I finished one of the non-fiction books from my Fall Into Reading Challenge book list!
This book was an exciting, although sad-at-times read.
Each chapter is a different story of a true account, based on research, news articles, and journals of hikers in the Adirondacks who survived great struggles or who faced tragedy and ended up dying in the wilderness.
Most of the stories happened back in the 1930's although many of them happened before that time, and some as recent as the 1990's. One story is one I actually recall reading about in our local paper as it involved a man, who has never been found, from our town. He was hiking in an area of the Adirondacks that I really enjoy (the Central region).
This book outlines the fact that hiking can be dangerous but thrilling. There are always risks in the Adirondack mountains, particularly in the more remote, deep wilderness regions. It also points out that so many people just don't use common sense when in the woods!! And it showed me that hiking should NEVER be done alone....although I've been tempted to hike alone, I don't do it. It is stories like these that help me remember that rule!
The stories are very interesting and if you like this sport or just reading about survival, then this is a book for you! Some of the stories were almost unbelievable in that in the midst of great struggles, the people involved in the hiking party survived! One story involved a plane crash close to the area where I grew up. I had never known about that particular accident. Apparently there were several major plane accidents in the ADKs throughout the 1970's. Usually it was due to major snowstorms. There were also stories about men hiking alone and doing some bushwhacking off the main trails and never being found again. Some of the stories end in triumph and some end in tragedy.
I highly recommend it and based on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
It is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
2 comments:
I would probably really enjoy this book. I've read quite a few of stories of moutain climbing in the Himalayas and Everest and this is sort of along the same lines.
Yes Susanne, it was really good and all true stories! a quick read although took me longer than normal cause I also read 2 fiction books at the same time! :) and i'm reading a DIFFICULT non fiction one written by the current president of Gordon College where my daughter attends. It's a TOUGH read but i am determined to finish before the end of the Fall Challenge!
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