Review: Where’s the Next Shelter

By Gary Sizer

One of the better of the AT thru-hike books I’ve read. He has a lot of health problems along the way—dizziness, for one, and he more-or-less trashed his feet by wearing hiking shoes that were too small. Apparently that’s a common malady among new hikers. They don’t realize that their feet expand by a size or so, so they end up with blisters and pinched nerves and stuff.

Poor guy. What I liked best about him, and this, is that he doesn’t let the suffering and the human interactions dominate the book. There are a lot of minutes for appreciation of the world around him. And some triumphant moments when the obstacles are conquered, the peaks are surmounted, and he can sit on the top and wonder. (Or hurry down to warmer, less exposed climes below the tree line)