Welcome to 2020! Winter is in full force. The warm indoors are calling our names, and it’s hard avoid the gloomy blues while reminiscing about your last long hike or the feeling of the sun on your face.
Of course, it’s easy to just want to wish this crummy weather away while watching Netflix. But why not use this extra downtime to your advantage? Winter is the perfect time to dive into a few inspiring outdoor books and find some motivation for your next grand adventure.
Here’s a few great reads I discovered this past year to get you started.
Winter 2020 Reading List
Desperate Passage
No matter how challenging you think your last backpacking trip was, it doesn’t even begin to compare it to the perils the encountered by the American pioneers traveling westward. Written like a novel, Desperate Passage is a modern retelling of the Donner Party’s journey to California in 1846. This is, hands down, the best outdoor book I read all year! The author delves into trail culture, and showcases the highs and lows of a 6-month cross-country journey by foot. Many of the obstacles the Donner Party encountered are the same ones that still challenge outdoor enthusiasts today: logistics/resupply, navigation, weather, and the inevitable frustration of dealing with other people around you on trail.
I Hike Again – Mostly True Stories from 15,000 Miles of Hiking
I Hike Again is the sequel to the entertaining collection of hiking stories from Triple Crown veteran, Lawton ‘Disco’ Grinter. With even more trail miles under his belt, Disco regals us with funny stories and no topic is seemingly off-limits. He broaches the frictions of hiking with partners, and recounts making some poor on-trail choices that only narrowly avoid disaster. Each chapter brings a new short new tale of adventure (or misadventure) that will make you cringe, cry, or laugh out loud. If you’ve ever heard the podcast, “The Trail Show,” this is the same Disco who co-hosts that monthly mash-up of beer, trails, and nonsense. So get ready for a healthy dose of hilarity that will make you long to get back on the trail.
Travels with Charley
Long before #vanlife and travel blogs were popular, famed novelist John Steinbeck set out to quench his wanderlust and write a memoir all about it. At age 58, Steinbeck found himself with a deep longing to experience America’s remote spaces, smell the grass and trees, and rediscover the country of his youth. He and his dog, Charley, spent the next two months criss-crossing the country in his truck camper, stopping to meet colorful strangers and capture the nuances of rural and urban America. He muses about America’s character and identity, even calling out racial inequality and ignorance as it existed in early 1960’s. If you’re a fan of Steinbeck or travelogues, you’ll enjoy this beautiful prose and how he captures his journey. Who knows. Perhaps you’ll even be inspired to take an epic road trip of your own.
The Wilderness Idiot
Ted Alvarez knows how to have a good time and has a genuine way with words. As Backpacker magazine’s Pacific Northwest editor, Alvarez doesn’t simply give readers stories about the wonderfully scenic places he’s visited over the years. Instead, he spends his time focusing on trips that pushed himself outside his comfort zone. Sometimes it’s traveling to Iceland with a single set of clothes, camping in Baltimore’s infamous Leakin’ Park, or accidentally leading one’s siblings through a raging river in Alaska that make you a ‘wilderness idiot.’ His entertaining vignettes and stories don’t follow any specific order, but his love for the outdoor life shines brightly in each one. My favorite chapter was his charming ode to Mt. Rainier. It made me stop and reflect on my own list of sentimental outdoor spaces that have that entrancing impact on me.
Thirst: 2,600 Miles to Home
If you don’t know who Heather “Anish” Anderson is, then you’ve probably been hiding under a rock the past few years. Her 2018 calendar year Triple Crown (thru-hiking the PCT, CDT, and AT in a single year!) puts her in the history books as a true bad-ass. Thirst is her memoir about attempting to set the FKT on the Pacific Crest Trail, but it’s also a story about overcoming your fears and doubts. She’s candid about the anguish and joys of thru-hiking, not ever sugarcoating the drive and dedication that it takes to endeavor an FKT. If this memoir whets your appetite to hear more from Anish in her own words, check out her TedTalk (Redefining Happily Ever After) and her recent interview on Backpacker Radio (Episode #23).
Need more motivation in the off-season?
- Check out last winter’s awesome book recommendations
- Read about my recent Winter 2020 PCT Section Hike
- Binge read my daily trail journal from the Camino de Santiago