Appalachian Trail Memoirs and Hiking Stories

Some of the voices of thru-hikers gathered from trail registers, post cards, and personal interviews, their voices come alive to evoke the true spirit of the AT.

Based on a 1998 southbound thru-hike of the AT, this book is comprised of the ten "Life Lessons" the author learned during his hike.

The author walked the AT and shared the experience by turning the hike into a fundraiser for the Sunshine Home, a facility in Maumee, Ohio that cares for 850 developmentally disabled residents, including his brother, Aaron, who has cerebral palsy.

Outside of the U.S. this is perhaps the most famous book ever written about the Appalachian Trail. Iowa native Bill Bryson returns to the U.S. after 20 years in England and tries reconnect with his mother country by hiking the Appalachian Trail.

This is the author's daily journal as she backpacked alone along the Appalachian Trail in 2004, encountering adventures from getting lost on a snowy mountaintop to trail traditions like the Half-Gallon Ice Cream Challenge.

James and Hertha Flack tell the story of hiking the Appalachian Trail over an 8 year period. The book includes many photographs.

The story of a young man who hikes the Appalachian Trail and grow emotionally and spiritually in response to the beauty, danger, excitement and tediousness of the trail.

Writers, photographers, and artists from several major newspapers walk the AT.

In 1976 the authors co-hiked along on the Appalachian Trail and wrote up their adventures in this book.

A recounting of the author's 16 years of hikes along the entire Appalachian Trail, with 100 Girl Scout companions.

David Brill's classic account of his 1979 hike of the Appalachian Trail is one of the most popular amongst thru-hikers.

David Miller, a 41 year-old engineer, quit his job to backpack from Georgia to Maine. He provides a vivid description of the Appalachian Mountains, the small towns threaded together by the trail, and people met along the way.

Susan Letcher and Lucy Letcher walked barefoot along the entire Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia and then "yo-yoed," turned around and headed back the other way.

One man's story of hiking the AT is not a "How to..." book but it could be called a "Why to..." explaining the trail experience.

Eighteen year old, Aileen Forrester, also known as Cinnamon leaves school her senior year and attempts to hike the entire Appalachian Trail.

Cruising the highways and back roads from Georgia to Maine with an RV providing trail support to their daughter and her husband as they thru-hike.

The book addresses seven life principles with the First Principle introduced in the chapter about Maine and Principle Seven in the Georgia chapter.

A 59-year old woman struggles to balance the needs of her family and friends during a thru-hike.

Five ladies, the "Mountain Marching Mamas," hiked the entire Appalachian Trail over a twenty-some year span. "It's Always Up" is their memoir.

Fred Stott's memoir of seventy years working with the Appalachian Mountain Club, telling his story and that of the AMC.

This is a book about one man's 2,160-mile, six-month adventure on the Appalachian Trail.

Orient was the guide dog of the first blind man to hike the Appalachian Trail and the book is aimed at younger readers.

Step into the author's boots for 2,167 miles of peaks and valleys - physically, mentally and spiritually - as he backpacks north from Georgia to Maine.

More like a "how NOT to" book than a guidebook, this journal takes a clost look at the characters of the people who take on the adventure of the AT.

Randy Motz and his wife Georgia "Mom" Harris, write candidly of the pitfalls and disappointments they faced as they hiked north.

M. J. Eberhart was a 60-year-old retired doctor in 1998 when he set off on a foot journey that carried him 4,400 miles (twice the length of the Appalachian Trail) from the Florida Keys to the far north of Quebec.

Ronald Fisher travels parts of the trail over a six month period. The book has color photos reminiscent of the National Geographic magazine, a wonderful text by the author, and eight two-page color maps of the trail.

Earl Shaffer was the AT's first thru-hiker. In 1998, on the 50th anniversary of that hike, 79-year-old Earl did it again. In this beautifully-presented book, Earl recalls his 1998 anniversary trip and pays homage to the Appalachian Trail through his prose and poetry, enhanced by dozens of Bart Smith's stunning...

Jan D. Curran retires from the Army and hikes the Appalachian Trail, finding the journey tedious -- sometimes even dangerous -- but laden with nature's riches and unexpected spiritual rewards.

A humorous memoir, based on the author’s journey spawned by an unhappy life and separation. His like leads to a new romance, adventures with an adopted dog, and the challenges and triumphs of walking more than 2,000 miles.

After a difficult breakup, Winters decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of hiking the blazed path but it's a sometimes grueling journey, physically and emotionally.

Thru-hiker of 1980 weaves history, maintainers' perspectives, accounts of several dozen thru-hikers (well-known and obscure), and the how's of walking the A.T. into a thorough but entertaining history of an increasingly popular sport.

Earl Shaffer was the first AT thru-hiker. He came home from World War II and set out to prove the then-little-known Appalachian Trail could be walked from Georgia to Maine. This is his own lyrical account of that walk.

This book embraces the reader as a "hiking partner" by describing the hike and including over one hundred "Hiker Tips".

The story of a couple who fulfilled their lifetime dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail.