Summer Reads for Hikers

When you find yourself in those down-time moments of being in-between hikes, a good read can be a source of inspiration and comfort until you get back out on the trail. Here are a few selections from our bookshelf that offer lessons, insight, and motivation for the summer:

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On The Trail: A History of American Hiking 
by Silas Chamberlin
"...I especially wish to recognize Maurice Forrester, long-time newsletter editor for the Keystone Trails Association, and Barb Wiemann of the Allentown Hiking Club. Both have volunteered decades of their lives to ensure that the one-hundred-year legacy of grassroots hiking continues well into the twenty-first century. The guidance and kind words they provided during the first few months of my research have led down a winding path to the publication of this book."
- Silas Chamberlin, Author (book acknowledgements)

The Backpacker's Budget Food Book: How to Select and Prepare Your Provisions from Supermarket Shelves
By Fred Powledge
"This book is intended to be a cooking guide for the recreational backpacker and one that demonstrates how any interested trail traveler can assemble light-weight, nutritious, appetizing meals largely from standard grocery-store sources." - Fred Powledge, Author (book foreward)

Walking with Spring: the first thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail
by Earl V. Shaffer
"Although I was then relatively new at the hiking game, I had already heard that name many times from many people – spoken sometimes with awe, sometimes with admiration, but always with respect. I was in the presence, I had sense enough to realize, of a man who had made some history."
- Maurice J. Forrester (book foreward)

Thornapples: The Comings, Goings, and Outdoor Doings of a Naturalist
by Charles Fergus
"Charles Fergus can make anything interesting. Hear him on weight loss in chickadees, and you want to join the Audubon Society. On Pennsylvania bears and you want to be one. The book's a delight."
- Noel Perrin, author of First Person Rural and A Reader's Delight (review)

Waste Not Everyday: 365 Ways to Reduce, Reuse and Reconnect
by Erin Rhodes
Waste Not Everyday is your step-by-step guide to simple lifestyle changes that will not only influence what you throw out but also have a genuine impact on the future of our planet. (back cover)

Pennsylvania Hiking Trails, 13th Edition
Editor: Ben Cramer
Produced in association with the Keystone Trails Association, this handy guide features the best trails by region from experienced hikers with local knowledge.