From Ol' eArThworm

FOLLOW ME TO MY OTHER BLOG

2008-12-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

THIS HERE IS A DEFUNCT BLOG, FOLKS!
PLEASE COME FOLLOW OL' eArThworm
OVER TO HER OTHER BLOG AT:

http://booksforhikers.com

THERE'S A LOT OF TRAIL-BOOK STUFF
GOING ON OVER THERE!!

The Book Quiz

2007-08-11T12:50:00.001-07:00

Speaking of books, I just took the Book Quiz
[Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.]
and here's the book it says I am:

You're The Dictionary! by Merriam-Webster

"You're one of those know-it-all types, with an amazing amount of knowledge at your command. People really enjoy spending time with you in very short spurts, but hanging out with you for a long time tends to bore them. When folks really need an authority to refer to, however, you're the one they seek. You're an exceptional speller and very well organized."

This is a formal apology to all the people I've bored to death! ;->

The Adventures of the Barefoot Sisters

2007-07-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

"The Adventures of the Barefoot Sisters: Book 1. Southbounders; Book 2. Walking Home"
by Lucy and Susan Letcher, Flower Press, 2006.

“Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far away, two charming and talented sisters yo-yo’d the Appalachian Trail--barefoot.” Sounds like a fairy tale, but it’s a true story. Or maybe a true story with fairy-tale elements. Most definitely a story full of adventure, true grit, true wit, friendship and even a little romance. There’s something for everyone in these A.T. memoirs, beautifully written by “The Barefoot Sisters.”

Lucy (trailnamed “Isis” for her amazing ‘reincarnation’ on day two, after her ‘death’ from exhaustion on day one of hiking the Incan Trail) and Susan (named “jackrabbit” for her Tae Kwon Do jumping kicks) grew up on the coast of Maine and went barefoot much of their childhood. They wanted to continue this experience on their 2000-2001 thruhikes. “We had decided to try hiking barefoot because it was the way we had always walked, since we were kids, in the mountains near our home...We loved the sense of connection to the ground...You can feel the trail with all your senses.” They would go barefoot on their hike, they decided, as long as it was comfortable and fun--which turned out to be most of the time. Before long, their feet became such celebrities that Lucy named hers Dusty and Lefty, while Susan’s were named Lethal Weapon I and II.

They became well-known to many not only for their barefoot backpacking, but also for their composition of the Trail Days award-winning ditty “Dig a Hole.” But their talents didn’t begin and end there. They were the inventors of Extreme Hiking Maneuvers such as the Slugundy Slide and the Piscataquis Pirouette. They were accomplished story-tellers, singers of sea chanties, and reciters-and-writers of poetry--especially of the Anglo-Saxon variety: “Stormward we strode, strong sisters / barefoot in the brook’s bright flowage, / on forest floor, light leaf-filtered; / barefoot on the broad granite backs / of mickle mountains, mist-manacled...” They were welcomed as gifted contributors to the entertainment around evening campfires at shelters up and down the Trail. When Susan completes her doctorate in ecology and Lucy her masters in printmaking, I’m sure they’ll become gifted contributors to the off-trail world as well.

These memoirs are honest, realistic and spell-binding accounts of the “pleasures and perils” of a thru-hike--from the pleasures of nature and kindness of trail angels to the perils of being lost, with blazes hidden deep below the snowdrifts of a blinding mountain blizzard.

Reading these books is, as it says on the back cover of one volume, “as close as you can get to hiking the Appalachian Trail without strapping on a pack.” Highly recommended.

A BORROWED BOOK REVIEW

2007-07-24T20:19:00.001-07:00

Mark P. Sadler over at his "Bollocks" blog has posted this review of one of the best Appalachian Trail memoirs to come out in a long time. Mark gave me permission to repeat his review here. I hope to get back to this site eventually and do more reviewing. Right now I'm in the process of getting my other site, Books for Hikers, perfected to the point I can turn my attention back here. Meanwhile, here's the borrowed review:

My review of Awol on the Appalachian Trail
by Mark P. Sadler
Saturday, March 10, 2007

I never had the pleasure of meeting David “Awol” Miller out on the Appalachian Trail. He thru-hiked it the year after I made my first attempt (the second has yet to commence). However after reading Miller’s recent book “Awol on the Appalachian Trail” http://www.awolonthetrail.com/ I certainly wished I had. I have had the opportunity to speak with him and exchange e-mails recently. I am so impressed with his written style and the energetic flow of his book that I asked him for assistance and information as I too attempt my first book, which will also incorporate the Appalachian Trail.

Miller's book kept me entranced from the first chapter and I read non-stop for a couple of hours. Not only was the description of the sometimes colorful characters he ran into on his sojourns amusing and poignant but his thought process appealed to mine as it bought to mind my own memories of while I was out there. The first three chapters were particularly appealing to me as I had been out there in the same region and it seemed, like just yesterday that I too had walked this way. When he says “Alone, cruising serenely through the woods, is a situation that nurtures emotional liberation. In the bustle of everyday life there is no time for frivolous thoughts”, I recalled the stressful time that I was going through with my divorce prior to my hike. Indeed the AT was my head clearing mission.

As his journey along the trail continues Miller wrote a column for his local newspaper back in Florida and so shared with his home town his travails and hopes and glories, all in a very humble fashion, in the way he tends to live his life everyday. We feel the distance he has put between him and the distant outside world, and how satisfying it is to sometimes put all our worries aside, and just live for today when he confides “In suburbia the din of traffic, machines, and the voices of other people were the norm. I didn’t feel harassed by noise. In the forest I appreciate the quiet and the clarity of thought that it induces. It is a welcome unanticipated benefit. I feel unstressed, fit, alert and invigorated …” He goes on to reiterate these thoughts a little later when he adds “…I have come to recognize that most of what is memorable and pleasing about my time on the trail are ordinary moments in the outdoors……It is fulfilling to be saturated with the sights, sounds and smells…”

For those uninitiated in the AT, and for those that have hiked on it ourselves, the book captivates and enthralls, and we are as excited as Miller is when he reaches his goal at Mt. Katahdin and completes his 2170 mile thru-hike from Georgia to Maine.

Looking for something new?

2007-03-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

The end of a year-long hiatus in posting is coming in less than 2 months. Who knew that retirement would be so 'busy??' But there it is. I did a lot of travelling last year--to hiker gatherings, to do some backpacking, to visit family and friends, and to do trail work. This year I'm mostly staying home. I have a new part-time job doing trail work for our city's Parks and Recreation Department. There are LOTS of trails in our parks, so there's plenty of work to be done. But I'm going to try to find time to talk about books here, and catch up on all the titles I've neglected to showcase. So keep checking back, folks.

FIRST AID BOOKS FOR THE BACKCOUNTRY

2006-04-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

In my Backcountry Bibliography there’s a long list of 1st Aid books in the "FIRST AID, BODY CARE & SANITATION" section. Some of these books are extremely thorough; others are small and concise, and could be carried while hiking. To help you pick and choose from that long list and decide what book(s) to buy, here are my choices for the “best of the bunch.”

An excellent one in the “small enough to carry” category is "Backcountry First Aid" by Buck Tilton. (4th ed., 2002) It's only 2.5 ounces and should always be in your pack in a small ziploc--in fact I'm going to take my own advice and go do that right now--better late than never!

Another good small one, with a bit more information, and weighing a bit more at 4.25 ounces, is “Mountaineering Medicine" by Fred T. Darvill, Jr. (14th ed., 1998)

And then there are the tomes that are extremely thorough--too heavy to be packed, but great for study and memoriziation at home. Three stand out among the dozen-and-a-half I own:

(1) "Wilderness Medicine" by William W. Forgey. 5th ed. 1999.

(2) "Wilderness First Aid" by Howard D. Backer, et al., National Safety Council. (Revised ed., 2001)

(3) "NOLS Wilderness Medicine" by Tod Schimelpfenig. (4th rev. ed., 2006)

Last but not least, there’s one I just discovered, do not own, but will probably purchase. It looks like another very good book for study. "Wilderness First Responder" by Buck Tilton. (2nd ed., 2004) Tilton's books are usually among the best.

Be careful out there, folks! And be prepared.

A gonzo A.T. memoir

2006-04-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

McKinney, Rick. "Dead Men Hike No Trails." Bangor, Maine: Booklocker.com, 2005.

Someone I know asked about this book. I told them I’d put some information in my blog. So I'm doing just that. Here’s what’s on the back cover of the book:

“Dead Men delivers an endorphin charged blow to a Prozac dependent world.”

“’Following a friend’s suicide in 2003, I faced my own suicidal depression and a choice. Dwell in grief or run gonzo crazy and free in the opposite direction, blazing bright and deep in the jungles of America, hiking and writing until my feet and fingers bled with a pure honest screeching love for life.’”

“McKinney escaped to the Appalachian Mountains and launched a 2000 mile odyssey on foot. Writing on route, he paints a heart-wrenching portrait of physically painful days, moonshine evenings and surprise erotic encounters. It is a tale of wilderness survival, new friends, laughter and love on the trek from Georgia to Maine.

McKinney is Sylvia Plath in remission, his writing candid, sexy, and by turns poetic, journalistic, dead serious and witty. No one has ever scoured the dark skull of suicidal depression with such empathy and open-hearted enthusiasm for life, while climbing over 500 mountains in six months.”

Rick suffers from chronic depression. He writes, “one in four Americans suffer from some form of mental illness” and, “In the United States a person somebody loved dies by their own hand every 17 minutes.” He was a professional writer until suicidal depression cost him his career, house, and fiancee. To him, the Appalachian Trail seemed like a glimmer of hope in a dark world.

On the publisher’s website we read, “Dead Men is about long distance hiking. It is about the camaraderie of dozens of fellow hikers encountered en route. It is about following a goal to completion. It is about living in the moment. But most of all, it is ever and always about love. It is about the author’s love of life, of family and friends living and dead, of women, of nature, of the power of imagination, of the human animal, of the concept of Heaven, of God, and of the author’s love of beer. Depression is a sub-plot. At first all-consuming, it is soon an afterthought, a shadow which the author stomps his feet bloody and his ankles black and blue to outpace. But walking off a genetic inheritance of chemical imbalances proves daunting if not impossible for McKinney. The trail...is...the place of infinite possibility, the place where the author invents his own salvation one day--nay one step at a time for an inconceivable five million paces to Maine.”

This book is unique among A.T. memoirs. Truly amazing and difficult to put down once begun. Rick has a journal at trailjournals.com under his trailname of Jester Jigglebox (which went through a lot of changes and ended up, in full, as His Madness Lord Duke Jester Jigglebox Gadget Malcovich, Esq.) and also has a website of his own. On either of these sites you can get an idea of his writing style. But the book contains much more than what you'll find on either site. Buy or interlibrary loan this book and enjoy!

And now for something completely different...

2006-04-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Long Trail books are now listed in the Backcountry Bibliography and we can move on to something else. Weeks ago I mentioned some new memoirs of Appalachian Trail hikes and some “published-on-demand” books. Now that I’ve read most of them, I thought you might like a little synopsis on each one. I’ll do them one at a time for the next several weeks.

Ladies first. Let’s talk about Natasha Carver’s ”Walking Down a Dream: Mexico to Canada on Foot,” published by Xlibris in 2002. I like the way Xlibris makes books; they usually have better covers than some other POD publishers’ books, and the pages are well-glued-in.

Natasha, 26 years old, from England, set out to hike the PCT with Kirsten Bradley, from Canada, to raise money for Oxfam. Natasha made it all the way. Kirsten had to drop out due to injury after two months on the trail. They raised about $20,000 for Oxfam. Natasha’s writing style is quite good and I found the book enjoyable. She had her problems, but she stuck it out and made it all the way. At the end she wrote, “Sometimes I think I crawled, other times that I walked, but occasionally at least, I know I flew.”

Blogathy

2006-04-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

I've just discovered http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary.html and I find that I'm a "blog mute." Must recover. Must blog... Must blog... Must blog...

Bibliography for Vermont's Long Trail

2006-03-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

This list of media for the Long Trail is not yet in the Backcountry Bibliography.

LONG TRAIL. GENERAL.

Curtis, Jane, Will Curtis, and Frank Lieberman. “Green Mountain Adventure: Vermont’s Long Trail: An Illustrated History. Montpelier, Vt.: Green Mountain Club, 1985.

O’Kane, Walter Collins. Food and Cooking on the Long Trail. Rutland, Vt., Green Mountain Club, 1933. [NOTE: unable to locate copies for sale; try Interlibrary Loan.]

O’Kane, Walter Collins. The Long Trail of the Green Mountain Club. Rutland, Vt.: Green Mountain Club, 1943?. [NOTE: unable to locate copies for sale; try Interlibrary Loan.]

Woodward, Paul, and Joanne Woodward. Green Mountain Club: Long Trail System Shelter History. 2nd ed. Waterbury Center, Vt.: Green Mountain Club, 1999. [NOTE: unable to locate copies for sale; try Interlibrary Loan.]

LONG TRAIL. GUIDEBOOKS

End to End: Topographic Maps of Vermont’s Long Trail. Burlington, Vt., Northern Cartographic, 1983. [book, 25 pages, color]

Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide: Hiking Vermont’s High Ridge. 25th ed. Waterbury Center, Vt.: Green Mountain Club, 2003.

Green Mountain Club. Long Trail End-to-Ender’s Guide: Helpful Hints and Information for Long Hikes on the Long Trail. 14th ed. Waterbury Center, Vt.: Green Mountain Club, 2005

LONG TRAIL. MEMOIRS

Gibavik, Annie. Alone but Not Lonely: One Woman’s Hike on Vermont’s Long Trail. Littleton, N.H: Bondcliff Books, 2003.

Hesselbach, Bruce. High Ledges, Green Mountains: My Section Hike of Vermont’s Long Trail. Littleton, N.H.: Bondcliff Books, 2005.

McLaughlin, Walt. Forest Under My Fingernails: Reflections and Encounters on Vermont’s Long Trail. N. Ferrisburg, Vt.: Heron Dance Press, 2005.

LONG TRAIL. VIDEOS

McClure, Chris, and Enzo DiMaio. The Long Trail: A Footpath in the Wilderness. 2001. (DVD/VHS, 60 min.) Vermont Public Television, 204 Ethan Allen Avenue, Colchester, Vt., 05446.

Whelden, Lynne. 27 Days: A Senior Backpacking Adventure on Vermont’s Long Trail. 1991. (DVD/VHS, 90 min.) Lynne Whelden, 1025 Shaw Place, Williamsport, PA 17701.

"Published-On-Demand" Books

2006-02-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

Many of the recent books about thruhikes have been made available through the use of print-on-demand online book publishing services such as Xlibris, Lulu, iUniverse, Booklocker, 1stBooks (now AuthorHouse)and others. In fact, I just Googled "on-demand publishers", found several lists of them, checked out a few and found a book I'd never come across before, "Dead Men Hike No Trails" by Rick McKinney at Booklocker. Here are a few of the memoirs that have come from on demand services in recent years.

Allen, Abe T. An Unfinished Odyssey on the Appalachian Trail: A Memoir. Waban, Mass.: 1stBooks, 2003.

Carver, Natasha. Walking Down a Dream: Mexico to Canada on Foot. Philadelphia, Pa: Xlibris Corp., 2002.

Eberhart, M. J. Where Less the Path is Worn: The Appalachian Mountains Trail: The Eastern Continental Trail. Bloomingdale, Ohio: Thirsty Turtle Press, 2004.

Hartley, Bob. Care to Join Me?: Day by Day on the Appalachian Trail. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, 2003. [When you link to the Trafford website, search by the title in "Quick Search."]

Maroni, Bill. When Straight Jacket Met Golden Sun: A Journey on the Appalachian Trail. Philadelphia, Pa: Xlibris Corp., 2003.

McKinney, Rick. Dead Men Hike No Trails Bangor, Maine: Booklocker.com, 2005.

Pifher, Patrick J. One Step at a Time. Philadelphia, Pa.: Xlibris Corp., 1999.

Schuette, William. White Blaze Fever: Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. College Station, Texas: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, 2003.

Scott, John. To the Woods: A Journey Along the Appalachian Trail. Morrisville, NC: Lulu.com, 2006.

Guidebooks for the Appalachian Trail

2006-02-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

Here’s information on the latest editions in a series of annual guidebooks for the A.T., plus--finally--a new edition of the planning guide, originally published way back in 1992:

Bruce, Dan. “The Thru-Hiker’s Handbook.” 2006 ed. Conyers, Ga.: Center for Appalachian Trail Studies, 2006.

Chazin, Daniel D., ed. “Appalachian Trail Data Book 2006.” 28^th ed. Harpers Ferry, WV: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 2005.

Lauterborn, David, ed. “Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Planner.” 2^nd ed. Harpers Ferry, WV: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 2005.

Taylor-Miller, Cynthia and Carol Barnes, eds. “Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker’s Companion 2006.” 13^th ed. Harpers Ferry, WV: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 2006. [online version at http://www.aldha.org/comp_pdf.htm ]

If you’re planning on thru-hiking in 2006, or even 2007, get busy and get these books now!

Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

Let's start with recent books on the Appalachian Trail

2006-02-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

There were half a dozen new memoirs of A.T. hikes published in 2005. The authors are evenly divided between male and female. One of the hikes was not a thru-hike, as you can tell from its title. I thought I'd start off by listing those six books:

Allnutt, Rick. “A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike: Lessons Learned from the Appalachian Trail.” Beavercreek, Ohio: Wayah Press, 2005.

Martin, Danie. “Always Another Mountain: A Woman Hiking the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin.” College Station, Texas: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, 2005.

Mass, Leslie. “In Beauty May She Walk: Hiking the Appalachian Trail at 60.” Jacksonville, Fla.: Rock Spring Press, 2005.

Pittard, Patrick. “Bearfoot, a Northbounder: E-mails from the Appalachian Trail.” Birmingham, Ala.: Will Publishing, 2005.

Richardson, James. “Once Upon a Climb: One Man’s Journey on the Appalachian Trail.” SanAntonio, Texas: Booklocker Inc., 2005.

Shepherd, Nancy. “My Own Hike: A Woman’s Journey on the Appalachian Trail.” Morrisville, NC: Lulu.com, 2005.

Click on a title to find ordering information. If you'd like to just read the book with purchasing it, and it's not available at your local library, ask a staff member about "Interlibrary Loan."

In the beginning...

2006-01-23T16:33:00.001-08:00

...was the word. Then many words were put together, and there were books. Many books. My house is overflowing with books. Mostly on hiking, backpacking, trails, the environment. Most of this housefull, my library, will be donated to the Appalachian Trail Museum's library when a building is found for it and it gets up and running. In the meantime, I'll be busy creating a Trails Bibliography at http://trailsbib.backcountry.net (check for it in a few weeks) and talking about the new books I find on this, my trailsbib blog. You may not find anything new here for a few months, so keep on checking back. In the meantime, if you discover a new (published in 2006) book on trails or hiking or backpacking, be sure to email me about it's existence, in case I've missed it. Thanks!