Appalachian Trail published journals and memoirs

Anybody out there interested in reading about and walking on the AT?
Turtle Mom

Hi Turtle Mom, my wife is an avid AT hiker. Every year she reads journals on the Web to prepare for the section she's going to hike. I have health issues that prevent my joining her, so I'm the support team.

This post was just put up on the Oxford University Press blog: Hiking the Appalachian Trail

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson is excellent. More comedic than informational, I would definitely read it in conjunction with more serious outback/survival guides.

On The beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage was excellent. Do check it out.

1 Absolutely! I have only done some small sections of the trail myself.

MGP

I'm surprised no one mentions Edwin Way Teale's four books on the trail, starting with North with the Spring. I had always thought I'd be able to do some of it, but Bryson's book made me realize that it's not at all the kind travel I like. To quote a singer-songwriter "I want a bed and a blanket and some kind of breakfast sometime tomorrow."

> 7
I Need to read these! Teale's farm is in my home State (Connecticut). I never knew he mentioned the AT, in these books.

Recently finished From Katahdin to Springer Mountain which deals with old 1960s through-hiking projects. Ironically, virtually all the stories involve the traditional S to N trek. Nice historical treatment; food/equipment descriptions were mildly interesting.