape and the back is heavy with supplies. Katz seemed to handle these situations by tossing out equipment.
Bryson is funny and entertaining. He goes on and on about bears and how scared he is of them. He lists all the dangers but bears seem to be his nemesis.
He gives us some interesting history about the trail, through hikers and the America you see while hiking the trail. We get to enjoy much history and many stories. The book is well written and I found this aspect of the book as good as any travelogue out there.
I picked and choose what I thought would be the nicest sections of the trail. These include the Smoky Mountians in N.C., the Blue Ridge mountains in VA., and large sections of trail in Vermont and New Hampshire. I'm sure I missed many other great sections. I did hike the entire New Jersey section because I lived close to it for a while. Actually Sunfish Pond and the Delaware Water Gap area is very beautiful and Bryson noted that. Bryson confirmed my choices. He also hiked sections I skipped. Happily I now have no desire to complete the entire trail. I'll just continue to pick and choose and stick to the best parts.
When all is said and done Bryson and Katz end up skipping large sections of the trial but proclaim that "we hiked the Appalachian Trail." I always reserved that statement for people who actually completed the entire 2,100 mile journey. Certainly they did travel most of the best parts and truly understand the nature of the trail. They felt they had enough blood and sweat into it to make that statement. I highly recommend this entertaining book.
A Walk in the Woods read August '09 - Highly Recommended
This page written 9/12/09. Copyright (c) Carl Wohlforth 2009
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