Cultured Travel Guide Books - Walking with Spring |
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List Price: $8.95
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780917953842
ISBN: 0917953843
Label: Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Manufacturer: Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 160
Publication Date: 2004-06-01
Publisher: Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Studio: Appalachian Trail Conservancy |
| Spotlight Customer Reviews: |
Customer Rating:  
Summary: Walking With Spring
Comment: Walking With Spring
The doughboy, the G.I, the grunt, the modern day land warrior, the men who combat the enemy-You may fly over a land; you may bomb it, pulverize it and wipe it clean of life-but if you desire to defend it, protect it and keep it-there's never been anything but boots on the ground.
All wars are different, and all wars are the same. They all have a price. The Army's first study of the mental health of troops who fought in Iraq found that about one in eight reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The survey also showed that less than half of those with problems sought help, mostly out of fear of being stigmatized or hurting their careers.
Once called shell shock or combat fatigue, post-traumatic stress disorder can develop after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, feelings of detachment, irritability, trouble concentrating and sleeplessness. A lot of people, including vets, don't believe that PTSD exists, mostly because guys don't talk about it.
A lot of guys come back from wars really messed up, and it doesn't just go away. They aren't going to talk to you about it. They don't want your pity. They don't pity themselves. You can't see it. It's there...
It was the spring of 1948, and a young man from Pennsylvania had to work out the sights, sounds and violence of World War II, during which he lost his best friend. He took a hike, for four months. Earl Shaffer became the first person known to hike uninterrupted the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, from Springer Mountain in Georgia through 13 other states to Katahdin in the central-Maine wilderness...on more than 2,000 miles of footpath.
Earl Shaffer wrote a book about his experience called Walking With Spring. Originally self-published (300 copies), Walking with Spring was first professionally published in 1983. Written soon after his first of his three thru-hikes, the last undertaken at age 79, and far more difficult than he liked as he neared his eighth decade.
This book only contains hints and clues about this unusual man, the loner, the poet, and the man rooted in nature. Although Earl had suffered psychological trauma during his service in the South Pacific, he hardly mentions it at all. There are no long-winded passages of psychobabble or self-pity in this book. Instead, you get a real feeling of interest and wonder at the natural world Schaffer experienced--concisely, yet accurately conveyed.
This is not a book to prepare you to physically or materially hike the Appalachian Trail. It is instead a memoir of a period in time, the aftermath of war, and the recuperative power of the outdoors on the human psyche. John Muir knew this, as did Emerson, and Thoreau. Perhaps this is the strongest argument in defense of wild places. The wilderness is absolutely necessary for people to be human...
Hobo says this is my side of the mountain. He's a real ridgerunner, born in the hills and suckled on the teat of a cougar. Can't get enough of Hobo? Hike on over to www.frommyshelf.blogspot.com for past columns. All hail the cat, I mean chief. Look for Hobo on January 20th. Politics are about to get a little furrier. The committee to elect "Hobo For President" approves this column.
Customer Rating:
Summary: As Spare as the Man Himself
Comment: Earl Shaffer was a man of few words, and this memoir of his first Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 1948 is no different. This is not a book someone picks up to learn about thru-hiking; there are practically no descriptions of the actual Trail itself, and the amount of road walking Shaffer had to do may have been the genesis of the misperception that the Appalachian Trail is a casual walk through the bucolic countryside of Appalachia. The gear and footwear he used are as anachronistic today as vacuum tubes.
Doesn't matter.
"Walking With Spring" is not a book to physically or materially prepare one for an Appalachian Trail thru-hike, although it could provide some psychological reinforcement. It is instead a memoir of a period in time, the aftermath of WWII, and the recuperative power of the outdoors on the human psyche. John Burroughs and John Muir both knew this, as did Emerson, Thoreau and Frost. This is the argument in defense of A.N.W.R. and other wild places: they are absolutely necessary, albeit often intangibly so.
"Walking With Spring" also seems to belong to a different era, the era of intrepid explorers such as Kane and Peary. Shaffer was the first to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail when many believed that a thru-hike of the Trail was not possible. Although his prose is unassuming, Shaffer understood what he was doing--he knew he would be the first and he took steps to document his hike. He was a true explorer. He made history.
Customer Rating:
Summary: He Writes as well as he Hikes
Comment: After reading many of the more contemporary accounts of thruhiking the AT, I finally got a hold of this great book. In my opinion, I recommend it the highest of any of them.
Unlike most of the other books, he complains the least about the hike, despite countless detours and the usual hardships (yet he still averaged 17 miles a day!). A real strength to this book is that despite the fact he had suffered such psychological trauma during his service in WWII, he hardly mentions it all. There are no long-winded passages of psycho-babble, self-pity in this book. Many subsequent accounts tend to make their problems too much of the story, dragging the reader down.
Instead, you get a real feeling of interest and wonder at the natural world Schaffer experienced--concisely, yet accurately conveyed in words. In addition, he keeps a steady pace of writing to match his hiking, so there are no slow spots. He simply goes about the business of hiking every day, and that strength is carried over into the book clearly.
Other books, such as Bill Bryson's, give a lot of good background and historical information, but a more perceptive, deeply felt account than Walking with Spring would be very difficult indeed, to produce.
The ATC's website has a good list of recommended memoirs which are good resources for more practical and current information, but in the end, this one stands out from and above them.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Marching to the beat of a different drummer
Comment: Earl Shaffer's recounting of the first AT thruhike is a glimpse into history. Perhaps a hundred books have been written about the Appalachian Trail since Earl wrote his. None is more sincere or matter of factly descriptive than Walking With Spring. Earl's life was enigmatic. This book contains hints and clues about this unusual man, the loner, the poet, the man rooted in nature. More than anything, it traces his pioneering journey into the history books as it leads the reader on what in 1948 was an unprecedented quest. At $8.95, it's probably one of today's best literary bargains.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Refreshing and inspiring
Comment: This is an essential book for anyone who has thru hiked the AT, or is a vicarious thru hiker. Earl Shaffer is the first confirmed person to complete the trail in one season, though a group of boy scouts later claimed they made the entire journey sometime in the mid-30's. Shaffer writes very well, in a phlegmatic, relaxed and spare style. He was an environmentalist and naturalist in an era when few were of the same mindset. As a former WWII GI, he was restless with civilian life and just decided to walk from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin. What a pioneer he was, even though he didn't know it!Schaffer describes many fascinating things about the trail and the physical and mental effects resulting from hiking 2,100 miles. Though the journey took place in 1948, there is nothing dated about the book, except the fact that many shelters have been updated or added, and more towns dot the trail these days. This is a great book for anyone addicted to literature on the beloved Appalachian Trail.
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| Editorial Reviews: |
A hiking legend, Earl Shaffer in 1948 came home from the South Pacific and set out to prove the then-little-known Appalachian Trail--its maintenance largely and necessarily neglected during the war--could be walked in a single continuous journey from Georgia to Maine. This is his own lyrical account of that walk, undertaken also to try to shake off World War II combat, during which he lost his best friend. Illustrated with his photographs during the hike, this book has inspired thousands to attempt similar "thru-hikes." In 1965, he walked it the other way, and, in 1998 at age 79, he did it again...on a trail far different from the one he basically rediscovered at mid-century, one that was more difficult than he liked as he neared his eighth decade. Originally self-published (300 copies), Walking with Spring was first professionally typeset and published in 1983; this is the second printing of a 1996 edition. Only the covers have changed since 1983.
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