Date: 2017-01-18
To: AT Reading List
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

I enjoy a good book here and there, and I wanted to share some of the books that have inspired my AT Hike. I think they're great reads in general, but especially if you're looking for motivation for the trail!A Walk in the Woods - Bill BrysonThis book seems to be the quintessential AT book. Bryson blends his humor, wit, and history in his well written account of his own AT hike. AWOL on the Appalachian Trail - David MillerMiller's book is more focused, journal-like account of the AT hike. He shares the details, logistics, and how he became inspired to hike the trail (and the change that brought in his life). A bit more dry of a read, but I'd recommend it to any would-be hiker.Into the Wild - Jon KrakauerPractically holy writing to anyone who consider themselves the wandering type, Into the Wild is a great look into story and the mind of Christopher McCandless. Despite his terrible end, McCandless with the help of Krakauer's writing awoke a desire in many to leave the world as they know it behind and live with less. This book takes a look both at what it cost Chris (along with his life) and what he gained.Fire Season - Philip ConnorsConnors shares his experience as an outlook in a firetower in the Gila Wilderness. This book is not about hiking, though he does spend a little time talking about thru-hikers, but more about his experience with solitude in nature. I found this sentiment nice:"I do not so much seek anything as allow the world to come to me, allow the days to unfold as they will, the dramas of weather and wild creatures. I am most at peace not when I am thinking but when I am observing. There is so much to see, a pleasing diversity of landscapes, all of them always changing in new weather, new light, and all of them still and forever strange to a boy from the northern plains. I produce nothing but words; I consume nothing but food, a little propane, a little firewood. By being virtually useless in the calculations of the culture at large I become useful, at last, to myself"Walden - Henry ThoreauSpeaking of solitude... I have always found Thoreau's writings very insightful. Of particular interest to any hiker is his writings in "Economy". Simply stated he says the more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to take care, and the less time you have to understand and pursue who you are yourself. Interesting to anyone who plans on living out of a backpack for several months.The Outermost House - Henry BestonThe Outermost House is another book about the solitude our author finds in a cabin this time built on a beach in New England. What I appreciate especially in this book is the appreciation Beston has for everything nature provides around him. The way the sand is shaped by the sea, how much he learned from the way breakers look, and all the life that found it's way on the beach.A Sand County Almanac - Aldo LeopoldI can't say enough good things about this book. One of Wisconsin's greatest treasures. I would argue he is the greatest conservationist for not only on the way he changed thinking in ecology, but in also the action he took to preserve wilderness in America. While the AT is definitely not the Wilderness that Leopold talks about, he elevates the idea that it is natural for man experience nature and wilderness. It's also important to anyone who is going to spend months in the woods why "Leave No Trace" is vital to the trails and parks we visit.Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred LansigThis incredibly well-written book is about Ernest Shackleton and his crew being stranded in the Antarctic. For 21 months 28 men were stranded in some of the most uninhabitable climates Earth has to offer. Every man survived. It's one of my favorite stories and is shared well by Lansig. What I found most striking about this book is the optimism the crew had in such grim circumstance. Their optimism should be inspiration to anyone who has a difficult journey ahead of them, and that's why it made this list.Happy reading .