I wanted to love this book but the style just did not grab me. It’s a good historic read in that Schaffer was the first end to end through hiker of the AT and it’s a quick read so it’s still worthwhile but I have a number of other trail journals I have enjoyed more. The one major think that struck me was that even in 1948 Schafer was cutting weight and doing many of the other thinks you would expect to see in a modern trail journal. On the other hand he describes other practices that would (hopefully) never be seen on the AT today. That contrast was interesting.

I enjoyed learning about the first thru-hiker of the AT but 2 things about the book made it less fun. It was obvious that the author wanted to make a accurate list of his experiences and had written a thorough trail journal. His oft mentioned 34;little black notebook34; was my first clue. But the brevity of descriptions of his experiences and encounters disappointed me. Just as I would get excited about and want to know more he would move on to the next Vista or interaction. Seldom did he spend more than a paragraph on a topic but a mere 2 sentences was much more the norm. Next, even though it was originally published in 1981, the text had a 100 year old vintage feel to it. Font type and size looked like a scan from an ancient original pressing. I didn't like that being a 8inch tall book, it had 47 lines of text per page. My new glasses were absolutely necessary to read it. (For reference, Grandma Gatewood's walk is an 7.5inch book and has 33 lines per page. AWOL on the AT is also a 7inch book but only has 32 lines per page. Those two were so much easier to read.) Again I enjoyed reading about the 34;old34; trail. Where it went and what it was like. I learned that WALKING WITH SPRING means more than just hiking in pleasant weather.