"All over America today people would be dragging themselves to work, stuck in traffic jams, wreathed in exhaust smoke. I was going for a walk in the woods. I was more than ready for this."

“So woods are spooky.”

Welcome back to the Reader’s Den!  This August we’re making a virtual escape from the hot and steamy New York summer with Bill Bryson’s classic travelogue, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, originally published in 1996.

Our reading list this year includes books featuring heroes, superheroes, and antiheroes. “So how exactly does A Walk in the Woods fit into this theme?” you might ask. Well, as a not particularly fit fortysomething myself, I have to admire the heroic effort put forth by Bill Bryson and his ill-prepared hiking companion Katz, who slowly but surely walked hundreds of miles on the Appalachian Trail. Isn’t perseverance a kind of heroism?  And doesn't it require courage to take a risk and embrace a new experience? But perhaps we could also ask: Where does heroism end and foolhardiness begin?

Why would anyone wish to hike more than 2,000 miles over rugged terrain, carrying all needed supplies on their back? Bill Bryson got the idea when he stumbled upon a section of the Appalachian Trail near his home in New Hampshire:

"It seemed such an extraordinary notion—that I could set off from home and walk 1,800 miles through woods to Georgia, or turn the other way and clamber over the rough and stony White Mountains to the fabled prow of Mount Katahdin, floating in forest 450 miles to the north in a wilderness few have seen. A little voice in my head said: ‘Sounds neat! Let's do it!’"

As we learn in A Walk in the Woods, the first thru-hiker, or person to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail (AT), was Earl V. Shaffer, a World War II veteran who walked over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine over four months in 1948. There were no trail guides at the time, so Shaffer had to rely on his considerable experience as an outdoorsman, often bushwhacking through overgrown sections of the trail. Shaffer describes his hike in Walking with Spring: The First Solo Thru-Hike of the Legendary Appalachian Trail. Bryson and Katz embarked on their walk on a well-maintained trail, armed with (not always satisfactory) guides and advice passed on by hikers famliar with the AT. What they didn’t have at the beginning were Shaffer’s wilderness skills, which makes for some entertaining reading. On a more serious note, as Bryson describes his walk, he also explores the human and natural history of the AT and its environs. 

Melissa Scheurer is my co-blogger this month in the Reader's Den. We hope that you’ll join us for an informative and frequently hilarious trek on the Appalachian Trail in the company of Bill Bryson and his unforgettable trail companion, Stephen Katz. We'll be posting discussion questions later this month, but please feel free to make comments about the book below. We'd love to know what you think about A Walk in the Woods!

You can request a copy of A Walk in the Woods from the library. It's available as a book, e-book, or audiobook. 

And if you're interested in doing some actual hiking in the New York City area, this Ticketless Traveler post lists some great resources.