Five Best Hiking Books

Blog6 Books That Will Inspire You To Lace Up Your Hiking Boots

7 Hiking Themed Books To Inspire Travel In 2021 - Hillwalk Tours Self-Guided Hiking Tours

The Best Hiking Books to Inspire Adventures - Wildland Trekking

10 hiking books that will inspire your next adventure | Advnture

Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Redescubriendo América en el Sendero de los Apalaches

A Walk in the Woods

Un Paseo por el Bosque

Haunted by a recurring dream, young shepherd Santiago is advised by a gypsy woman and a mystical elder, who reveals himself as the King of Salem, to journey to the Egyptian pyramids to uncover a hidden treasure. Heeding their counsel, Santiago sells his sheep and travels to Tangier, only to be swindled by a thief. This forces him to work for a kind-hearted crystal merchant, during which time he encourages the merchant to take business risks that result in Santiago amassing a small fortune in just one year.

Feeling wealthy yet unfulfilled, Santiago decides to resume his quest for the treasure at the pyramids. He joins a caravan across the Sahara desert, where he befriends an Englishman studying alchemy. The Englishman is on his way to meet a 200-year-old alchemist residing in the oasis of Al-Fayoum in the Sahara, hopeful to learn the secrets of the trade. Once they reach Al-Fayoum, Santiago falls in love with a local woman named Fatima and manages to save the oasis from an impending attack by interpreting an ominous sign in the desert. Subsequently, he is invited by the advanced alchemist to journey further into the desert, leaving Fatima and the caravan temporarily.

While traveling with the alchemist, who shares profound wisdom about the Soul of the World, they are captured by a tribe of Arab soldiers. To save their lives, the alchemist offers all of Santiago's money to the soldiers and promises them that Santiago, who is allegedly a powerful alchemist, will transform into wind within three days. Panicked and clueless, Santiago spends the next three days in deep contemplation, eventually managing to create a sandstorm with the help of the wind and the sun, fulfilling the alchemist's promise and securing their freedom. Upon reaching the pyramids, Santiago is beaten by two men who, convinced by his tale of a dream indicating treasure, leave him alive. One of the men, while dismissing dreams as worthless, unknowingly gives Santiago a final clue about the treasure's actual location. Santiago returns to Spain, locates a chest of jewels and gold under a sycamore tree in an abandoned church - the same one from his recurring dream - and plans to reunite with Fatima, who waits patiently for him in Al-Fayoum.

The Alchemist

El Alquimista

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

De Perdida a Encontrada en el Sendero del Cresta del Pacífico

Wild

Salvaje

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

Una Crónica Personal de la Catástrofe en el Mt. Everest

A seasoned mountaineer is commissioned by a popular outdoor publication to document the increasing commercialization of Mount Everest. His curiosity piqued, he joins an expedition, which turns out to be one of the most catastrophic in the mountain's history. The team he joins is led by a company known as Adventure Consultants, whose role is to expedite the acclimatization process to the extreme altitude and guide the climbers safely to Everest's peak.

The expedition is divided into multiple camps: Base Camp and four others positioned at various altitudes. After weeks at Base Camp, the team embarks on several trips to the higher camps to hasten their adaptation to the high altitude. In May, they finally set out for the summit. The mountaineer chronicles his journey, detailing the experiences of his teammates and guides, and mapping out the timeline of their time on the formidable mountain. The climbers find the altitude hard to adjust to, each dealing with exhaustion, weight loss, and slow movement. Their experience varies greatly, with some well-equipped for the challenge, while others are amateurs heavily reliant on their guides.

Tragedy truly strikes in the latter part of the journey. The group leader sets a 2:00 pm deadline to reach the summit and turn back, but this is largely disregarded. Only a few, including the mountaineer, make the deadline, with others, including the team leader, reaching the peak as late as 4:00 pm. A storm hits soon after, leaving various members stranded, lost, and ultimately leading to fatalities. Through a miracle, one climber presumed dead manages to return to camp and survives the ordeal, though he suffers profound injuries. In all, the expedition results in 12 deaths, leaving the mountaineer haunted by the experience. 

In the aftermath, he publishes the commissioned article but feels compelled to delve deeper into the events of the tragic expedition. Through extensive research and interviews with survivors, he writes a more comprehensive account, aiming to present an accurate and thorough narrative of the harrowing events. His reflections on his own survival and the loss of life he witnessed lead to a redefinition of his own mortality and a lasting sense of survivor's guilt. Despite potential backlash, he is determined to share the full scale of the tragic, heroic, and selfish actions that occurred during their attempt to conquer Everest.

6 Best Hiking Books of All Time

A Walk in the Woods

Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

The Alchemist

Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Into Thin Air

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

The Dharma Bums

Neon Pilgrim

Sources

What To Read Next

6 Best Hiking Books of All Time

A Walk in the Woods

Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

The Alchemist

Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Into Thin Air

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

The Dharma Bums

Neon Pilgrim

Sources

What To Read Next

Share this page