An Adventureful Life

Here is a list of books (in no particular order) to get you in the adventure mindset! Maybe you aren’t ready to hit the trail yet, maybe it’s off season, or you are overcoming an injury… Whatever it is… these books will do the trick! I started devouring these books during my last year before retiring from the Army. I was working not-stop and dreaming about the life I wanted to curate for myself and my family. I love reading about other people’s adventures, but I’m happy to report that I’m planning and doing plenty of my own adventures these days!

1. Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home by Heather “Anish” Anderson If you are like me, a little obsessed with the idea of the Pacific Crest Trail but need to move beyond the “wild” effect… look no further than this book. Heather Anderson is the real deal. She was listed as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, she has completed the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide National Scenic Trails each three times, including her historic Calendar Year Triple Crown hike in 2018, and she held the self-supported Fastest Known Times (FKT) on the Pacific Crest Trail (2013), and Appalachian Trail (2015) just to name a few. In her words…” I knew that I was on the cusp of transformation. But it was going to require me to do something unimaginable, and given my current state, stupid. Yet I could not back away from the deep instinctual urge to answer a call… A call to return to the mountains of the Pacific Crest: To accept their challenge to give up my notion of what I was capable of and immerse myself completely in their lessons. In the process, I discovered myself for the first time…” https://amzn.to/43wr1AG
2. Journeys North: The Pacific Crest Trail by Barney “Scout” Mann This book is a 2020 Banff Mountain Book Competition Finalist in Adventure Travel by legendary trail angel Barney “Scout” Mann.I listened to this audiobook every night while on my first few backpacking trips. To be fair, I was trying to drown out my own personal fear of being out in the woods at night, protected only by my flimsy tent… but his tale of the six hikers on their Pacific Crest Trail journey in 2007 compelled me to plan my own PCT adventure. His story captured a time, but the reader also gets to know the hikers – many of whom are still involved with the PCT in some form or fashion today! https://amzn.to/3TJpmEw
3. Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail by Carrot Quinn Carrot Quinn was living in Portland, OR when she decided to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Her life is very different from mine, but the desire to break away from everything she knows and walk the 2,660 miles from Mexico to Canada is relatable. For those of us who may never take that leap, this book gives us a true taste of the challenges many hikers face without ever having to leave the couch. We feel her physical and emotional pain, hunger, exhaustion, and loneliness. A theme running through many of these types of novels are the friendships built in those days and miles, and we get to go along for the ride. https://amzn.to/4cqqunK
4. The Pants Of Perspective: A 3,000 kilometre running adventure through the wilds of New Zealand By Anna McNuff Anna, while not a traditional “backpacker” is an amazing adventurist! When I started reading her books, I realized I didn’t need to be tied down to one specific type of adventure. There are so many amazing places to see and so many amazing ways to see them! We all just need to dream big and go do all the things! Admittedly, now I want to go the New Zealand and it’s all thanks to Anna who is a mom now and still going on amazing adventures! https://amzn.to/3PwvE86
5. Llama Drama: A two-woman, 5,500-mile cycling adventure through South America by Anna McNuff This is another one of Anna’s adventure novels, and it took me awhile to pay attention to it because it was about cycling… I’m a runner, hiker, and backpacker… why would I pick up a book about cycling? Well… I’m glad I did, because it opened up a new world to me, one where I realized if you can dream it you can do it. I still have no vested interest in cycling, but I realized my little dream of backpacking across Oregon is not that far-fetched and I really have no excuse but to do it! I love reading about Anna’s crazy adventures, and they truly make my ideas feel tame (and therefore completely achievable!). https://amzn.to/3Vu0npY
6. The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey by Derick “Mr. Fabulous” Lugo
   It’s clear that I have an affinity for the Pacific Crest Trail, but I do read about the Appalachian Trail as well, being that it’s one of the three “Triple Crown” long trails. The Unlikely Thru-Hiker is the story of how a young black man from New York City, unfamiliar the thru-hiking and the outdoors in general, decides that he wants to complete the Appalachian Trail. Spoiler alert… Mr. Fabulous, as he is dubbed while on his journey, is successful in his quest! https://amzn.to/3ILvmpW
7. North by Scott Jurek I started reading Scott Jurek’s books when I was more of a runner than a hiker or backpacker. He is one of the greatest ultramarathon runners of all time, and also vegan. North tells the story of Scott attempting to break the supported speed record for the Appalachian Trail. This book is different from some of the other books, because Scott is a professional ultra-runner – so his approach to tackling a thru-hike is very different from that of a traditional backpacker. I find his constant drive to push himself to the limits fascinating. https://amzn.to/3TvPDF1
8. Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail by Jennifer Pharr Davis Jennifer Pharr Davis is another National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and an amazing woman to follow. She was a record holder of the FKT (fastest known time) on the Appalachian Trail, although this book chronicles her first thru-hike on the AT and not her FKT. I loved reading her memoir because of what amazing accolades follow, so it’s incredible to see she started out as an almost regular person… she could be any of us! We get to experience her journey along the AT, all the highs and lows, ups and downs (literally) and celebrate with her on Katahdin. https://amzn.to/3Vs20V0
9. The Pursuit of Endurance: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilience by Jennifer Pharr Davis In this novel, Jennifer chronicles her own successful FKT attempt of the Appalachian Trail, and she also interviews many of endurance athletes and thru-hikers that you may have read about in other books on this list. It’s fascinating to read about these other thru-hiking legends from alternate perspectives, your get a different view of what they go through when they tackle these big challenges. This book is less a memoir and more of a study into how people are able to achieved their personal bests, but my favorite part was getting little snippets on all the other thru-hiking athletes. https://amzn.to/3TNgZHO
10. The Sun Is a Compass: My 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van Hemert If you pick one adventure book to read out of this list… choose this one. Caroline and her husband planned and executed a 4,000-mile journey from the Pacific Northwest all the way to the Alaskan Arctic, using completely human powered methods of travel (by foot, by pack raft, and by canoe to name a few) to reconnect with their love of nature. This book is memoir and adventure novel, with scientific undertones based on Caroline’s background as am ornithologist. I found this book to be so incredibly inspiring, it made me realize I was living too safe and I needed to challenge myself more. 
    
    https://amzn.to/3TMvQCs
11. How to Suffer Outside: A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking and Backpacking by Dianna Helmuth. My husband bought me this book for Christmas when I was just getting into backpacking, and it’s pretty clear why it was a National Outdoor Book Award Winner in Instructional Outdoor Adventure Guide in 2022! It feels like a friend wrote the book. Dianna makes getting outdoors both relatable and accessible! After reading so many memoirs by super athletes, I was starting to think maybe I couldn’t be a backpacker… after all, I’m a middle-aged mom! Diana breaks down backpacking is easily digestible chunks, with a big side of humor that I really appreciated. Her book is both fun to read and educational, and would be a great read for anyone at any level of backpacking. https://amzn.to/4cshdf2
12. The Last Englishman (Thru-Hiking Adventures) by Keith Foskett Keith has several thru-hiking novels, and I ate them all up. I loved seeing the American long trails though his eyes. This particular book is about his experience on the Pacific Crest Trail, and his larger than life personality shines through the pages. I especially loved his stories because I’m not sure if I’ll ever do the full PCT myself – but I have a good idea of what it would be like after reading his novel.
    
    https://amzn.to/49ZqqcY

Feel free to follow me on Goodreads (Chevelle Malone) for many other book reviews. They aren’t all adventure related books, I also love sci-fi and food related books!

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