A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

My second go around! Like visiting with an old friend. I read this book around 2011. I was rummaging through my stash of books and there it was. No doubt in my mind that I will read it again. I laughed harder this time around, revisited the informational text knowing that little has changed that will improve protection for our natural world, and just when you are low, Bryson yanks you out of that fog and rejoices with you of the glories of nature in the form of the Appalachian Trail. Bryson gives the reader, ME, the pleasure of joining him on his journey to write about the Trail. I could pick up his anxiety in what he was going to write and how he would capture the trail in a book. I could tell he had some intimidation in writing about this massive force of nature. But in Bryson style, he does it. He gives us a journey that includes his own discovery of his connection to the US as well as how the human race impact and imprint in the space that makes up the Appalachian Trail. Bryson takes jabs at institutions, individuals, and cultural snafus with a lightness that does not diminish the value of his concerns or grips. You feel like he wants you to appreciate the idea of the trail while also having reverence for the deep history of the Appalachian Mountain Range . The first pages will have you laughing so hard you are crying. You find multiple points in the book that will give you a chance to giggle while also inviting you to contemplate our place in this reverent space. Read the book. It will be your friend for life. And try to get on the trail. I have done a couple miles myself and I plan to return and take on a larger chunk in order to join the legion of trail lovers.

Honestly I read this book so long ago (10+ years) but I do remember really liking it, laughing out loud at so many of the funny things that happen when Bill & his old friend Katz decide to hike the Appalachian Trail. I have done a lot of hiking in the Smoky Mountains (one of my favorite places) & have even walked on stretches of the AT. So when the movie came out I had to see it. Good but not as good as I was hoping. But it did prompt me to get the book out & reread it.
Update: Just finished rereading/skimming book since seeing movie. The book is so much more than Robert Redford & Nick Nolte hiking the AT. Some things were embellished & many things were left out. Bryson adds so much more to the story-history of AT, statistics on hiking the AT & all the catastrophic fates that can happen to you, plus a wealth of information about the small towns you'll encounter & all the different geologic things you'll see.

Loved it! Just the right amount of funny

My favorite part of the book was actually that there was a whole lot of interesting info as backgrounder - the stats, the history, the weird factoids about the National Forestry Service in the business of building roads and not necessarily of protecting the forests. Not reading ahead on Google, I was rooting on Bryson and Katz making the entire trek, and I won’t spoil it here. But I kept thinking, is he doing this because he really wants to do this? Or was it to have content for his ultimately planned book? Seemed like the later, to me. Because he didn’t really seem to enjoy the journey. And that’s a pity.

its funny