IN REVIEW: Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods
The ARS Sojourner
"Adventure" can take on very different definitions depending on your goals and experience. For me, a day hike on a well-heeled trail qualifies. Many of my colleagues yearn for wild overnights on some lofty summit; thunderstorms raging, and rain falling in sheets.
I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me until I picked up a copy of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" (Broadway Books, 284 pages).
It's the tale of a non-outdoorsman's trek up the famed Appalachian Trail, accompanied at times by a trusty, and even less-experienced companion. At times hilarious, Bryson's story resonated with this QRPer, for I share his childlike naivete.
Granted, I would never dream of embarking on such a journey as Bryson's, beginning at the Georgia terminus of the trail, and fixing his compass north toward Maine. Living vicariously through his day-to-day experiences, however, was as entertaining as it was instructional.
After living in England for 20 years, Bryson chose to reacquaint himself with America by setting a goal to hike the 2,100 mile AT.
He is joined by a longtime friend from Iowa, Stephen Katz. Bryson counts himself among some of the most unprepared people ever to have hiked the trail. But Katz eclipses Bryson in that department. The combination of the two AT misfits makes for some really enjoyable and laugh-outloud reading.
They meet a bizarre cast of characters along the trail, while taking time to describe the beauty and fragility of the landscape they traverse.
As an outdoors newcomer I found the book rich in factual information about the AT and outdoors in general. Bryson takes great pain to describe the habits of bears and intersperses historic tales of attack -- some with happy endings; others not so.
He writes about the perils of Lyme disease and other field-bred illnesses.
Bryson takes us along when he outfits himself with camping gear for the journey, then later describes which purchases were useful and which were not.
As an avid QRPer and one who immensely enjoys outdoors radio operation, I found myself longing to be hiking with Bryson and Katz; being able to toss a 40-meter dipole into the trees at the end of a long day and to make beautiful CW into the night. I envied their fantastic views and their odd encounters.
For this novice in the field, I found Bryson's book enjoyable and inspiring.
Someday I'd like to take "A Walk in the Woods" of my own. On my terms. And with a TFR (trail friendly radio).
For any ARS member who'd like to get some hiking experience without taking much of a risk, "A Walk in the Woods" is a good way to go.
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Richard Fisher, KI6SN, executive editor of The ARS Sojourner, is a tenderfoot outdoorsman and QRPer living in Riverside, CA.