A Walk in the Woods:
Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
By Bill Bryson
Published by Broadway Books
Copyright © 1998
The Appalachian trail, over 2,100 miles of mountain wilderness stretching from Georgia to Maine. Bill Bryson, upon discovering that this trail runs through the back yard of his town, decided that he wanted to know more about this trail. What better way to get to know it than to walk it himself. So he and an old acquaintance by the name of Katz (Stephen Katz) flew to Atlanta, Georgia in the early spring of 1996 to begin their trek at the AT trail head on Springer Mountain.
In “A Walk in the Woods” Bryson Chronicles their expedition. He highlights some of the day to day observances of the journey, as well as some of the history of the trail, its flora and fauna, and its governmental caretakers.
While I found this book to be quite informative, I also found it to be enjoyable. I was especially amused by the bumbling antics of Katz, although at times his language was a bit rough. This is definitely a must read book for anyone who is thinking of undertaking the AT hike themselves. We tend to glamorize things in our mind, but Bill’s story takes the gloss off of the picture and makes it look more like the monument task that it is.
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