Are You Tough Enough For The Trail? (A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson)

Member Name: campb3ll

Product:	A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
Date:	23/08/01 (254 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Humour, Bear stories, Classic Bryson

Disadvantages: Terminal laughter

The Appalachian Trail is the longest continuous footpath in the world, running for over 2,100 miles along the East coast of the USA. Imagine, if you will, going for a walk in the woods near your hometown; a pleasant Sunday stroll, perhaps with your dog, to walk off that enormous roast chicken you just consumed en famille. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is 100 per cent nothing like a walk in the woods. It's an all-out do or die survival expedition and - get this - it's entirely voluntary, so you're doing this for fun.

Now, it all starts off with Bryson thinking that hiking the Appalachian Trail is A Good Idea. One of the most important things to remember when you're a travel writer is to never, ever tell your publisher about every stupid idea you get because - and this is the killer part - you get stuck with it. So, once committed to the mamoth hike, Bryson immediately tries to enlist some help from his friends, family and "anyone with a pulse"; this in turn leads to the re-introduction of Katz. Those of you who read "Neither Here Nor There" will remember Katz from Bryson's travels through Europe as a fresh-faced, happy-go-lucky youth. For those of you who haven't a scoob, "after [the] summer in Europe, Katz had gone back to Des Moines and devoted himself single-handedly to ensuring that Iowa had a thriving drug culture." It's now 25 years later and besides "growing a stomach," to put it kindly, Katz also needs to ingest sugar every couple of hours thanks to some contaminated drugs he consumed in his youth. Oh, and those of you who do remember Katz will also recall that he and Bryson were close to strangling each other in Europe.

The main reason for Bryson desperately seeking hiking companions is bears. Yup, bears. Bryson seems to have read or heard every single bear story in the world. And by this, I don't mean Disney's Winnie the Pooh and Baloo. I mean black bears, grizzly b
ears, big bears, angry bears and any kind of bear that has been involved in chasing and/or killing unfortunate wilderness hikers. Bryson is more or less paranoid when it comes to bears (so would you if you were in his shoes) and a great deal of his anecdotes reflect that.

"A Walk In The Woods" is essentially the story of Bryson's hike through parts of the Appalachian Trail, interspersed with anecdotes about bears, chance companions, bears, the creation of the trail, bears, America, bears, other hikers and bears. If you've never been scared of bears before then this book will provide every opportunity for you to learn.

Bryson is in good form in this book, relating his exploits with a healthy dose of humour. Kitted out "with enough equipment to bring full employment to a vale of sherpas" but comically ill-prepared, Bryson manfully whimpers along the Appalachian Trail. He meets fellow hikers like the irksome Mary Ellen (hands up who wants to shoot her?), kind ol' Jim and son Heath, and the fabulously named Chicken John who could conceivably get lost in your back yard. This is essential reading for any occasion that requires a smile on your face.

Summary: