Trail Literature

If you're thinking about hiking the Appalachian Trail, it might be helpful to read up on it.  There are a lot of books available, but these are the ones I find most helpful and interesting.

Memoirs:

Becoming Odyssa by Jennifer Pharr Davis is an awesome read.  A 21-year-old girl tells her story of antics, stalkers, and friendship while she hikes from Georgia to Maine.  I liked this book because most trail memoirs are written by older men.  This might be the only book out right now by a young, female thru-hiker.

Hiking Through by Paul Stutzman is another good read.  It has a more religious tone to it.  We follow the author on his journey to Maine, while he recovers from his wife's death to cancer.  His message is to live life right now because you never know when your plans are going to fall through.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is another interesting memoir.  He doesn't actually hike the entire trail and many people will argue that he's not a good hiker.  However, this book is really, really funny!  You do get an idea of what trail life is like, and it demonstrates the hiker belief to "hike your own hike."

How-To Books:

Allen and Mike's Really Cool Backpackin' Book is an awesome instructional read.  It's not geared specifically toward the Appalachian Trail, but it's still incredibly helpful.  It's entertaining too.  They have tons of illustrations that demonstrate the correct way to do things.

Try How To Hike the A.T. by Michelle Ray for a book that's geared toward the AT and covers probably everything you were ever wondering about thru-hiking.

Data Books:
You want a good data book to bring on your trip with you.  They show landmarks, water sources, shelters, towns, elevations, and many other things.  Which data book you choose is all about personal preference, but none of them will leave you lost in the middle of the woods.  Get a current version because they update them every year.

The Appalachian Trail Data Book is a no frills, basic information guide.  It's significantly lighter than other books because it only gives you need to know information.  At the same time, it still marks shelters, landmarks, water sources, road crossings to towns and other things.  It doesn't map out the actual towns or elevations.

The A.T. Guide will give you everything that's in the Data Book, plus more.  It draws out the mountains with elevations and where everything is at in relation.  It also has helpful information about the towns, like prices of hostels and where you can find shuttles.

The Thru-Hiker's Companion will give you basically everything that's in the A.T. Guide, minus the drawings of elevations.  The elevations are written in.