by Dan White
This book is good in a lot of different ways and great in a few. He does what he sets out to do and treats every aspect of camping with equal love, humor and respect. From the early days of "woodcraft", when the sign of a true adventurer was how deeply he might leave his mark on the wilderness, to the modern days of "leave no trace" even when it means hauling poop bags down Mount Shasta, he studies it all. And whenever possible, experiences it first hand.
It's hard to even hint at the adventures told in the fourteen chapters of this book. Let's just mention that he spends a night emulating John Knowles, who went out into the woods naked and weaponless and vowed to return well fed and wearing a bear skin. He may have been a charlatan, but his adventure inspired Mr. White to do the same--if only for a single night.
He writes much about John Muir, of course, and Teddy Roosevelt. He finds stories of the intrepid women of camping, including Victorian ladies who hitched up their ankle-length skirts and climbed mountains with east. He writes of Edward Abbey and mentions Colin Fletcher and his "feel how" books of instruction.
And to my surprise, he rents a Class-C motorhome and takes his wife and daughter out on the roads--which was scary--and then to a campground where he plans to speak to everyone there, just to find out what kind of folk do such an unnatural thing as to haul the trappings of civilization along behind them in their quest to get away from it all. He is pleasantly surprised at what he finds--
And no more telling. Read the book--it's great. It seemed really long at times, but it still ended too soon.
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