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(WBR) Wayne’s Book Review

Aren’t you lucky?  Yes, I think you are.  Because I am continuing my quest to read a book every month (last year’s New Year’s Resolution), and you get a rare glimpse into the somewhat chaotic mind of Wayne Romain and his take on said book.

Just so you know, I’m not a reader.  Other than last year, I have probably read six or seven books in the previous 10.  No literary giant here, but like a lot of things in life, you get outside your element, do things you don’t normally do, and you might learn something.

What does this have to do with the outdoors?  Maybe nothing.  Maybe a lot. But it does represent another pastime that we can enjoy (or muddle through) in The Outdoors.

This month’s book:

The Thousand-Mile Summer

by Colin Fletcher

Book Overview

Excerpt below from book’s dust jacket:

Some only dream of escape from stress and monotony – Colin Fletcher did it.  Here then is his lively account of a six-month solitary walk which took him along the backbone of California. He traversed its wildest areas, off the beaten paths, through arid desert, through the salt flats of Death Valley. He climbed to the summit of 14,246-foot White Mountain, then zig-zagged up a long stretch of the High Sierra. All along the trail he covered great tracts of the state unknown to most of its inhabitants.

I’ve always dreamed of doing a multi-day or a multi-month hike in the wild, especially in the eastern Sierras or along the Pacific Crest Trail.  One of those things I wished I would’ve done when I was younger, healthier, and had less responsibilities.  So now I take solace in reading other’s adventures and, indeed, vicariously deriving the benefits.

—

This trek begins in March 1958, but the idea starts only weeks before.  Restless and lying awake one night, “-worrying about the things we all worry about,” the thought of crossing the Golden State, south to north, crosses Fletcher’s mind and will not relent.  Within a week, this thought transforms into an obsession, and he decides to prepare for this extraordinary journey.

What makes it extraordinary is it is 1958 – no google maps, no gps, and no well worn trail such as the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail).  This is an outlier journey, one that is not known to have been repeated.

Colin maps out his trek and embarks on his journey by stepping foot in a dusty border crossing near Yuma Arizona and 6 months later ends his journey by stepping over the Oregon border.  It’s a reflective walk through deserts, mountains, and wilderness.  It is not a travelogue, but a man’s journey of finding himself through the loneliness of “the walk” and the characters he meets along the way. His descriptions of the natural wonders of the flowers, the rattlesnakes, the mountains, deserts, fauna of the northwest, along with my favorite: spending a month, living in a tent and fishing the Wigwam River is told in amazing and lyrical detail.

From Baker to Bodie, from the Colorado River to the Elk River Tributary, true in 1958 and even more so now, the author shows that solitude in nature is a time-tested antidote for the constantly changing and now, connected digital world.

On a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a 9.

Note: This is my unprofessional, biased, informal review. I make no claims and receive no money or support for my reviews.  It’s just an extrapolation from the mind of WR.

La Última Palabra (The Last Word)

“Don’t forget, you’re interested in GETTING somewhere; I’m interested in GOING ” – Colin Fletcher

I can’t help but think of a recent trip I took with my family.  We decided to take a train instead of traveling by air.  We did so because we wanted the actual “Going” to be a substantial and meaningful part of the whole trip.

It was a serene and enjoyable experience.  Reading, napping, eating meals in the dining car, playing games with the kids, talking to strangers on the same journey, all while watching the extraordinary coastline and interior of the western United States whizzing by.  Mount Shasta, the Cascades, bays, beaches, farmland, cities, and obscure stopovers.  An experience to enjoy the “GOING”.  Something that is sorely missed in the c/rush of today’s world.