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The Man From the Cave
The discovery in a Nevada desert cave of what appeared to be a man's total belongings inspired this carefully researched account of a man who was a soldier, a prospector, and a wanderer
321 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1981
2 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Colin Fletcher
72 books50 followersColin Fletcher was a pioneering backpacker and writer.
In 1963, Fletcher became the first to walk the length of Grand Canyon entirely within the rim of the canyon "in one go" — only second to complete the entire journey — as chronicled in his bestselling 1967 memoir The Man Who Walked Through Time. Through his influential hiker's guide, The Complete Walker, published the same year, he became a kind of "spiritual godfather" of the wilderness backpacking movement. Through successive editions, this book became the definitive work on the topic, and was christened "the Hiker's Bible" by Field and Stream magazine.
In 1963, Fletcher became the first to walk the length of Grand Canyon entirely within the rim of the canyon "in one go" — only second to complete the entire journey — as chronicled in his bestselling 1967 memoir The Man Who Walked Through Time. Through his influential hiker's guide, The Complete Walker, published the same year, he became a kind of "spiritual godfather" of the wilderness backpacking movement. Through successive editions, this book became the definitive work on the topic, and was christened "the Hiker's Bible" by Field and Stream magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 24, 2015
The Man from the Cave was an interesting read and in many ways reminded me of Everett Ruess. Not in the since that Chuckawalla Bill mysteriously disappeared like Ruess did, but similarities in lifestyle and the overwhelming desire to see if the grass is greener on the other side. I was fascinated at how much effort Fletcher put into the research of Chuckawalla Bill’s life in order to create this account. Fletcher had perseverance equivalent to writing a dissertation. At times the story was slow, but most normal, everyday lives are at times slow. One take away for me was the confirmation that a man doesn’t pull his life together until about the age of 41! I know research says that a man’s brain isn’t fully developed until we reach the age of 25 (or somewhere around that time); however, I would argue that it still takes us another 15 years to clear our way through the strife and drama we had created prior to full development. (Of course there are always exceptions.) I would also argue that men, in general, need to “wander” like Chuckawalla Bill for a number of years before discovering who they actually are to be comfortable in their own skin. These thoughts of course are not what Fletcher was promoting in The Man from the Cave. These are thoughts, based on my experiences, which were confirmed based on Fletchers writing and Chuckawalla Bill’s life.
July 23, 2017
Fletcher came upon a cave in the desert hills and from that resurrected the life story of its long lost occupant, through many years of research. Fascinating story, with excellent writing. A must read if you love real-life adventure.
February 23, 2021
A captivating book...finished reading it in a little over one day...a detective story, recreating the life of a man he never met, but based upon a chance encounter with a cave in Nevada that the Trunkman lived in...
October 25, 2023
More like a detective novel, or a real-life forensic odyssey than a wilderness adventure book. Kinda left me sad, when we find out how the life of The Man from the Cave ended. Emphasized how we are all the victims of random events, but there are miracles to behold along the way.
April 26, 2021
Author does some detective work to discover who had lived in a cave he found, while hiking in a national park. He uncovered an interesting story.
June 23, 2021
Book is amazing. Read it because JTNP is about to make Long Canyon a major hiking route. Colin Fletcher does not disappoint.
July 23, 2011
"Chuckawalla" Bill Simmons likely would have not considered his life story to be noteworthy enough to be the subject of the ten years of research invested by this author, nor the book that resulted from the memories, records, and remnants that Colin Fletcher managed to coax out of slumber. So exhaustive was Fletcher's dedication to giving him legs and spirit that Bill's reconstructed visage and persona seem as close as is possible to know the truth of anyone. Stubborn and gentle, focused and lost, the form of Bill as sculpted by Flecther is full of the everyday contradictions that, as few would admit, make up us all.
So, why Fletcher's full-hearted search to learn more about this man who by most standards was an ordinary person that left little legacy behind? Fletcher's attraction began when he discovered the desert cave in which (as he later learned) Bill lived for a short time in the early part of the 20th century. Fletcher couldn't have known that his own desert hike forty years later would intersect him with this abandoned cave dwelling that still safeguarded the memories of Bill. And, had it not been for the author's rich curiosity of the world, that moment of intersection would have been as fleeting and meaningless as those that happen to you and me everyday as we pass by others on the sidewalk or street... involuntary blinks of life that amount to little more than a rustle of air.
But Fletcher was transfixed, demonstrating that admirable yet rare capability to find meaning in the most unassuming places. The author's instincts and experience would tell him that a person who was drawn into the remote embrace of the desert was also a person who intently engaged with life and wisely submitted to its instruction. Fletcher could sense that this man, "Chuckawalla" Bill, would have something to share with us, much more than the politicians, celebrities, and inexplicable celebutantes that typically spill onto our biography book covers.
Indeed, Bill's unadorned life reveals much to the reader, including the quiet mysteries that keep us, consciously and unconsciously, compelled to be.
So, why Fletcher's full-hearted search to learn more about this man who by most standards was an ordinary person that left little legacy behind? Fletcher's attraction began when he discovered the desert cave in which (as he later learned) Bill lived for a short time in the early part of the 20th century. Fletcher couldn't have known that his own desert hike forty years later would intersect him with this abandoned cave dwelling that still safeguarded the memories of Bill. And, had it not been for the author's rich curiosity of the world, that moment of intersection would have been as fleeting and meaningless as those that happen to you and me everyday as we pass by others on the sidewalk or street... involuntary blinks of life that amount to little more than a rustle of air.
But Fletcher was transfixed, demonstrating that admirable yet rare capability to find meaning in the most unassuming places. The author's instincts and experience would tell him that a person who was drawn into the remote embrace of the desert was also a person who intently engaged with life and wisely submitted to its instruction. Fletcher could sense that this man, "Chuckawalla" Bill, would have something to share with us, much more than the politicians, celebrities, and inexplicable celebutantes that typically spill onto our biography book covers.
Indeed, Bill's unadorned life reveals much to the reader, including the quiet mysteries that keep us, consciously and unconsciously, compelled to be.
June 11, 2009
A true-life detective story. While hiking in a Nevadan desert in 1968, walking man and author Colin Fletcher found a cave with an old-fashioned trunk and other personal items indicating that someone had once lived there — in the middle of proverbial nowhere — and left his effects behind.
But who?
It stuck in Fletcher’s mind and a year later he retraced his steps, lived in the cave for ten days and determined that he should attempt to piece together the story of the “Trunkman” from only the few clues he left behind.
Fletcher wrote, “A long time ago, a man lived in the cave. But his primitive furniture and belongings now lay jumbled, random, their relationships gone. They were mere junk, mute of immediate meanings; and even in the thin, late light I could see dust coating everything, thick. So the scene at first looked forlorn and pitiful, like a bombed and looted house. Then I began to discern detail——to move behind the dust and disarray, striving to reconstruct relationships, messages.”
Thus began his quest. It took years, but resulted in his fifth book published in 1981.
It’s an extraordinary search about a rather ordinary man who for a time chose to live in exile in a cave in the desert. But why?
But who?
It stuck in Fletcher’s mind and a year later he retraced his steps, lived in the cave for ten days and determined that he should attempt to piece together the story of the “Trunkman” from only the few clues he left behind.
Fletcher wrote, “A long time ago, a man lived in the cave. But his primitive furniture and belongings now lay jumbled, random, their relationships gone. They were mere junk, mute of immediate meanings; and even in the thin, late light I could see dust coating everything, thick. So the scene at first looked forlorn and pitiful, like a bombed and looted house. Then I began to discern detail——to move behind the dust and disarray, striving to reconstruct relationships, messages.”
Thus began his quest. It took years, but resulted in his fifth book published in 1981.
It’s an extraordinary search about a rather ordinary man who for a time chose to live in exile in a cave in the desert. But why?
January 27, 2021
I could not bring myself to read the final quarter or so of the book.
I was engaged in the book’s beginning and middle, being someone who lives in Las Vegas, near Lake Mead, which is where the author Colin Fletcher stumbled on the once inhabited cave.
I was entranced by Fletcher's find and then his initial research. Using scant info, such as scraps of period magazines, he is able to reliably identify the one-time cave resident as a "Chuckawalla" Bill Simmons, who did prospecting out West. I also enjoyed reading how Fletcher determined the choices that Simmons made on where to place his fire, bed, storage, etc.
But when the author got into the minutiae - family tree, family conflicts, various addresses - of the cave dweller that he hunted, I could see Fletcher's research was thorough, but my interest started declining. I guess I didn't care as much about Simmons' Eastern roots as I did his activities in the West.
I also was struck by a facet that the book jacket covers, namely, how much like the itinerant Simmons that Fletcher was. Being on the move seemed to help Fletcher be "himself," and the same seemed to apply to Simmons.
I was engaged in the book’s beginning and middle, being someone who lives in Las Vegas, near Lake Mead, which is where the author Colin Fletcher stumbled on the once inhabited cave.
I was entranced by Fletcher's find and then his initial research. Using scant info, such as scraps of period magazines, he is able to reliably identify the one-time cave resident as a "Chuckawalla" Bill Simmons, who did prospecting out West. I also enjoyed reading how Fletcher determined the choices that Simmons made on where to place his fire, bed, storage, etc.
But when the author got into the minutiae - family tree, family conflicts, various addresses - of the cave dweller that he hunted, I could see Fletcher's research was thorough, but my interest started declining. I guess I didn't care as much about Simmons' Eastern roots as I did his activities in the West.
I also was struck by a facet that the book jacket covers, namely, how much like the itinerant Simmons that Fletcher was. Being on the move seemed to help Fletcher be "himself," and the same seemed to apply to Simmons.
September 7, 2008
One of my all time favorite books ever. On a hike, Colin Fletcher discovers a cave that was clearly someones home a long time ago. Painstakingly using clues he figures out who it was and sets out to learn about his life and why he lived in a cave. Fascinating reading. The book goes in and out of print so you may have to do some searching to find it.
May 8, 2008
This is a book I read back in 1981 when it first was published, It has stuck in my mind all these years. However, I forgot the title. I just located the title and intend to reread it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews