The Book that Broke the Appalachian Trail

[@walterpaton8698]

I loved the movie. Robert Redford. Never knew he was that comedic

[@chriswest4650]

I think the point of Bryson's book (besides narrating some brilliant comedy) is something we ALL approved. Remember the saying, "Hike your own hike" ?? As an avid section hiker I RESPECT the people who went the full distance. But the rest of love the A.T. too. Can we still be friends?

[@Greenbelly]

Amen 🙌

[@danielkutcher5704]

BROKE IT, alright! Not enough users are giving back to the Trail that gave them so much. A great exception is the cleanup of the Trail after the hurricane that devastated western NC and Tn. Thanks to the many who have done so much over the years. Some are aging out and welcome young understudies.

[@Greenbelly]

Yup, cheers to the volunteers! 🥂

[@19Jetta]

Ugh - Cheryl Strayed's book "Wild" ruined the PCT for us in the West AND she offended a bunch of people by talking about "hiking the PCT" when, in fact, she did a "section hike", meaning she did parts of it (CA and OR) but not the whole thing, and therefore is not a "thru-hiker."

[@Greenbelly]

Wild did a lot of good for the PCT. Stirred up some feelings for sure though.

[@kimkremer8915]

And oh how I hated that book.

[@thegreatexaggerator9077]

10% is not accurate for the miles Bryson hiked. He hiked 870 miles or about 40% of the trail.

[@aksunai-99]

Thanks for a very interesting video. BUT ... The full-trail maps look wrong: They show a trail that goes NJ - NY - VT, bypassing CT and MA. This would mean it visits only 12 states, whereas 14 is the correct number (as mentioned at 0:15).

[@Greenbelly]

Nothing gets by you! Yep looks like our animation is a lil off. Good catch 🙃

[@chriswest4650]

hmmmmm, you guys goofed on the map here! You missed CT & MA.

[@Greenbelly]

Yup! 👍

[@TRIChuckles]

Lach lach!!!!!

[@keithappler5291]

In Strayed's defense, she did a real long-distance hike and, anyway, hers was a story about coping with the loss of her mother. Bryson got off in the Smokies and then drove around. He got me on the trail in 2004, saying "I can do better than that."

[@Greenbelly]

At least he got you on the trail :)

[@Pietop]

Someone recently told me Kats was a made up character to offer a counter point to Bills view in the book. Can anyone confirm this?

[@Greenbelly]

His real name is Matt Angerer 👍

[@Pietop]

@@Greenbelly thank you! I really need to go back and re-read it and do some more digging into the story. Your video definitely sparked that.

[@kimkremer8915]

I can't be the only one who really didn't like that book. I didn't hate it as much as I hated "Wild," but ugh...

[@bdickinson6751]

You aren't!

[@iamjoshkoop]

How dare someone write funny and get people into hiking, the nerve!

[@kimkremer8915]

@@iamjoshkoop It's not that. I've read other accounts of thru hiking that were funny and I enjoyed them. It's this author's writing style that I don't enjoy.

[@Data_on_trail]

LOL "the ATC maintains toilets" ROTFL! Clearly, not written by an actual hiker.

[@Greenbelly]

Clearly