Colin Fletcher Book Raffle – Leave a Comment
I love Colin Fletcher’s books about hiking. The Complete Walker is the bible for anyone interested in backpacking. I read my copy at least once a year and often comb through the chapters seeking pearls of wisdom. I recently re-ordered The Man Who Walked Through Time, the story of Fletcher’s hike across the Grand Canyon. This is a beautifully written, spiritual read. I read it 20 years ago and misplaced my copy, so I re-ordered it from Amazon so I can re-read it.
Actually, I ordered two copies of The Man Who Walked Through Time
Rules
To enter the raffle, leave a comment below about how Colin Fletcher has influenced your life or recommend another book about hiking that you think is a classic that other people should know about. Make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. The winner will be selected from those people who follow this simple rule.
At the end of March 2009, I’ll pick a winner randomly and send you my extra copy wherever you live. This raffle is international in scope. You can leave as many comments as you want, but I’ll only count one comment per person towards the raffle. If you cheat and I find out, you’ll be disqualified. Don’t cheat. You’ll spoil your karma.
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I do love Colin Fletcher book, another book that I consider a must have and a classic is The Backpacker’s Handbook
by Chris Townsend.
You know, I’ve never read that. I’ll add it to my to-buy list. Thanks Jeremy!
Definitely the backpackers bible. The complete walker is one of those humor infused encyclopedias that everyone would enjoy. I first noticed the book in my father’s bookcase and never paid it mind. The years later (20) I saw a new edition at the local shop and picked up a copy, had I just read the copy my father had all of those years ago I would have been wiser younger!! Great write up.
I’m going to have to check out Colin Fletcher books from the library. A book I found especially interesting if you live in Washington is 100 Hikes in Washington’s North Cascades
written by Ira Spring & Harvey Manning. I have the older version(1988) so the trails list is somewhat outdated, but the info in there is mostly correct and the new version should be much better. I’ve been getting inspiration from this book and a few online hiking websites for years. The best hike I’ve ever been on I learned about from this book (Park Butte-Railroad Grade on Mt. Baker). Nothing like camping right next to a giant glacier for making someone want to keep coming back.
I have always loved my copy of The Complete Walker and have reread it several times. However, I’ve never gotten around to reading anything else by Colin Fletcher. I’ll have to do that.
I like your idea of soliciting suggested reading. I just ordered The Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter Alone in the Wilderness
, at a friend’s suggestion, but I haven’t read it yet. I’ve heard it is excellent.
I CAN recommend a more juvenile book that I recently read to my kids. My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead George was probably the biggest influence I had as a kid for getting out into nature. It was wonderful to see that excitement pass to my children while we read it together. It’s still a great book for kids…and many adults.
I have yet to read a Colin Fletcher’s book much to my shame. I will recommend a truly influential book. Hamish Browns Mountain Walk
. The first continuous ascent of the Munros. it is more than that. Brown tells us the history of the land and compares his time in the hills to other trips. He also went lightweight using a single skin tent and single pot. That was in 1974. We think we are modern with our light approach. You have my email.
Lets hope for that book thanks.
I have the original The Complete Walker, 1st edition, which is a very entertaining read if you’re an old hand, though obviously out of date for newbies. If you like Fletcher, I highly recommend his Thousand-Mile Summer
, or his more lyrical essays compiled as Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher
.
“The Man Who Walked Through Time” – one of the seminal treatise that started me ‘packing in the ’60’s. Another worthy would be Journey Through Britain
by John Hillaby or the original The Backpacker’s Handbook
by Derrick Booth.
Cheers,
Fenlander
As an aside from the above all the Colin Fletcher books plus literally millions more are easy to find here……
http://abeBooks.co.uk/
A site I can thoroughly recommend.
Fenlander
Although I haven’t read this book, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it at my local library. I can high recommend A Blistered Kind of Love
by Barbara Savage. Her book profiles her and her boyfriend’s hike of the PCT.
I’ve found a lot of parallels between Colin Fletcher’s work and Horace Kephart’s Camping And Woodcraft
from 1906. Although “The Complete Walker” was the first book I read on backpacking (and remains a great source of info), I find myself turning to Kephart first when I have a question about rambling through the woods.
Two books of recommendation are Lightweight Backpacking and Camping
edited by Ryan Jordan and a new book by Ray Jardine entitled Trail Life
.
I’ve read both “The Complete Walker” and “The Man Who Walked Through Time,” but it’s certainly been a long time since I picked up either one. Hm, that’s what I should do next time I’m at a loss for something to read and am too lazy to go out to the library.
As far as other hiking writers I enjoy, one of my favorites is long-distance backpacker and Triple Crowner, Karen Berger. She’s written many excellent backpacking how-to and guidebooks, but I especially like her firsthand accounts, such as that in Where the Waters Divide: A 3,000-Mile Trek Along America’s Continental Divide
about her CDT thru-hike.
One nice thing about Karen is that, even as the popular and busy author that she is, she still takes time to interact with fans on a personal level. I recently found her on Facebook, befriended her on there, and she always responds to my comments on her Wall. A very down-to-earth and fun lady. Her website is http://www.hikerwriter.com.
There are a couple of titles in here that I’ve never read. I’m going to have to pick these up for some vacation reading. Keep them coming.
When I was a fair-bit younger (30 years or so) and planning for trips with my friends the complete walker was an extraordinarily useful book. It made it possible for my friends and me to do a couple of trips. (this was back in the days when a svea-123 was a state of the art stove) More recently it’s felt a bit dated, and Ray Jardine’s book Beyond Backpacking
a bit more to the point (just ignore some of the nutrition advice). I haven’t read any of the other of Fletcher’s books though. I have been active as a scout-herder lately and I have to add that the planning tips from the complete backpacker work much better than what the places like Philmont suggest. (we were lighter, more compact and carried food for longer in 1975 than on a scout trip last summer!)
Both “The Man Who Walked Through Time” and “The Complete Walker” are among my favorites, and much read. The former inspired me to go hiking and climbing around Arizona a couple of years ago.
Neither hiking nor how-to books, but I’ll throw a couple of (very different) classic climbing tomes into the recommended list:
Kiss or Kill
– Mark Twight. A collection of the best of Dr Doom’s essays. Big routes, punk rock, and the hard, hard climbs of a complex man.
The Ascent of Rum Doodle
– W.E. Bowman. Hysterically funny fictional account of a 40,000-and-a-half-foot mountain. Like Catch 22/Three Men In A Boat/Diary Of A Nobody, for climbers.
I have probably read each edition of the Complete Walker as it has come out. It’s too bad that camping books have to be tied to gear, because the his books need to be appreciated for the wisdom that is beyond gear. Unfortunately a book minus the gear would never make it through a publisher. The most important thing I learned is that gear doesn’t matter. I was shocked that he seldom used a tent. Now I almost always sleep under the stars or use a tarp.
It’s true. Gear does not matter. I think everyone would agree that that’s not why we do this.
I used tried to find that on free book quest, but no joy. I guess I will be buying it too.
I came across this book two summers ago while on a stay at the AMC Galehead Hut with my son.
Backwoods Ethics: A Guide to Low-Impact Camping and Hiking
By Laura & Guy Waterman. This book and its companion Wilderness Ethics: Preserving the Spirit of Wildness,
were a revelation for me.
I had read about the Leave No Trace philosophy and techniques but these books put an exclamation point on the whole concept and its importance.
As a result of reading these books, I strive to leave the forest untouched by my passing while my time in the woods affects me profoundly. – TJM
Tom – Thanks for sharing those with us. I’m going to have to get these. They sound like they had a big impact on your experience and relation to the outdoors.
I’ve read quite a few thru hike journals and can definitely recommend “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail”. Very well written.
Others I liked are “A Walk For Sunshine”, “On the Beaten Path” and “Walkin’ on the Happy Side of Misery” (although the schitzo thing got old after a while).
“Zero Days”, a journal of a family of 3 that hiked the PCT is also worth a read.
I started camping and backpacking in NYS Adirondack Mtns in the late 1960s. My camping buddy and I were trial and error campers gradually improving our gear and techniques. In 1972 I borrowed a copy of The Complete Walker from the library and discovered there was a science to backpacking. Colin Fletcher had opinions on gear and technique and presented his logic for his choices.
I was inspired. I can’t say that I adopted all his recommendations, but I certainly gave most a try. I hiked with a walking stick (short lived); I left college one weekend to solo camp along the Susquehanna River; I made breakfast while still in my sleeping bag.
Through the years I read every version of his book: The Complete Walker (1968), The New Complete Walker (1974), The Complete Walker III (1984) and most recently, The Complete Walker IV – re-reading the early versions just for the joy. My parents provided encouragement by buying The Man Who Walked Through Time as a Christmas present. I backpacked vicariously during long upstate NY winter.
I am now 56 with bi-lateral hip replacements and any long haul backpacking trips are behind me, but Fletcher’s inspiration remains. I continue to day-hike, canoe camp (http://www.theswirl.org/canoe-trips/) and snow camp, (www.WinterCampers.com).
Colin Fletcher’s Complete Walker has been credited with starting the backpacking industry in the 1970s – he certainly did with me.