# Recommend a nonfiction book about thru-hiking **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 11, 2023, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414 "2023-12-11T10:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/1 "2023-12-11T10:10:38Z")
I recently fell down a rabbit hole on Youtube thanks to [Kyle Hates Hiking](https://www.youtube.com/@KyleHatesHiking), a channel about people who’ve suffered mishaps while wilderness hiking, and often suffer a cruel or strange fate as a result. Quite a few of the stories he tells are about thru-hikers - people who set out to walk the entire length of a very long trail, with the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail being two that draw a lot of interest, in one go, a process that can take months. It’s such an interesting hobby just thinking about the logistics that must go into planning such a hike, and it’s infected me with a sort of wanderlust by proxy. To be clear, I have no interest in thru-hiking _myself_. I’m not in any kind of physical shape for such an endeavor, nor do I have the means to walk away from my job and live out of a backpack for 4-5 months. I’d really like to read and learn more about that world, though, and I’m thinking there’ve got to be some interesting books on the topic - maybe a travelogue someone wrote of their own trip down one of those trails, or a more general book about a specific one and its history and stories about people who’ve walked it or lived in one of the little towns where people stop to resupply. Anybody know of a good one? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/2 "2023-12-11T11:22:51Z")
If you want a humorous take (basically, “this sounds like a cool adventure! oh shit this is really hard and I’m a dummy for trying”), Bill Bryson’s _A Walk in the Woods_ is generally thought of as a low-key (if divisive) classic. > **[A Walk in the Woods (book)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_in_the_Woods_(book))** > > A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail is a 1998 travel book by the writer Bill Bryson, chronicling his attempt to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail during the spring and summer of 1996. For much of his journey, Bryson was accompanied by his friend Matt Angerer (pseudonymously called ‘Stephen Katz’ in the book), who had previously appeared in Bryson's 1991 book Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe. > Written in a comic style, the book mixes accounts of Bryson's wa... They made a movie out of it, but it’s not very good. Background article on the book: > **[How a Bill Bryson Bestseller Changed the Appalachian Trail—For Better or Worse](https://lithub.com/how-a-bill-bryson-bestseller-changed-the-appalachian-trail-for-better-or-worse/)** > > By the mid-1990s, Bill Bryson was an established bestseller in his adopted home of Great Britain, but success had not come so readily in the US market. His next book would be targeted to an America… ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/3 "2023-12-11T11:39:31Z")
[Cheryl Strayed, Wild](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307476073/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1702294797&sr=8-4) (PCT). If you’re interested in the Camino de Santiago, which isn’t the same kind of through-hike but has some overlap, I know of a very good booklist. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/4 "2023-12-11T13:13:39Z")
Bryson’s book is funny and entertaining, but it’s not _really_ about thru-hiking. He never intended to thru-hike. Here’s a good list - with some variety on different trails. > **[15 Books About Thru-Hiking — She Explores](https://she-explores.com/gear/books-about-thru-hiking/)** > > These books take us to 6 U.S. thru-hiking trails on solo hikes, coming-of-age adventures, historical examinations, and spiritual journeys. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/5 "2023-12-11T13:50:36Z")
The thru-hiking very much comes second to the locale being hiked, but I enjoyed Dom Joly’s Hezbollah Hiking Club: > **[The Hezbollah Hiking Club](https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/dom-joly/the-hezbollah-hiking-club/9781472128447/)** > > Three men. 470 kilometres. Twenty-one days. > > Welcome to the Hezbollah Hiking Club . . . > > At a boozy, cricket-filled afternoon at Lord's, Dom Joly convinc... ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/6 "2023-12-11T14:17:52Z")
I’ve done the Coast-to-Coast in England: from St Bee’s on the Irish Sea to Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea, through Westmorland, the Lake District, and Yorkshire. Took 20+ days. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/7 "2023-12-11T14:19:29Z")
My sister and brother-in-law hiked the PCT in their 60’s. They are very experienced hikers and planned for a couple of years, including figuring out a way for my BIL to take a six months sabbatical from his job. In the event, it took them two seasons to do the whole thing because his knee went out on him. The big trails, the PCT and AT, have a whole network of helpers along the way, including hostels that cater entirely to through hikers and their needs, cache stations, message stations, and so forth. Almost everyone evolves a nom de trail by which they are known to the others on this endeavor. Even though you only see each other intermittently, you become an integral part of the group of people who are doing nothing whatsoever else with their lives for the duration. It’s pretty fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/8 "2023-12-11T14:37:10Z")
_WIld_ was made into a pretty good film, with Renee Zellwinger as Cheryl. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/9 "2023-12-11T14:47:43Z")
Reese Witherspoon, actually. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/10 "2023-12-11T14:50:13Z")
My bad. Should have double checked first. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/11 "2024-01-08T23:23:20Z")
> [@susan](#): > > [Cheryl Strayed, Wild](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307476073/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1702294797&sr=8-4) (PCT). This. As a former backpacker myself, this rang very true. Enjoyed it. And if you are interested the logistics, The Complete Walker by Collin Fletcher is a highly entertaining read that details what to carry, what not to carry and why. It’s a smidge outdated but his writing makes up for it. The Man Who Walked Through Time, also by Fletcher, is about his thru-hike of the entire length of the Grand Canyon. Highly recommended. [Link](https://www.google.com/search?q=colin+fletcher+books&sca_esv=596692341&rlz=1C1EJFC_enUS922US922&ei=g4KcZdyrJ8XekPIP7emqGA&oq=collin+fletcher+&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiEGNvbGxpbiBmbGV0Y2hlciAqAggBMgcQLhiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQABiABBgKMgcQLhgKGIAEMgcQABiABBgKMgUQABiABDIHEC4YChiABDIHEAAYgAQYCjIHEAAYgAQYCkjWGVAAWABwAHgBkAEAmAFooAFoqgEDMC4xuAEByAEA-AEBwgIWEC4YgAQYChiXBRjcBBjeBBjgBNgBAeIDBBgAIEGIBgG6BgYIARABGBQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/12 "2024-01-09T00:17:37Z")
This book, The Pacific Crest Trail, by William Gray and published by National Geographic in 1975, was on my future wife’s family bookshelf when we were dating. I don’t remember much about the content, but when we were cleaning out my in-laws’ house I took it for my bookshelf. May be a bit dated, but may offer insight to life on the trail back in the 70s. It inspired in me the enjoyment of the mountains and shorter mountain treks (no thru-hiking plans for me at this point). > **[The Pacific Crest Trail: William R Gray, Sam Abell, Harvey Manning:...](https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Crest-Trail-William-Gray/dp/0870441493)** > > The Pacific Crest Trail \[William R Gray, Sam Abell, Harvey Manning\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Pacific Crest Trail Damn. Just holding it now and looking at the cover, and the pictures inside, bring back a lot of memories… ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-nonfiction-book-about-thru-hiking/994414/13 "2024-01-09T01:49:29Z")
A classic in this genre: > **[Amazon.com: AWOL on the Appalachian Trail eBook : Miller, David: Kindle Store](https://www.amazon.com/AWOL-Appalachian-Trail-David-Miller-ebook/dp/B003JMFKRE)** > > Buy AWOL on the Appalachian Trail: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com A little more off-beat, this author also has some trail logs on her website ([https://carrotquinn.com/](https://carrotquinn.com/)): > **[Amazon.com: Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest...](https://www.amazon.com/Thru-Hiking-Will-Break-Your-Heart-ebook/dp/B00W4RICAM)** > > Amazon.com: Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail eBook : Quinn, Carrot: Kindle Store More of a “how to” than the other two: > **[Amazon.com: Appalachian Trials: The Psychological and Emotional Guide to...](https://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-Trials-Psychological-Successfully-Thru-Hiking-ebook/dp/B0074U5L58)** > > Buy Appalachian Trials: The Psychological and Emotional Guide to Successfully Thru-Hiking The Appalachian Trail: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com