The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon [Paperback]

Colin Fletcher (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 14, 1989

The remarkable classic of nature writing by the first man ever to have walked the entire length of the Grand Canyon.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Colin Fletcher is a self-described "compulsive walker." It is not unusual for him to pick up a map, drive to an area that intrigues him, and then start walking. It should come as no surprise then that a detour from U.S. 66 to visit the Grand Canyon on a June morning in 1963 inspired Fletcher to walk the length of the Canyon below the rim. In The Man Who Walked Through Time Fletcher recounts his amazing journey. For two months Fletcher struggled against heat and cold, lack of water and dwindling supplies. The terrain was, at times, nearly impassible, yet despite the physical hardships, Fletcher came away from his experience with a new awareness of how humans fit into the vast scheme of things. He writes, for example, of meeting a rattlesnake on Beaver Sand Bar: "Now I am no rattlesnake aficionado. The first rattler I met scared me purple, and killing it seemed a human duty.... Yet by the end of that California summer I no longer felt an unreasoning fear of rattlers.... Instead, I accepted them as organisms with a niche in the web of life. Accepted them, that is, as fellow creatures."

The Man Who Walked Through Time is a remarkable account of a journey both physical and spiritual. It is also a record of the Grand Canyon as it was before the massive influx of tourism. Fletcher's descriptions of the spectacular geography, the wildlife, and the remnants of much older cultures serve to remind us that the Grand Canyon has been around longer than humankind and may well outlast us.

From the Publisher

7 1-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 14, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679723064
• ISBN-13: 978-0679723066
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece from the "Elder of the tribe" August 6, 1999

By Dan Heffernan

Format:Paperback

Preparing to hike the canyon myself I wanted to read up on what it would be like.I found "The Man Who Walked Through Time" in the bookstore on the Canyon's rim and read it right there,under a tree. This book will transport you to another world,deep below the rim and the mystery's and dangers therein. Colin Fletcher's courage and precise planning made for a successful journey and anyone planning a trip within the Grand Canyon would do well to read this book. I still have that worn copy I bought in 1972 and I re-read it once a year-just before I pull on my pack and head down the Canyon. Cheers Mr. Fletcher,Cheers.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic of Outdoor Literature February 6, 2008

By Stephen Balbach

Format:Paperback

The Man Who Walked Through Time is about Colin Fletcher's 1963 solo backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon, it is considered a classic of Outdoor Literature ranked #45 in National Geographic's "100 Best Adventure Books". It was first published in January 1968, almost exactly 40 years from the date of this review - the author was 41 when he took the trip, I am 41, and Fletcher emerged from the trip declaring "life begins at 40", adding the journey had offered him the "key to contentment." Like Dante's descent into the Inferno 'in media res' (age 40), Fletcher descended into the Abyss of the Canyon and emerged a spiritually changed man, changing the landscape of outdoor recreation with him.

Colin Fletcher (1922-2007) was a Welshman and WWII vet who moved to California in the 1950s. An avid backpacker, he is best known for The Complete Walker I-IV (1968-2001), which for a generation or two has been the singular bible of backpacking - "Colin was sort of the founding father of modern backpacking, the first person to write about going out for an extended period and being self-sufficient." (Annette McGivney, editor of 'Backpacker Magazine'). In 1968, the same year he published the first edition of 'The Complete Walker', he also published 'The Man Who Walked Through Time', recounting a 1963 trip in which he was the first person to walk the length of Grand Canyon National Park "in one go" (second to complete the whole journey). More than an adventure journal, it inspired a generation to take up (create) the backpacking lifestyle as a way to fill a spiritual void and escape the confusion and chaos of Vietnam-era America. As 'Backpacker Magazine' contributing editor Buck Tilton recalls "After Vietnam, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. So many of my friends had died from bullet holes. I read 'The Man Who Walked Through Time', and it was the only thing that made sense to me. Fletcher's words gave meaning to backpacking. I loaded my pack exactly the way Fletcher did and carried a walking stick like his. He was my hero."

Fletcher wrote about what he saw in day to day events, none are death defying or edge of the seat, what set it apart was Fletcher's inner journey of discovery as a metaphor of the vast expanse of time in the geology of the Grand Canyon. "I saw that by going down into that huge fissure in the face of the earth, deep into the space and the silence and the solitude, I might come as close as we can at present to moving back and down through the smooth and apparently impenetrable face of time." Fletcher found peace and solitude in removing himself from the "piercing arrows" of the modern world.

'The Man Who Walked Through Time' is essentially a Romantic work in the tradition of Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879), highly influential with an earlier generation of bohemians (Stevenson invented and describes the first sleep bag in outdoor literature). Fletcher re-fashioned his account for a new generation of drop-outs who wanted to find inner solitude and discovery in the outdoors. I see in Fletcher a sort of proto-hippy, he shed his clothing and walked bare naked with a bamboo cane, floppy hat and scraggly beard. He ate pemmican and lamented the loss of the martial spirit of the natives. He found value in nature and disparaged the dam builders who would destroy it. He was a key element in the burgeoning environmental movement - 'The Man Who Walked Through Time' will be "forever" a permanent mark in time of a movement and a generation. In February 2008, almost exactly 40 years from the books publication, the National Academy of Sciences published a report saying "Camping, fishing and per capita visits to parks are all declining in a shift away from nature-based recreation.. the replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia." The times are changing and 40 years ago today seems about 180 degrees in difference. Perhaps by 2048, 40 years from now, we will see a re-discovery of Fletchers vision of vigorous outdoor challenge, solitude and self-sufficiency in nature.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Tale of Mind and Spirit September 27, 2001

By "bpwhittaker"

Format:Paperback

I've never seen the Grand Canyon, but after reading Fletcher's book I feel that I've already been there. Colin's trek through the canyon in the early 1960's is a wonderful example of descriptive writing and attention to detail. One can almost visualize the immense passages of time as they unfolded before his eyes during his solitary walk through the heart of the canyon. Those of you looking for adventure and action need to look elsewhere, though. This book is about reflection and introspection, one man's thoughts about his (and mankind's) place and role on this planet. As Colin himself says the book and hike is meant to be more like a pilgrimage to a strange and wonderful place than a mere journal of collected thoughts. This inspiring book has me adding 'hike the Grand Canyon' on my life's 'to do' list, and it will be on yours, too!