A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson

 A Walk In The Woods

by

Bill Bryson

The conclusion I reached upon completing my third book by Bill Bryson was that I want to read more of his writing.  First I had read Notes From A Small Island and then later At Home and enjoyed them both so I was glad to see the book for the Wilmington Public Library book group for March was A Walk In The Woods.    In fact, it is the Clinton County Reads spring selection so there will be events across the county starting in the beginning of March and on through the beginning of April.  And a good choice it was.   I found the book very funny and amusing and very nostalgic.    It is a book about Bill Bryson's attempt to through hike the Appalachian Trail with his childhood friend.    He paints a vivid picture of the fears and hardships experienced as he explains the history of the trail and the areas traveled through along with the environmental changes that have and continue to take place in the Appalachian region.   The book is just delightful and I highly recommend it.  The reason it was nostalgic for me is two fold.  To begin with my brother in law and a couple of his friends started out on the trail a few times in their youth and I remember all the hopes and dreams and plans that they went through.  Then around age forty I had aspirations to hike the trail only I had the idea of doing it in increments.   I hiked an afternoon of it in Pennsylvania back in the 80s and was interested in doing more of it.  So it was in the late 90s that I hiked an afternoon of trail in the Smokies and then in preparation of what I had hoped to lead to an overnight hike I did a day long hike.  Which cured me.  Carrying my lunch was enough.  I had no further aspirations to carry a tent and all the other equipment on my back.  I must say though that after reading Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods,  I am missing my day hike experience and very much missing my half day hike experiences.    And I hope to do some more walking as this spring,  summer and fall arrive.   Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows for an excellent slide show of sites from the entire trail.