Top Outdoor Books?

“What do you reccommend as some good books for a personal Outdoor Library, reference as well as stories? Thanks”

“Maine Woods by H.D. Thoreau

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

edited by Allan Hunt Badiner - Description below:

If we are to halt our progress toward the ruin of our environment, more is called for than a few changes in lifestyle. Our destructive ways did not come haphazardly into existence; they spring from a particular attitude toward the earth and our relation to it, and it is that attitude that these essays address. Dharma is the Buddhist teaching; Gaia is the concept of the earth as a living being, an organism that is whole the way a body is, each part of it inseparable from the rest. When you look at the earth through the eyes of Buddhism, you arrive at a picture very like Gaia: the idea of the interdependency of all things is at the heart of Buddhism. Damage one element, and you damage the whole. This is in the spiritual realm what ecology is in the scientific, and so the two systems of thought lead naturally into each other. The essays in this book come at the subject from different angles, all the way from Christopher Reed's Eco-Precepts ("I vow to recycle everything I can") to David Abram's philosophical look at how the Gaia hypothesis influences our perception, to Joanna Macy's thoughts on "the greening of self' - the change from the self as a separate entity to the self as "coextensive with other beings and the life of our planet." Some essays - such as Macy's - are thought-provoking and lively. Others are more dutiful, more academic. But on the whole, the good essays make up for the poorer ones, and the matching of Buddhism with ecology points us in fruitful directions.”

“Dharma Gaia is what's being described above!”

“The Backpackers Handbook (2nd ed.)
By Chris Townsend”

“Stephen Herrero -- Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance”

“ The Complete Walker III by Colin Fletcher.

A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson

A Sand County Almanc by Aldo Leupold

NOT WALDEN BY THOREAU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“All of Colin Fletcher's books, including River, his latest, but not overlooking The Man in the Cave.

Dangerous River by R.M. Patterson about exploring the Nahanni River country in the NWT in the 1920s.

The Lonely Land by Sigurd Olson, and most of his other books about the Northwoods of Canada and Minnesota.

The Wolves of Minong, about the first decades of the Isle Royale wolf studies.

Tracker by Tom Brown.

The Last Blue Mountain, about a fatally unsuccessful Himalayan climb by some young Brits during the 50s or 60s, I can't recall now, but it is very compelling and sobering.

Ghostwalker by, I think, R.H. Lawrence, about a solo year spent in British Columbian Rockies observing a mountain lion's behavior. Okay though not spectacular writing, but a very interesting experience.

But NOT NOT NOT A Walk in the Woods by Bryson. It has its moments, but not enough to make it worth the effort.”

“I was kind of disappointed by Walk in the Woods too. Has anybody that's read it felt like finding the place where that slob jettisoned his extra junk and cleaning it up?”

“I forgot one to put on your "can't wait until it's published in the future" list: Big Foot's volume of collected "Best Adventure" stories from the thread of the same name on TT. Go Big Foot!!”

“Does Baxter Black, the cowboy poet occasionally featured on npr have any print collections of poems or stories? He must. I find him quite entertaining. Big Foot sometimes reminds me of him. Is your writing influenced by Black, Big Foot?”

“ken, an excellent specific point about Walk in the Woods. Just some shoddy stuff to be spreading around to the wider public. Never once did it dawn on Bryson to consider that impression. Just a "yuck" that wasn't funny. I like good humor about the outdoor, but it was in short supply in WITW.

Better to go back and read Fletcher's trips, where there is some reflection on what he's doing and why.”

“Sierra High Route, it describes an awesome point by point route through some of the higher elevation lakes and passes in the sierra navada”

“"Blind Courage" The first blind person to complete the AT a Great Read!

"A Walk Across America" comes in paperback and has been out for years (70's) and is one of my favorite books.”

“Desert Solitaire, Monkey Wrench Gang. Edward Abbey.”

“"A Walk Across America" is Fantastic!!
-Peter Jenkins-

"Tennessee's South Cumberland- 3rd Edition"
-Russ Manning-

"The Appalachian Trail
Backpackers Planning Guide"
Victoria & Frank Logue”

“River Horse, by William Least Heat Moon
and, if you got the guts...Prairyerth, by the same author.”

“Haven't read "River Horse" yet but I want to. "I lived in Emporia, KS for nine months and "Prairyerth" brought back memories of the countryside. I loved all the quotes in that book.”

“Freedom of the Hills, The Mountaineers Its not a story.”

“Besides the above Ed Abbey books (which were great)....

Where the Waters Divide by Karen Berger (Walk along the continental divide)

Mormon County and Beyond the 100th Meridian by Wallace Stegner

Cadillac Desert - The American West and its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner (Explains the water compact, etc.)

Wind in the Rock and Run, River, Run by Anne Zwinger - talk about writing in detail - this covers canyon country by a superb writer.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer - about the Everest fiasco he was on.

Wow..there are just too, too many great books out there!!!”

“For a better picture of the '96 Everest problem read The Climb. Shows what happen in a clearer and truer picture.”

“The Backpacker's Handbook II by Chris Townsend is good.

I'e also read most of Tom Brown's books. the books in the Tracker series really get into the spiritual side of things if you want to go that route. He also has a pretty good field book series that covers things like wilderness survival and edible plants and tracking.”

“For people in Calif. California's Wilderness Areas by George Wuerthner. both vols Gives a where and what for all WAs in Calif.”

“The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev tells his side of what happened on Everest. From what I hear, Into Thin Air bashes Boukreev.”

“I wouldn't say Jon bashes Boukreev. Jon is a writer and so writes a story. He also doesn't seem to like Fisher and does seem to be hard on him. I will say this in the Fisher/Boukreev group only Fisher died, for the other group, they lost two guides and two paying people., and if it hadn't been for Boukreev there would have been more.”

“Hey, Thanks Pekka, but I don`t think I`ll ever try to write a book!LOL

Ken, that`s funny, my last name is White!
And no, I`ve never read any of his stuff, I`ve never read any books of poetry and very few of anything else for that matter.

My eyes are getting bad, either from the wreck or just old age catching up to me so, I just write short things and poetry before my eyes start hurting. I wish I could stand to read, but I can`t.

I just found this, I didn`t know you were talking about me, that`s so funny!LOL”

“Undaunted Courage
by Stephen E. Ambrose

Not exactly timely but an awesome read anyway. Now that was a hike!”

“Big Foot, check out www.baxterblack.com

Your writing reminds me a little bit of him. Especially the piece about getting snake bit while retreiving a stray cow.”

“THe Girl who loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (it is actually a fun read if you do any hiking around the area in which the story takes place (e.g. near where the AT crosses the Main-NH border).”

“Thanks Ken!
I`ll have to see if I can find something he has done and give it a look!”

“'Ultimate High' by Goran Kropp has another interesting take on the May '96 Everest disaster. Goran is the guy who biked from Sweden to Kathmandu, then climbed Everest by himself. He has a different philosophy on climbing and adds some interesting details to the 'relationships' developed amongst climbers that year.”

“The Yellow River by I.P. Freely

The Tiger's Revenge by Claude Balls

Thirty Miles from the Outhouse by Willy Makeit and Betty Dont”

“we had a thread full of those... somewhere...”

“BaSo's gunning for top thread deteriorator! Good show!”

“Goddamn!

Just finished "Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage," by Alfred Lansing. Stunning.

Think you're a tough outdoorsman? We're all pussies. Shackelton and his crew began what they planned as a trans-Antarctic trek in 1914. But once in the Antartic's Weddel Sea, their ship was trapped and then crushed by ice.

That began an 18-month trek of riding ice floes, waiting, and taking a small boat throught the frozen Antarctic sea and then across the stormy Drake Passage to safety.

Their food? Seal, penguin, sled dogs.

Oh yeah, before they finally reached safety again on South George Island, they had to do some alpine hiking. But no trekking poles or Gore-Tex for these guys.

READ THIS BOOK! Nuff said.”

“The Shackleton expedition does make a great story. I think it was in Nat'l Geographic that I first read about it. I've recommended to Moms of sons who don't want to read (2nd Gr) that they find a version of the Shackleton story for kids. It is an incredible story of moral fiber and endurance. Even though I am a wimp compared to a lot of ordinary people, I still enjoy stories about people going way beyond "adventure".”

“Also impressive is Shackelton's outstanding leadership. He didn't lose a man during the entire ordeal. His decisions were stunningly and consistently correct in the face of the greatest pressure.”

“That was part of what really impressed me. The man was so strong in his personality, he was almost inhuman. So much went wrong, and yet he dealt with it.”

“Green Eggs and Ham
Guns, Germs and Steel Jared Diamond
The Death of Common Sense”

“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

“My Bibles:

Colorado 14'ers, From Hikes to Climbs by Gerry Roach and Colorado 13'ers by Gerry Roach”

“The Backpacker's Field Manual, Rick Curtis, Director Princeton Univ Outdoor Action. Best single-source for BP skills from first aid to knots to orienteering & everything in between. A great reference!”

“Bear Attacks, Their causes and avoidance by Stephen Herrero

I agree with Hyper The Complete Walker is worthy reading.

Anyone wanna swap books?”

“desert solitaire....(and anything else) by ed abbey

my first summer in the sierra.... by john muir

a river runs through it.... by norman maclean

roughing it.... by mark twain

the big rock candy mountain.... by wallace stegner

a walk in the woods.... by bill bryson

into the wild.... by jon krakauer

the big sky.... by a.b. guthrie jr

a place on earth....(and anything else) by wendell berry”

“I never read the Shackleton book but my S.O. did, he was impressed that the men were more demoralized by losing their "comfort" items (i.e., running out of tea, the death of a favorite dog) than by the real threat they faced of losing their lives. Interesting.”

“Norman McLean is a great read gonzo. I'm going to have to check out the big rock candy mountain!”

“b. bear....it was stegner's first novel....if you like that, check out

angle of repose

stegner is one of my very favorite authors....”

“I can't believe I forgot Into the Wild, my ALL TIME FAV!

Anyone read Into Thin Air? Is it pretty good?”

“sometimes a great notion.... by ken kesey”

“steve hiker, thanks for bringing up Lansing's Shackleton book. My daughter gave it to me more than a year ago, and since I have just finished another book, today I was thinking about what to pick out of the pile (and mine is big) and Endurance was on the short list. I think you've tipped the scales.”

“I am reading (to be finished soon) a book called "River Horse" by William Least-Heat moon. Its about his 5000 mile boat journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific via rivers (Hudson,Erie Canal,Lk Erie,Ohio,Mississippi,Missouri,Salmon...) A great read full of history and local oddballs.”