Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods (1998)

Bill Bryson is great! Funny, observant, very entertaining to read.

Several years ago I dated a guy who really liked the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail in one push. I wasn't a backpacker then, & was barely even a day hiker, so the idea of walking through mountains & valleys for six months without contact with civilization did not appeal to me in the least.

Years passed & I became an avid Camelbacker, as well as a dabbler in backpacking. I began to see the appeal of hiking over 2000 miles in the back country. I started to seriously consider doing the Arizona Trail, which bisects Arizona from Mexico to Utah (or from Utah to Mexico if you prefer), for a total of 800 miles. At a leisurely pace of 10 miles per day, this would take almost three months to complete. That sounded like fun.

Then I started reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. He makes months of communing with nature sound utterly insupportable, questionably unhealthy, & at times downright dangerous. Perhaps I'll have to revise my plan.

This book was traded at Bookmans.