A Walk in the Woods

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1998

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Chapters 11-12

Chapters 13-14

Chapters 15-16

Chapters 17-18

Chapters 19-21

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

Bryson explains that after moving from England back to the US and settling in a small New Hampshire town with his family, he soon discovers a walking path with a sign announcing that it’s part of the famed Appalachian Trail, a 2,100-mile trail running from Georgia to Maine along America’s eastern seaboard. Offering himself rationalizations like improving his fitness, reacquainting himself “with the scale and beauty of [his] native land after nearly twenty years of living abroad” (4), and the threat of global warming destroying forests, Bryson decides to try to hike the trail in its entirety. He then turns his attention to preparation and considers the many possible dangers, including threats from animals such as bears, wolves, and snakes; infections and diseases such as poison ivy or giardiasis; and even murder, considering that nine hikers had been murdered on the AT since 1974.

Like most AT hikers, Bryson opts to begin on the southern end of the trail, in Georgia, in early spring to complete the trek before the snows arrive in the fall in New England. Bryson notes that his “first inkling of just how daunting an undertaking it was to be came when [he] went to [his] local outfitters, the Dartmouth Co-Op, to purchase equipment” (10). There, he meets Dave Mengle, a local expert hiker working at the store, to whom Bryson initially gives the false impression that he’s a seasoned hiker too. While Mengle sets him up with the necessary gear, Bryson realizes how much weight he’ll be carrying, and he’s aghast at the prices—and that nearly every piece of equipment requires a separate piece of equipment. After purchasing an assortment of expensive backpacking and camping gear, Bryson visits the bookstore next door to stock up on books such as trail guides, wildlife handbooks, and a title on bear attacks.

Chapter 2 Summary

Bryson discusses bear attacks at length, relaying information from the book Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance by Stephen Herrero. Although Bryson notes that black bear attacks are infrequent, the fact that they occasionally occur and had increased by 25% since the 1985 publication of Herrero’s book leads him to worry obsessively. Knowing that his trek would be much safer with a companion, Bryson begins extending invitations to friends to go with him. No one responds until late February, when Stephen Katz (a pseudonym for Matt Angerer), an old school friend from Bryson’s hometown in Iowa, calls and asks if he can come along. Katz was Bryson’s traveling companion in the 1970s on a backpacking trip through Europe, but the two have barely spoken since. According to Bryson, they’d “remained friends in a kind of theoretical sense, but [their] paths had diverged wildly” (28).

While Bryson is overjoyed to have a hiking companion, he begins to worry again when he meets Katz at the local airport the following week and sees that he’s overweight and looks unhealthy. After a day of rest, the two head to the Dartmouth Co-Op to see Dave Mengle and get Katz’s equipment, to a grocery store to get provisions for their trip, and then back to Bryson’s home to pack. The next day, Bryson’s wife drives them to the airport with “the kind of awkward silence that precedes a long separation” (36). Seeing their luggage and tickets for Atlanta, the airport clerk asks if they’re on their way to hike the AT and then informs them that the forecast has predicted record-cold temperatures in Northern Georgia over the next week—and that recent wolf attacks have occurred there.

Chapters 1-2 Analysis

In the opening chapter of A Walk in the Woods, Bryson describes the famed hiking path the Appalachian Trail and introduces the extraordinary notion that if one can walk 2,100 miles and live in the wilderness for months on end, one can walk from Georgia to Maine. He then provides some rationalizations for his desire to do it but also lists all the possible dangers he’ll face. When he visits the local outfitter to purchase equipment, his discussions with Dave Mengle, the store’s expert, underscore just how far out of his element he’ll be when he gets on the trail and has to camp every night. Despite having backpacked in Europe in the 1970s, Bryson is far from backpacking fitness and completely unfamiliar with modern backpacking and camping equipment; his description of the discourse with Mengle—which consumes an afternoon—colorfully depict his reactions to each piece of gear and Mengle’s patient explanations about why each one is important. Fortunately, Bryson’s common sense prevails over his wry skepticism, and he purchases most of what Mengle recommends. He later fully appreciates Mengle’s thoroughness.

This section introduces two of the book’s primary themes. One of these themes, The History of the Appalachian Trail, dominates Chapter 1, in which Bryson provides not only an overview of the AT, including its two ending points and the states and mountain ranges through which it crosses, but also some interesting historical tidbits, such as the fact that as of then, at least nine hikers had been murdered on the AT since 1974. The other of these themes, Isolation and Companionship, is a central aspect of Chapter 2, in which Bryson becomes increasingly fearful of facing various potential dangers in the wilderness alone. Mengle’s anecdotes concerning the many dangers present in the wilderness intensify Bryson’s trepidation, especially about bear attacks, one of his biggest fears about the trip. Another fear, however, is more immediately avoidable: going alone. He thus begins inviting friends to come along for all or portions of the trek but gets no takers. Bryson then hears from Stephen Katz, a friend from his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa whom he hasn’t spent time with since they were hiking companions in Europe in the early 1970s, which was the subject of his 1992 book Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe. Even though Katz wasn’t one of the invitees, he apparently heard about Bryson’s plans for an AT trek and calls to ask if he can come along. Bryson is elated to have a hiking companion. Although he points out that “Katz was the one person [he] knew on earth who might be on the run from guys with names like Julio and Mr. Big” (29), which establishes a mild sense of foreboding, he adds that he didn’t care because he “wasn’t going to have to walk alone” (29). When the two men meet at the airport, Bryson’s unease increases when he sees that Katz has put on considerable weight and appears quite unfit. Nevertheless, he resolves to stick with the plan, and after they obtain additional gear for Katz, the two fly to Georgia, where the airport clerk’s warnings about the weather and wolf attacks lend additional dramatic tension to their planned trek.