20 Hiking-Related Books You'll Want to Read
- Women of the Wild
- Oct 1, 2024
- 14 min read
Updated: Oct 1, 2024
I asked the community for their favorite hiking-related books are so with input from the community, here's a list of hiking-related reading! Note that the write-ups are taken from sources linked below each respective write-up. Why? Because I haven't read any of these yet, so who am I to try to sum up a book I haven't read. :)
Chasing the Smokies Moon: An Audacious 948 Mile Hike - Fueled by Love, Loss, Laughter and Lunacy
Nancy East
Editorial note: Nancy East is the first recipient for our Community Spotlight! After I've finished reading her book I will be writing a blog post all about Nancy.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, September 2020. Nancy East was determined to make a difference. After a heartbreaking SAR mission ended in the discovery of a body, the woman still grieving her own mother’s passing felt compelled to help prevent more fatal hiking accidents. Partnering with a close friend, the middle-aged everyday athlete set out to cover the wilderness area’s 800 miles of trail faster than anyone before to raise money for safety and preparedness measures.
Struggling with early injuries and intrusive self-conscious thoughts, Nancy confronted insecurities about her career, parenting skills, and her mom’s fight with cancer. And as she persevered despite torrential storms and dangerous terrain, her crippling uncertainties began to transform into heart-healing peace.
In this moving account, Nancy East navigates her emotional aftermath following the death of Susan Clements, a loving parent to three children who succumbed to hypothermia. And as she guides readers through her month-long journey of endurance and triumph, her inspirational story promotes awareness while motivating all to believe in themselves.
Chasing the Smokies Moon: An audacious 948-mile hike–fueled by love, loss, laughter, and lunacy is a thought-provoking memoir. If you like true-life feats, sentimental contemplations, and stepping outside of comfort zones, then you’ll adore Nancy East’s strides of empowerment.
Source: Hope and Feather Travels
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Cheryl Strayed
At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.
Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.
Source: GoodReads
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Bill Bryson
The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America—majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way—and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).
Source: GoodReads
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
Jon Krakeur
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated.
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller Into the Wild. On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.
Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.
Source: GoodReads
The Salt Path
Raynor Winn
Just days after Raynor learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, their home and livelihood is taken away. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall.
The Outdoor Leader: Resilience, Integrity, and Adventure
Jeanette Stawski
In this inspiring new guide, experienced leader Jeannette Stawski focuses on the essential attributes of outdoor leadership: resilience and grit, integrity, tolerance for adversity, and highly developed listening and communication skills. She explores the ways a transformational leader makes good decisions, creates and champions a vision, and leads meaningful change. Personal anecdotes illustrating hard-won lessons are included throughout, while exercises emphasize key points and encourage readers to apply what they’ve learned to their own situations.
Drawing in part on the teachings of Karel Hilversum, co-director of Cornell’s Outdoor Education program, Stawski does a deep dive into how to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into outdoor leadership. She also features stories by Kenji Haroutunian, Stacy Bare, Courtney Aber, Lily Durkee, Nikki Smith, Joe Stone, and others to provide additional perspectives and experiences that reinforce the message that there is no one right way to lead.
Whether you’re an outdoor professional or new to spending time in nature, you’ll draw inspiration from the wisdom of The Outdoor Leader.
Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
Andrea Lankford
From a former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author’s quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up with an eclectic group of unlikely allies.
As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. But though she had the support of the agency, Andrea grew frustrated with the service's bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, and left the force after twelve years. Two decades later, however, she stumbles across a mystery that pulls her right back where she left - three young men have vanished from the Pacific Crest Trail, the 2,650-mile trek made famous by Cheryl Strayed's Wild , and no one has been able to find them. It’s bugging the hell out of her.
Andrea’s concern soon leads her to a wild environment unlike any she’s ever ventured into - missing person Facebook groups. Andrea launches an investigation, joining forces with an eclectic team of amateurs who are determined to solve the cases: a mother of the missing, a retired pharmacy manager, and a mapmaker who monitors terrorist activity for the government. Together, they track the activities of kidnappers and murderers, investigate a cult, rescue a psychic in peril, cross paths with an unconventional scientist, and reunite an international fugitive with his family. Searching for the missing is a brutal psychological and physical test with the highest stakes, but eventually their hardships begin to bear strange fruits—ones that lead them to places and people they never saw coming.
The Man who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon
Colin Fletcher
The Man Who Walked Through Time is a remarkable classic of nature writing, an account of a journey both physical and spiritual. A detour from U.S. 66 to visit the Grand Canyon on a June morning in 1963 inspired Fletcher to walk the length of the Canyon below the rim. It is also a record of the Grand Canyon as it was before the massive influx of tourism. Fletcher's descriptions of the spectacular geography, the wildlife, and the remnants of much older cultures serve to remind us that the Grand Canyon has been around longer than humankind and may well outlast us.
Into the Wild
Jon Krakauer
Krakauer’s page-turning bestseller explores a famed missing person mystery while unraveling the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.
"Terrifying... Eloquent... A heart-rending drama of human yearning." —New York Times
In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How Christopher Johnson McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.
Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.
Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life. Admitting an interst that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the drives and desires that propelled McCandless.
When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naiveté, pretensions, and hubris. He is said to have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity, and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding--and not an ounce of sentimentality. Mesmerizing, heartbreaking, Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer's stoytelling blaze through every page.
Hiking Through: One man’s journey to peace and freedom on the Appalachian Trail
Paul Stutzman
After Paul Stutzman lost his wife to cancer, he sensed a tug on his heart—the call to a challenge, the call to pursue a dream. With a mixture of dread and determination, Paul left his job, traveled to Georgia, and took his first steps on the 2,176-mile Appalachian Trail. What he learned during the next four and a half months brought healing of his grief, bestowed a new freedom, and changed his life.
Nowhere for Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life
Brianna Madia
A woman defined by motion, Brianna Madia bought a beat-up bright orange van, filled it with her two dogs Bucket and Dagwood, and headed into the canyons of Utah with her husband. Nowhere for Very Long is her story of exploration—of the world outside and the spirit within.
However, pursuing a life of intention isn’t always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate—when the van overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of Wyoming highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and the water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But she was living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference.
Nowhere for Very Long is the chronicle of a woman learning and unlearning, from backroads to breakdowns, from married to solo, and finally, from lost to found to lost again…this time, on purpose.
Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods
Christine Byl
A lively and lyrical account of one woman’s unlikely apprenticeship on a national-park trail crew and what she discovers about nature, gender, and the value of hard work
Christine Byl first encountered the national parks the way most of us on vacation. But after she graduated from college, broke and ready for a new challenge, she joined a Glacier National Park trail crew as a seasonal “traildog” maintaining mountain trails for the millions of visitors Glacier draws every year. Byl first thought of the job as a paycheck, a summer diversion, a welcome break from “the real world” before going on to graduate school. She came to find out that work in the woods on a trail crew was more demanding, more rewarding—more real —than she ever imagined.
During her first season, Byl embraces the backbreaking difficulty of the work, learning how to clear trees, move boulders, and build stairs in the backcountry. Her first mentors are the colorful characters with whom she works—the packers, sawyers, and traildogs from all walks of life—along with the tools in her axe, shovel, chainsaw, rock bar. As she invests herself deeply in new work, the mountains, rivers, animals, and weather become teachers as well. While Byl expected that her tenure at the parks would be temporary, she ends up turning this summer gig into a decades-long job, moving from Montana to Alaska, breaking expectations—including her own—that she would follow a “professional” career path.
Returning season after season, she eventually leads her own crews, mentoring other trail dogs along the way. In Dirt Work , Byl probes common assumptions about the division between mental and physical labor, “women’s work” and “men’s work,” white collars and blue collars. The supposedly simple work of digging holes, dropping trees, and blasting snowdrifts in fact offers her an education of the hands and the head, as well as membership in an utterly unique subculture. Dirt Work is a contemplative but unsentimental look at the pleasures of labor, the challenges of apprenticeship, and the way a place becomes a home.
Will to Wild
Shelby Stanger
Will to Wild is an instruction manual to adventure. Your guide: enthusiastic outdoorswoman Shelby Stanger. Stanger has been teaching folks how to leap into the unknown since she taught her first surf class over twenty years ago. Over the years, she watched many of her students quit their jobs, end dysfunctional relationships, and move across the country for a healthier work-life-balance—all after spending a bit of time in nature. Shelby marveled at the phenomenon. Being outside was changing the lives of her students, her peers, and herself. Shelby was so intrigued, she began to tell their stories, first as a writer and journalist, then as a podcast host for Wild Ideas Worth Living, REI Co-op Studio’s flagship podcast.
With her first book, Will to Wild, Shelby shares all she’s witnessed and learned in her years covering adventurers. It’s the book she wishes she’d had when she’d first felt the urge to leap from familiar to wild terrain. The one that takes you step-by-step from the first inkling of inspiration for your own wild idea through fear and self-doubt and on to the finish line.
In these pages, you will find stories with practical tips and tactics from world-famous rock climbers and ultra-runners, to longtime thru-hikers, surfers, desk-jockeys-who’ve-figured-out-how-to-get-off-the-clock, and even a suburban mom who started teaching women to scale frozen waterfalls in her mid-fifties. Along with Shelby's stories, they will show you how to get unstuck, how to pay attention to “trail signs” that point you toward your adventure, how to face your fears, and what to do when everything goes haywire (which will likely happen, never fear!). With Shelby’s characteristic strength and vulnerability, Will to Wild encourages you to break out of your comfort zones, get out into nature, and bring their own wild ideas to life. Whether you’re already an adventure junkie or someone who’s never set up a tent, there’s something inside these pages for you.
The Nature Fix: Why nature makes us happier, healthier, and more creative
Florence Williams
For centuries, poets and philosophers extolled the benefits of a walk in the woods: Beethoven drew inspiration from rocks and trees; Wordsworth composed while tromping over the heath; Nikola Tesla conceived the electric motor while visiting a park. Intrigued by our storied renewal in the natural world, Florence Williams sets out to uncover the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain.
From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to groves of eucalyptus in California, Williams investigates the science at the confluence of environment, mood, health, and creativity. Delving into completely new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and ultimately strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.
Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home
Heather Anderson
By age 25, Heather Anderson had hiked what is known as the "Triple Crown" of backpacking: the Appalachian Trail (AT), Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and Continental Divide Trail (CDT)—a combined distance of 7,900 miles with a vertical gain of more than one million feet. A few years later, she left her job, her marriage, and a dissatisfied life and walked back into those mountains.
In her new memoir, Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, Heather, whose trail name is "Anish," conveys not only her athleticism and wilderness adventures, but also shares her distinct message of courage--her willingness to turn away from the predictability of a more traditional life in an effort to seek out what most fulfills her. Amid the rigors of the trail--pain, fear, loneliness, and dangers--she discovers the greater rewards of community and of self, conquering her doubts and building confidence. Ultimately, she realizes that records are merely a catalyst, giving her purpose, focus, and a goal to strive toward.
Critical Hours: Search and Rescue in the White Mountains
Sandy Stott
A misread map, a sudden storm, a forgotten headlamp--and suddenly a leisurely hike turns into a treacherous endeavor. In the past decade, inexpensive but sophisticated navigation devices and mobile phones have led to alarming levels of overconfidence on the trail. Adding to this worrisome trend, the increasing popularity of ventures into mountainous terrain has led hikers seeking solitude--or an adrenaline rush--into increasingly remote or risky forays. Sandy Stott, the "Accidents" editor at the journal of the Appalachian Mountain Club, delivers both a history and a celebration of the search and rescue workers who save countless lives in the White Mountains--along with a plea for us not to take their steadfastness and bravery for granted. Filled with tales of astonishing courage and sobering tragedy, Critical Hours will appeal to outdoor enthusiasts and armchair adventurers alike.
Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire
Nicholas Howe
These compelling profiles of 22 adventurous—yet unlucky—climbers chronicle more than a century of exploration, recreation, and tragedy in New Hampshire's Presidential Range.
Where the Falcon Flies: A 3,400 km Odyssey From My Doorstep to the Arctic
Adam Shoalts
“Looking out his porch window one spring morning, Adam Shoalts spotted a peregrine falcon flying across the neighbouring fields near Lake Erie. Falcons migrate annually from southern Canada to remote arctic mountains. Grabbing his backpack and canoe, Shoalts resolved to follow the falcon’s route north on an astonishing 3,400-kilometre journey to the Arctic.
Along the way, he faces a huge variety of challenges and obstacles, including storms on the Great Lakes, finding campsites in the urban wilderness of Toronto and Montreal, avoiding busy commercial freighter traffic, gale force winds, massive hydro electric dams, bushwhacking without trails, dealing with hunger, multiple bear encounters, and navigating white-water rapids on icy northern rivers far from any help.”
The Whisper on the Night Wind: The True History of a Wilderness Legend
Adam Shoalts
The story of Adam’s expedition deep into the Labrador mountains to investigate a spooky old legend and solve a historic mystery about strange tracks in the woods. This is a book for anyone who likes adventure, mystery, and the great outdoors.
Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada’s Arctic
Adam Shoalts
Destined to become an adventure classic, Beyond the Trees is the story of Adam’s harrowing, nearly 4,000 kilometre canoe journey across Canada’s arctic in 2017…alone. A journey spanning nearly 4 months, the book tells the tale of weaving through ice floes, facing down snarling bears and galloping musk-ox, and paddling under the midnight sun in a land as old as time. But also why we urgently need to save vast wild places while it’s still possible.
That's a wrap! If you have favorite adventure-related books, comment them below so we can all enjoy them!
Read on, Wild Woman.
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