A walk in the woods
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
In this non-fiction book, Bill Bryson recounts his travels through sections of the Appalachian Trail. Bryson discusses the history, ecology, trees, plants, and animals of the A.T., which are topics that have been discussed in class this semester. The first days on the trail Bryson describes his experience as hell because the hiking is very tough and its even more difficult for his buddy Stephan Katz, a recovering alcoholic who is out of shape, who abandoned a lot of their food to carry less weight on his back. In a way I kind of viewed their trouble as an adaption process and also their physical and mental withdraw from society. They would meet interesting people on the trail, yet, by the time they got to Gatlinburg, Tennessee they realized that they haven’t made much progress and they figured out that they were never going to hike the entire way to Maine, they decided to skip part of the A.T. and hop to Virginia by car.
When they were in Shenandoah National Park, Bryson goes into a panic attack, as he believes he encounters bears outside his tent in the pitch-dark night, this would be their first situation where they face the dangers of the wilderness. They finished the first part of their journey by walking 18 miles to Front Royal where Bryson’s wife picks them up to go home. Meanwhile, Bryson continued to hike during the day and would be back home at the end of the day before hiking with Katz again on the A.T., where they would be attempting to hike the hundred-mile wilderness in Maine. Bryson and Katz would continue to struggle through the hundred-mile wilderness trail and would eventually lose each other after Katz goes wondering off the trail searching for water.
They decide to go home after they reunited on the trail, especially because Katz almost lost hope in finding the trail again and almost giving himself up to a wild predator to eat him. Even though they didn’t hike
In this non-fiction book, Bill Bryson recounts his travels through sections of the Appalachian Trail. Bryson discusses the history, ecology, trees, plants, and animals of the A.T., which are topics that have been discussed in class this semester. The first days on the trail Bryson describes his experience as hell because the hiking is very tough and its even more difficult for his buddy Stephan Katz, a recovering alcoholic who is out of shape, who abandoned a lot of their food to carry less weight on his back. In a way I kind of viewed their trouble as an adaption process and also their physical and mental withdraw from society. They would meet interesting people on the trail, yet, by the time they got to Gatlinburg, Tennessee they realized that they haven’t made much progress and they figured out that they were never going to hike the entire way to Maine, they decided to skip part of the A.T. and hop to Virginia by car.
When they were in Shenandoah National Park, Bryson goes into a panic attack, as he believes he encounters bears outside his tent in the pitch-dark night, this would be their first situation where they face the dangers of the wilderness. They finished the first part of their journey by walking 18 miles to Front Royal where Bryson’s wife picks them up to go home. Meanwhile, Bryson continued to hike during the day and would be back home at the end of the day before hiking with Katz again on the A.T., where they would be attempting to hike the hundred-mile wilderness in Maine. Bryson and Katz would continue to struggle through the hundred-mile wilderness trail and would eventually lose each other after Katz goes wondering off the trail searching for water.
They decide to go home after they reunited on the trail, especially because Katz almost lost hope in finding the trail again and almost giving himself up to a wild predator to eat him. Even though they didn’t hike
References: Wikipedia. (2012, November 30). Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania A.T. Conservancy. (2012). Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http:/www.appalachiantrail.org Bryson, B. (Composer). (1998). A Walk in the Woods; Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. [B. Bryson, Performer, & B. Bryson, Conductor] [Compact Disc]. NY, NY, United States of America: Random House, Inc. Lifestyle. (n.d.). Appalachian Mountains Facts. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/appalachian-mountains-facts- 11251.html(htt1)