What are you reading?

[Wish I lived in CO]

"Hiking Thru" Paul Stutzman.

An account of one hikers experience of thru-hiking the Appalacian trail in 2008. As I will likely never to get hike the trail it gives a good feel of what it would be like to do so.

[DaveLanders]

I just finished "Grandma Gatewood's Walk" by Ben Montgomery. She was an amazing woman. To summarize:

1955, at age 67, she became the 1st woman to thru hike the AT.

1957, at age 69, she did it again.

1959, at age 71, she walked from Independence, Missouri to Portland, Oregon following the historic Oregon Trail.

So, if you or someone you know, thinks that you are too old to do something, then you should read this book, and reset your expectations! (I just saw the forum post about the 77 year old man who climbed Annapurna; that fits right in with the message of this book.)

[markhingston]

Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering, by Maurice Isserman. An excellent survey of American mountaineering by the co-author (with Stewart Weaver) of Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes. Well-written and thorough, IMHO. If you have followed mountain sports for a while, some of the stories in the book may be familiar. If not, or if you have forgotten why Fred Beckey is famous, this book is a great place to get an introduction.

[druid2112]

Just finished River of No Reprieve by Jeffrey Tayler. He travels the length of the Lena river in Sibera from near Baikal to the Arctic in a small boat with one other guy. Nice blend of current political/social study, anthropological survey, travel journal,Siberian history, and naturalist observation. The guy has some stones, no doubt.

[Buckeye]

Anything written or co-written by Clive Cussler.

[HULKHIKEGOOD]

The 4790(NAMP), any Navy guys out there will know what I mean, it's a beast. Hopefully be back to my normal reads in July when I'm in the ice lake basin area again.

[brett.t.burch]

I just finished Stranger in the Forest. I thought I had read some wild adventure stories already, but there is probably nothing that comes close to this. Trailblazing and ahead of its time is definitely one way to put it.

I just started Honnold's Alone on the Wall... so far so good.

[Voshkm]

I recently discovered (for me) a Polish novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz. Knights of the Cross, The Deluge, With Fire and Sword. Apparently he was James Michener before Michener. Also speaking of him I enjoyed very much Micheners Centenial about Colorado, Freedom of the Hills
I love the thread and wish I knew of it earlier. I will be reading many of the listed and will stop googling mountaineering books for titles.

[Double Oh Seven]

I just finished "One Man's West" by David Lavender. Half of the book talks about him working at Camp Bird mine and life in Ouray in the 30's. The other half is about life as a cowboy in Paradox Valley. There are a few pages of mountaneering mixed in. Lavender col on sneffels is named after his brother Dwight. As is Lavendar peak outside of Durango. I love that area of Colorado. Its a really interesting amd fun read. You will gain a new appreciation for the road into Yankee Boy Basin

[TaylorHolt]

Not a mountaineering book, but I'm currently reading "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson. I've read some of his other works ("Devil in the White City", "Dead Wake", and "Isaac's Storm"), and he's a great narrator of history. "In the Garden of Beasts" is about the earliest stages of Hitler's regime as seen from the prospective of the US Ambassador to Germany in 1933.

[AlexMack]

Big Stephen King fan here, I recently blew through 11/22/63 and I highly recommend it. A little bit of a detour from his normal style, which for some I think would be a big plus. Love his stuff, but a big King book is about the opposite of a book you'd normally want to backpack with, the guy has some huge books!! I like taking a Robert B Parker Spencer novel if I want something to read on an overnight.

[kingshimmers]

I recently read "The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America" by Timothy Egan. It's a super readable book about the history of the Forest Service and creation of our National Forests. I'd highly recommend it to outdoorsy people