Books involving hikers

[Patricia]

My son is going to hike Mount Whitney in a couple of months and he's all in hiker mode right now. I want to get him some books to read during vacation. Has anybody read any good stories involving day hikers or backpackers? Fiction or non-fiction is fine.

[Tuck]

I am sure there are lots more of these types of books around and good ones too. this list below is just of books i've read so can recommend that they are all great:

lots of hiking here in this fiction The Signal

here's a rocky mt nonfiction
Halfway to Heaven: My White-knuckled--and Knuckleheaded--Quest for the Rocky Mountain High
a gobi desert walk, nonficiton
Walking the Gobi: A 1,600 Mile-trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair

walking in vermont, nonfiction Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks

an epic northern Rockies hike Walking the Big Wild: From Yellowstone to the Yukon on the Grizzly Bears' Trail

walking in Yellowstone Lost in My Own Backyard: A Walk in Yellowstone National Park

a great family Rocky mt hike with llamas too Scraping Heaven : A Family's Journey Along the Continental Divide

Appalachian trail walks Walking Home: A Woman's Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail

ditto On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage

Solnit writes about walking in general, she's great Wanderlust: A History of Walking

this fiction is an ad-hoc hike Lean on Pete

this fiction by wyman is great, sierra nevadas mostly High Country: A Novel

this one's about riding a horse from okla to hollywood, not exactly hiking, but lots of camping. Hollywood the Hard Way: A Cowboy's Journey

here's one, hiking in Africa, it's great The Shadow of Kilimanjaro: On Foot Across East Africa

and lastly, though this one is "historic" it is such a great story and SOOOO well written, a classic A Time of Gifts

[Tuck]

I am sure there are lots more of these types of books around and good ones too. this list below is just of books i've read so can recommend that they are all great:

lots of hiking here in this fiction The Signal

here's a rocky mt nonfiction
Halfway to Heaven: My White-knuckled--and Knuckleheaded--Quest for the Rocky Mountain High
a gobi desert walk, nonficiton
Walking the Gobi: A 1,600 Mile-trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair

walking in vermont, nonfiction Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks

an epic northern Rockies hike Walking the Big Wild: From Yellowstone to the Yukon on the Grizzly Bears' Trail

walking in Yellowstone Lost in My Own Backyard: A Walk in Yellowstone National Park

a great family Rocky mt hike with llamas too Scraping Heaven : A Family's Journey Along the Continental Divide

Appalachian trail walks Walking Home: A Woman's Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail

ditto On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage

Solnit writes about walking in general, she's great Wanderlust: A History of Walking

this fiction is an ad-hoc hike Lean on Pete

this fiction by wyman is great, sierra nevadas mostly High Country: A Novel

this one's about riding a horse from okla to hollywood, not exactly hiking, but lots of camping. Hollywood the Hard Way: A Cowboy's Journey

here's one, hiking in Africa, it's great The Shadow of Kilimanjaro: On Foot Across East Africa

and lastly, though this one is "historic" it is such a great story and SOOOO well written, a classic A Time of Gifts

[Tuck]

that bryson book is great!!

[Patricia]

I have the Bryson book on my own list. I love his books and I think my son would like this one as well. Thanks for all the suggestions, Tuck. I think he will be interested in the entire list, but I'll get him started with A Time of Gifts and Halfway to Heaven to read on his trip to Colorado. Thanks all!

[Dree]

I love hiking books too :)

I have enjoyed all of these, some more than others, but I have no idea where his taste might lie:
Walking Home: A Woman's Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail
A Woman's Journey
Walking the Big Wild: From Yellowstone to the Yukon on the Grizzly Bears' Trail
Journey on the Crest: Walking 2600 Miles from Mexico to Canada
A Blistered Kind of Love: One Couple's Trial by Trail
Scraping Heaven : A Family's Journey Along the Continental Divide

And a little farther afield (in space and time):
Into the Wild
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Sunk Without a Sound : The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde

[karen, future RA queen]

did any of these work out for him?

[Patricia]

Yes! He's not much of a reader (must have been switched at birth), but he had a lot of travel time to read this summer. He listened to A Walk in the Woods on a road trip and read A Time of Gifts, Halfway to Heaven and Into the Wild and liked them all. He also added a few of the others to his reading list, although he probably won't get to them until next summer. My request wasn't really an RA type of challenge, but I'm glad there were so many great suggestions!