Walking Home: Common Sense and Other Misadventures On the Pacific Crest Trail

A Heartwarming Adventure — Winner of the 2023 Best Book Awards in Travel Guides & Essays Can a comically straightforward man learn patience and understanding in the wilderness? Walking Home is laugh-out-loud funny, unexpectedly touching, and full of the kind of curveball characters you would expect to meet in a Bill Bryson memoir. The Pacific Crest Trail stretches 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada through some of the West’s most rugged mountains. Former mountain guide Rick Rogers set out with the perseverance and know-how he thought he’d need for a six-month trek. But on the Trail, he discovers that what you bring to a challenge matters less than what you find along the way. Joined for two hundred miles by his ten-year-old son, Rick shares encounters with unforgettable people, moments of trail magic, and the small disasters that turn into the best stories. Written with a guide’s eye for detail and a traveler’s sense of humor, Walking Home celebrates the people and adventures of the Pacific Crest Trail without falling into the usual “man vs. wilderness” storyline. Whether you’re dreaming of hiking the PCT, enjoy armchair adventures, or just want a funny, heartfelt travel memoir, this book will take you there — no blisters required. Perfect for fans of A Walk in the Woods, Wild, and other memoirs where the journey matters as much as the destination. Start reading Walking Home today and set out on an unforgettable trail adventure. From the book: “But Dad, we can’t camp here. The sign says ‘Absolutely No Overnight Camping Allowed’,” Matthew said. “Yeah, I saw that.” “Then we can’t camp here. That’s what the sign says.” “So, does it mean absolutely no overnight camping allowed ever? We’ve been camping overnight for the last week. Do you think that wasn’t allowed?” I asked. “That was way over on the other side of the lake, miles from here,” he said. “Ed Zachary,” I replied. “The sign doesn’t mean absolutely no camping allowed anywhere, then. Camping was okay over there.” “Yeah. The sign wasn’t over there.” “See? We weren’t disobeying the sign when we were over there because we were outside of its circle of influence. The sign’s authority is limited by distance.” Matthew was following my logic. “What?” he said. “That sign has a circle of influence, right? It doesn’t mean no camping allowed in the whole world, or no camping on the PCT, just no camping within its circle of influence. It only has authority within its circle of influence, see? So the question is, just how wide is its circle? We just need to camp outside of that.” “Well how wide is it?” asked Matthew. “I don’t know. Put your arms out and spin around like a helicopter. Everything you hit is inside your circle of influence. That’s where you have authority.” “So, we only need to camp farther than arm’s reach from the sign?” “That’s what I’m thinking. I’m setting up right here.” Matthew looked at me narrowly. “So just how wide is your circle of influence?” he asked. The dangerous thing about leading Matthew partway down a path of logic, is that he’ll continue to follow it on his own for far longer than what I believe is productive. I needed to set him straight. “My circle of influence is vast. In fact, my authority encompasses the entire Milky Way galaxy,” I said. Matthew paused a moment to check my assertions against prior observations. “I’m telling Mom,” he said. Read more View Less