As we move toward the holidays, many hikers will be hanging up their pack and shoes for the season. The indoors will beckon with its warmth. And we’ll undoubtedly find ourselves longing for spring to come back around so we can get back on the trail.
Rather than loathing this extra downtime, why not use it to your advantage? This winter could be a great opportunity to dive into some books written by others who love the outdoors as much as you.
Here’s a few of my favorite books to help excite and motivate you into the upcoming hiking season.
Winter 2019 Reading List
The Last Season
The Last Season recounts the story of missing backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and the tension-filled search for him in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Author Eric Blehm shares Morgenson’s life growing up Yosemite, and how he became a legendary backcountry ranger with intimate knowledge of the mountains where he went missing. Equally intriguing, the author explores the friction between the National Park Service’s seasonal backcountry rangers and the permanent front country rangers. Part mystery and part ode to nature, this book will make you appreciate the danger that many backcountry rangers endure – season after season – in some of our most unspoiled wilderness.
I Hike – Mostly True Stories From 10,000 Miles of Hiking
I Hike is a collection of hilarious stories from veteran Triple Crown hiker, Lawton ‘Disco’ Grinter. Showering us with the good, bad, and ugly of thru-hiking, he compiled 12 of his most entertaining experiences from the trail. Every long distance hiker has a few standout moments they want to share. But few can do it with the unabashed candor or storytelling style you’ll find here. 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 on the trail.
Trespassing Across America
Ken Ilgunas gained fame with his first book, Walden on Wheels, telling the story of living in a van while attending grad school at Duke. After graduation, he decided to hike along the 1,900-mile proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline. His journey, as re-told in this memoir, is an equally entertaining sophomore hit. Walking from Alberta’s tar sands down to the Gulf Coast in Texas, Ilgunas strives to get a better understanding of the issues surrounding this controversial pipeline and the land it will affect. Although this hike across the heartland required trespassing along mostly private land, he was undeterred. Throughout his travels, he meets colorful locals and grapples with questions of environmental stewardship. lgunas’ path runs through parts of the US that few will ever travel on foot. It might even inspire you to head off the beaten path to forge your own route.
Between a Rock and White Blaze
There are plenty of books out there written by hikers on their journey to complete a thru-hike on a National Scenic Trail. And my favorite books in this genre always seem to be the ones written by female hikers. I suppose part of this bias is because I can identify with them more. But, I also find that they usually have a different perspective on hiking from the legions of white, male “bros with beards” out there on trail. Julie (aka Stopwatch) tackles the trail with her husband, Matt (aka Optimist), after deciding they’re both burnt out on their jobs and need a change of scenery. I love this book because of its sheer honesty – from her frustration and disappointment with corporate life to her reluctance to become a parent as she approaches her 30th birthday. This book pushed me to reflect on why I want to thru-hike and kept me entertained as I followed her physical and emotional journey.
Into Thin Air
It’s been 20 years since Jon Krakauer published his best selling memoir about his summit of Mt. Everest and the tragedy that befell his fellow climbers that season. I’ve read and recommended this book to friends more times that I can count. So, it’s no big surprise this book in on my winter reading list. There are few outdoor writers who can tell as compelling of a narrative as this one. Krakauer writes from an outdoor adventure’s perspective, while noticing all the small details that make him such a great journalist. I love re-reading this book in winter. After all, nothing makes you feel the fierce winds and biting cold of Nepal like your own winter weather nipping at you.
Need more motivation?
Click on the button below to check out my winter 2020 reading list too.