The Advanced Backpacker: A Handbook of Year Round, Long-Distance Hiking [Paperback]

Chris Townsend (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2000

With thousands of all-weather miles to his credit, from North America, Europe, and Asia, Chris Townsend is the ultimate guide for backpackers of all levels. The Advanced Backpacker is an invaluable fusion of expert information and unlimited inspiration, featuring detailed discussions of everything from finding routes and choosing locations to planning, financing, equipping, and supplying oneself for the long haul. Offering readers unprecedented insight into the extensive preparations required to develop the body and psyche of a long-distance hiker, Townsend addresses the specifics of hiking in all climates, from deserts and mountains to the arctic tundra and the tropics. The Advanced Backpacker offers top-level navigation techniques as well as specific safety and health precautions for extreme heat and cold.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

You already know the basics of backpacking. Now your goal is to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, make a solo trip through Denali, or see the far corners of the globe on your own two feet--you're ready to wander right off the map.

No matter where in the world you aim for--the Sierra Nevadas, Scandinavia, or beyond--there's a good chance that Chris Townsend has been there before you. With over 20,000 long- and short-distance hiking miles to his credit, Townsend shares with you the secrets he's learned while backpacking the world's most challenging and rewarding terrains: Nepal, the desert Southwest, the Scottish Highlands, the Yukon, the Pyrenees, and much more. The Advanced Backpacker explains everything there is to know about hiking on terrains from the desert to the arctic and in all kinds of weather. It gives you the tools you need for group or solo hiking on the long trail, the trackless wilderness, or the most remote and exotic corners of the planet.

Praise for The Backpacker's Handbook:

"Townsend's time-honored recommendations draw extensively from his often intense field experiences. . . . Every imaginable topic is covered thoroughly and engagingly."--Backpacker

"An clear and comprehensive primer."--Sierra

"Belongs in every bookcase dealing with outdoor topics. . . . Chockablock full of useful, practical, common-sense info. . . . If you tramp the outdoors, get this book."--Maine Sportsman

About the Author

Chris Townsend is an internationally recognized hiking expert who has trekked the world over. His books include The Backpacker's Handbook, which won the prestigious Outdoor Writers' Guild Award for Excellence in the United Kingdom. His solo treks include a 1,600-mile hike over the entire Candian Rockies, a 1,000-mile walk across the Yukon, and a monumental 3,000-mile hike from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide Trail. He lives in Scotland.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071357564
• ISBN-13: 978-0071357562
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #965,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars unnecessary?, March 19, 2002

By 

tim (Kalamazoo, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Advanced Backpacker: A Handbook of Year Round, Long-Distance Hiking (Paperback)

The first time i glanced at this book I thought that i was looking at 'The Backpackers Handbook', also by Townsend. This seemed, and still seems to be, more or less a duplication of that previous guide. If you don't own the 'Handbook', then definitely check this out, I really like Chris' open-minded writing and hiking style.

The only new information in 'Advanced Backpacker' is brief; and can be found on the internet or in your library for free. But if you really want a wholesome guide to carry with you, then this should be the one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent advice but somewhat outdated, June 4, 2010

By 

Lizard (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Advanced Backpacker: A Handbook of Year Round, Long-Distance Hiking (Paperback)

I disagree with the other reviewer who compares this book to Townsend's "Backpacker's Handbook." The Handbook covers the basics of hiking equipment - in this book, Townsend assumes you know the basics, and covers only the adjustments to gear necessary for a long hike. Even with that caveat, there are some simply excellent discussions here - for example, its got the best breakdown of boot fitting I've come across.

More importantly though, Townsend uses this book to discuss at length topics aimed at, for lack of a better term, "advanced backpackers." Things like how to prep and plan for a thruhike. How to plan an extended route through an area where there are no trails, based only off the information available on maps. How to do menu and resupply planning for a multimonth hike. Snow camping and travel in early season mountainous terrain. It is discussions like these where this book shines. Townsend's expertise comes through to differentiate this book from the many others targeted to weekend hikers. I first picked this book up after my PCT hike in 2000, and immediately recognized it as the book I was looking for before my hike. It would have saved me unnecessary pain.

With that being said, the book is somewhat dated today. While much of Townsend's advice still holds, these days, its much easier to access information. Hundreds of former thru-hikers are immediately available through discussion forums to answer questions, and incredibly detailed posts are freely available on any bit of hiking minutiae you can think of. Like the other "advanced hiking" books by Roland Mueser and Karen Berger, this book is sadly somewhat of a relic these days. If you consider yourself an "advanced backpacker" though, its still worth getting ahold of, to access the author's expertise on some relatively esoteric subjects.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent descriptions from experience, June 6, 2002

By 

Jim Morrison (Hansville, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Advanced Backpacker: A Handbook of Year Round, Long-Distance Hiking (Paperback)

The author's experience in long distance backpacking is obvious when he shares his knowledge in an honest and enlightening way.
The section on inspiration and reality is well worth reading. He gives a nice little description of the long trails, with his comments and experiences. His food choices and ideas alone make the book worth the price. He includes the best description of chemical purification I have seen in some time. He covers boot fitting (one of the most important items, I think, in backpacking) like no one else I have ever read. Not a rehash of what has already been written (I admit I haven't read his other books), but some critical and important original views on the subject.
This book delivers excellent information for the long-distance hiker.