Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Discuss your favorite wilderness related books. Share your favorite poetry, quotes and folktales. Here's your chance to showcase your creative side!
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OzSwaggie
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by OzSwaggie »

Well, I found a copy of "Brave New World" but made the mistake of reading the first page ... and then the second and ... well, now I need to find another book! :D
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sparky
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by sparky »

I got the book Salt to Summit for Christmas and I am enjoying it immensely. "A vagabond journey from Death Valley to Mount Whitney"

Don't let my book suggestion of Brave New World throw you off....I think everyone on this forum would enjoy this book on some level.
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Lumbergh21
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by Lumbergh21 »

Real old topic, I know, but I found it doing a search to see if anyone else had already commented on "A River Runs Through It" by Norman Maclean. I bought a collection of three short stories that he had published including "A River Runs Though It", and I found them all to be excellent reads either in the mountains or the city. But, when I took the book with me an a short trip in the Desolation Wilderness, holed up in my tent, surrounded by snow, there was something special about the stories. A River Runs Through It is the well known story since it got made into a movie, but in my opinion, "USFS 1919: The Ranger, The Cook, And a Hole In The Sky" is its equal in most respects. There is something about the tempo of Maclean's writing that appeals to me even more so when I am not rushing from one place to the next, when I don't have to worry about schedules and meetings. It feels like the tempo of a nice warm day in the woods by a lake or a lazy stream. For my money, the collection of short stories I bought was the best money I have ever spent on a book.
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Dave_Ayers
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by Dave_Ayers »

I generally like to read mountaineering books while backpacking and generally weighing no more than 7 oz. Some books I've enjoyed the past few years are "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev; "The Climb up to Hell" by Jack Olsen; "The Mammoth Book of Climbing Adventures" edited by Jon Lewis (heavy, tear it in half and put half in your resupply); "Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada" by the great Clarence King (heavy, tear it in half); "The Big Burn" by Timothy Egan; and "Touching the Void" by Joe Simpson.
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balance
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by balance »

Greetings

When backpacking I take a copy of the Gospel of John. I find wisdom and guidance there; sort of a compass for my life.

What I suggest for anyone travelling in the Sierra Nevada (I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned) is anything by John Muir.

Peace
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Tom_H
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by Tom_H »

My First Summer in the Sierra, by John Muir
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balance
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by balance »

Awesome book Tom_H.

Also, a very important contribution to preserving the Sierra Nevada as we know it today.
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Tom_H
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by Tom_H »

balance wrote:Awesome book Tom_H.

Also, a very important contribution to preserving the Sierra Nevada as we know it today.
My college had the original edition 10 volume set of The Complete Writings of John Muir. Needless to say, I read them all.
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balance
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by balance »

Greetings Tom_H

That is so great. Reading those books must be a source of inspiration that is with you to this day. If we could get kids these days to read Muir's work, the world would be a better place.

But then, that's nothin'. When I go up in the mountains, I pack in hardcover editions of the Odyssey and the Iliad, and read them in the original Greek. And then...well okay, that's not really true. Norman Clyde did that. Not me.

But I read the Cliff Notes!
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freestone
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Re: Suggestion for Book to Read on Trail

Post by freestone »

Its not a book but I like bringing a New Yorker magazine and now that its online, I can take as many issue as I want on the Smart Phone. That little device has been real handy in making those long nights cozier. In years past, I also liked bringing some Jack London to stay grounded in the wilderness and read about journeys where everything that can go wrong, does.
Short cuts make long delays. JRR Tolkien
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