A Walk in the Woods

One of the primary background aspects of any book is how it’s received, or thought of, by readers and the public. Works of nonfiction that persuade readers to take action are considered practical books. Practical books, however, are typically those that teach, like a “how-to” book, for example. Works of nonfiction that inspire readers to take action or do something—without trying to persuade them to do it—are more unique, especially those that clearly have an effect on the collective subconscious of vast numbers of readers, as did Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods. Despite criticism from some in the AT community that the book’s cynicism, impromptu observations, and didactic, lighthearted approach might be detrimental to safe, responsible use of the trail, A Walk in the Woods received heavy praise and was a New York Times bestseller for 35 weeks. Many described it as the funniest travel book ever written. However, it had a greater, more far-reaching impact in that it inspired renewed interest in hiking the AT (and in hiking in general) during the early-21st century.

In Chapter 12 of the book, Bryson notes that “until the 1970s, fewer than 50 people a year thru-hiked the AT. As recently as 1984, the number was just 100. By 1990, it had pushed past 200, and today it is approaching 300” (214). The fact that the number of people thru-hiking the AT (or hiking it end to end) gradually increased during the latter part of the 20th century is noteworthy, but what happened after the publication of A Walk in the Woods was an explosive increase. According to Ron Tipton of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, “‘We saw a 50 percent increase in long distance hikers on the AT within two years of the book’” (Williams, Allison. “The ‘Wild’ Effect: How Cheryl Strayed’s Memoir Inspires Hikers.” Conde Nast Traveler, 2015). Along with this increase in long-distance hikers immediately after the book’s publication came the problems typically associated with heavy usage—most notably, wear and tear on the trail, which is maintained only by volunteers.

As for which aspects of A Walk in the Woods sparked such renewed interest in hiking, it might have been any number of things. Bryson’s humorous narrative approach includes highlights of the trail; he notes the locations that he and Katz, and later just Bryson himself, visit and associates each location with landmarks of interest. Another aspect of Bryson’s narrative is that he highlights the feelings of community that AT hikers inevitably feel as they encounter other hikers in the same general area who are “all experiencing the same weather, same discomforts, same landscapes, same eccentric impulse to hike” (71). Another aspect that could have played a major role in the increased interest in hiking the AT is that Bryson weaves in background information and interesting facts on subjects as diverse as American history, wildlife, botany, conservation, geology, geography, tourism, and industrialization—cleverly associating all of it with the AT.