The Appalachian Trail is the American mecca for personal challenge and growth. This 2,200-mile trek has drawn people from all walks of life, and from all over the world. The tales of this journey are very entertaining and do a good job representing the experience. So if you desire to tackle the Appalachian Trail, or just want to hear about the adventures, then there are many great books to choose from. Here is the only book you need to read about hiking the Appalachian Trail, and what it is like to do so if you don’t ever on actually hiking it yourself.
A Walk In The Woods
By Bill Bryson
The only experience I have with hiking the Appalachian Trail is the 40-odd miles I did through Maryland, starting in Pennsylvania, just north of the Maryland border, and hiking south to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.
And the whole time, all I could think of was Bill Bryson’s hilarious and insightful book: A Walk in the Woods.
Because he absolutely nailed it. Perfectly. This has to be the best, most thorough, and entertaining, book ever written on the Appalachian Trail.
My first night on the Trail, camping in a hammock, I came face-to-face with the eclectic crowd that were known as “pass through” hikers. The hardcore types going all the way from Georgia to Maine.
And they all had trail names: Panda Bear; Token Tony; Bushwacked; Crabapple; Cherry Stem—you get the point. It was so funny because I felt that I was actually living a chapter in A Walk in the Woods.
I can’t imagine walking the whole Appalachian Trail, so if you never want to walk a single mile of it, then this is definitely the second-best way to actually experience what it would be like.
And, of course, if you do plan on becoming a pass through-hiker, then this is an absolutely must-read book.
It may not be the best book on the technical preparation aspect of hiking the trail, but it will certainly get your mind right and give you an idea of what to expect.
Very entertaining and witty, this book offers a great history and an even better first-hand account of the Appalachian Trail life.