The Appalachian Trail Audiobook By Philip D'Anieri cover art

The Appalachian Trail

A Biography

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The Appalachian Trail

By: Philip D'Anieri
Narrated by: Jason Culp
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The Appalachian Trail is America’s most beloved trek, with millions of hikers setting foot on it every year. Yet few are aware of the fascinating backstory of the dreamers and builders who helped bring it to life over the past century.

The conception and building of the Appalachian Trail is a story of unforgettable characters who explored it, defined it, and captured national attention by hiking it. From Grandma Gatewood—a mother of eleven who thru-hiked in canvas sneakers and a drawstring duffle—to Bill Bryson, author of the best-selling A Walk in the Woods, the AT has seized the American imagination like no other hiking path. The 2,000-mile-long hike from Georgia to Maine is not just a trail through the woods, but a set of ideas about nature etched in the forest floor. This character-driven biography of the trail is a must-hear not just for ambitious hikers, but for anyone who wonders about our relationship with the great outdoors and dreams of getting away from urban life for a pilgrimage in the wild.

©2021 Philip D'Anieri (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Conservation Educators Environment Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Professionals & Academics Science Adventure Hiking Biography
Interesting History • Well-done Biographies • Complicated Development • Historical Perspective
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The first time we saw a black bear was in the park . We were so scared. Then we heard a warning coming from our house.

I’m going to get the car and then I’m coming home

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Very interesting history of trail. kind of takes the mystic out of hike. Still on bucket list.

The politics of the AT

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Very informative. But OH SO BORING.
excellent audiobook if you have a very bad case of insomnia

History of the Appalachian trail

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I really like this format. Enjoyed the book up until chapter 10. I don’t see how going into a rant about how the Appalachian Trail was created by white people for white people is helpful to anybody. Anyway, the short biographies about the people that made the trail possible were done very well. I recommend reading or listening to the first nine chapters and then moving on.

Very good except for the end.

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I thru hiked the AT and this book didn't describe what I saw, experienced or learned along my odyssey.

It struck me as a socialist"s history of an American landmark.

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Loved this book and the characters presented. I had no prior understanding of the vast and complicated history of the trail’s development. Very informative and enjoyable.

Informative and enjoyable

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I really loved this historical perspective of the Appalachian Trail. Growing near the trail in Pennsylvania, my family would hike a tiny section every autumn. As an adult, I’ve been section hiking the trail for about 3 years. It’s jus so good to look back in time and learn about all that it’s taken to make this trail the American treasure that it is. Deeply grateful to know this story. Thank you.

Great!

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It was like a dictionary being read to me. No inflection or emotion and it reads like someone rambling off invoices and legislative ballots and it just sucked. It was just bad and the book even mentions an author who wanted to fool people into buying his bad book to fund trips traveling around

Like reading a dictionary

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Based off of the preview and the book title I thought this would be a comprehensive review of the establishment of the Appalachian trail I just listen to 30 minutes of the development of European geologist even in the introduction it says this is not a comprehensive review of the establishment of the Appalachian trail that should have been in the preview

Misleading

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The vocal performance was fine, no issue there. I bought this after listening to The Green Tunnel podcast, thinking this book might have something to add. it doesn't. Everything covered in this book is covered in greater depth on The Green Tunnel podcast, which is free. This book also regurgitates some false "truths" that The Green Tunnel gets right. I attribute most of this books shortcomings to the fact that it's author is not part of the AT community in any way, and has only an "academic" understanding of the subject outside of a few day hikes. As a result, the author projects at times, probably most aggregiously when discussing why so many in the AT community have issues with Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods; the author trots out some (but not all) of the issues, but then quickly discards them and arrives at the conclusion that the people taking issue with that book are actually just upset that an "outsider" crashed their party. Absolutely ridiculous and lazy take. Highly recommend that potential buyers listen to The Green Tunnel podcast instead. If you want to pay for a book after that, there are plenty of titles with something to add, but this isn't one of them.

Save your money, listen to The Green Tunnel podcast instead

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