hiking and camping

This is absolutely the most thought out, realistic, pertinent, and easiest to read book reagrding wilderness adventure I have seen yet. The book not only covers things like what food to bring, but increases in nutritional needs for the rigors of backpacking, and how to maintain optimal health. The order which material is presented is cohesive and sound, with tips and strategies to help your every need. I could not reccomend this book enough. It offers a wealth of pictures and diagrams, from the basic types of packs, diagrams of stoves and their parts, to weather systems, and examples for tying food up in trees or making survival shelters. If you need a lot of visual guidance and don't want to read a boring manual about something you are trying to maintain excitment about then this book is it! It will inspire you to be out there and will enable you to "leave no trace" of having ever been!

This book covers everything that a general backpacker needs to know about hiking and camping. The few things the author doesn't cover (great detail about hiking specific specialized terrain, for example), he lists additional resources for. This book is well-written and clearly organized, and includes wilderness first aid, cooking and menu-planning, navigation, how to pack a backpack comfortably, how to select gear, and where to go for more information. There is much more included in the book, including stories from the author's own experience, and some information about ultralight backpacking. Especially valuable is the detailed information about leading a group into the wilderness, how to send out a search party, how to signal for help in all environments, and how to ensure that everyone in a group is comfortable.

I've seen many other similar books, and none provide the excellent level of detail that this book provides. I recommend it most highly.

After I read this book, I felt the wilderness could never be fun again. I was completely wrong, but that's the tone this book has. The entire book tells you what not to do and what could go wrong. That's very important to know, but what is almost as important (and a lot more interesting) are things to do: suggestions about how to make things easier, how to have fun, how to bring the love of the outdoors to other members of your group.

The good: There were a couple good ideas in among the mind-numbing numbers of admonitions (damp socks in sleeping bag: genius). Also, the packing lists at the end of the book can be good reminders.

As far as I can tell, it's good for a very small class of people: complete beginners who will find all the rules to be new, but are so excited about backpacking that they won't be turned off by the boring, pessimistic book. Personally, I learned just as much from the much shorter section of tips in the beginning of Backpacking California, even though I had not backpacked a whole bunch before reading either.