Customer Reviews

Trail Ways, Path Wise

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"Trail Ways, Path Wise" is an entertaining and inspiring tale. John Illig shares every thought with the reader so that it feels as if you could be the one hiking solo on the Appalachian Trail. The detail John uses in his descriptions and the great dialogue between characters that he incorporates really make the journey come alive. You will suffer with him when he starts the hike with 75 pounds on his back and later, when he hikes an insane number of miles with a dysfunctional shoe. You will rejoice with him when he reaches his PO boxes and gets to take warm showers. You will laugh with him during his encounters with other hikers--all of whom have their own quirks and unique trail personalities. You will admire his determination and feel inspired to follow in his footsteps. You will not want to put the book down as John will never fail to amuse you as he recounts his interactions with others and describes his own thoughts and reflections. I recently read several chapters aloud to my dad as we were on our own journey--a road trip home from college. My dad laughed so hard the he had tears in his eyes and had to be careful not to run us off the road. Also, if you are interested in hiking part or all of the AT in your lifetime, reading this book is a great way to become familiar with the trail and learn what experiences to expect.

Trail Ways, Path Wise

"There is no single right way to hike the trail. There is no one correct way to experience the woods...Fast or slow, my hike meant more to me than anyone would ever know." Here author John Illig finishes a thought about the solace and beauty that attracts so many different types of people to the woods (and the Appalachian Trail, in particular). Illig is one of those people and fortunately for us, Illig shares his Appalachian Trail (AT) through-hike with readers in a way that is at once engaging, exhilarating, and deeply honest.

Illig, an athlete and outdoorsman but an inexperienced hiker, approaches the formidable challenge of through-hiking the AT in an endearingly naive and humorous fashion (the way most of us would probably would). The 29-year old Illig had the summer of '93 off from his job coaching squash in Maine and thought that the 2,147-mile trail, spanning 14 states, would not only be an excuse to spend time in the woods, but for someone self-described as "restless", an opportunity to, "fulfill a primordial urge and get up and go - and go, and go...!"

Trail Ways, Path Wise is most simply Illig's tale of hiking the AT from its southern end, Springer Mountain in Georgia, to its northernmost tip, Mount Katahdin in Maine. Illig writes in the present but laces his narrative with retrospective morsels, and tells us upfront that he was able to hike the entire trail. When one goes into the woods and stays there, in the "the green tunnel" as Illig calls it, an inevitable transformation takes place; hiker, trail, and woods coalesce. On the AT, the through-hikers themselves, the animals they meet, the age-old hiking institutions, and the history of the trail (the history of America, even) and those who came before (both real and legend) combine into their own little Gaia, and it is Illig's place in this harmony that makes his story both truly awesome and very fun to read. Illig's prose is nimble and conversational-- keeping up with his hike and his thoughts is effortless for the reader.

With eyes wide-open Illig introduces us to the inside (and intimate) world of AT through-hikers. Every hiker has a trail-name, sometimes self-imposed but more often created by other hikers. Illig befriends, teaches, and learns from Mercury Mark, Chinook, Mozyin', Easy Stryder, Food Dude, and others. It's difficult to forget the powerful scene in Fahrenheit 451 when Montag discovers the old men who've memorized great works of literature and in turn have taken on the identity of the books. Illig's through hikers offer a parallel; these hikers are named and known for their trail quirks and in turn their trail identity becomes supreme. Illig's book is ripe with wonderful conversations, hilarious observations, and moments of profound friendship on the trail. The characters of the AT help color his story.

And Illig is a winning character himself! He begins his hike with a 75-lb dysfunctional backpack, he brings snowshoes (it's summer), and an abdomizer (some sort of ab-workout machine from an infomercial). He makes numerous other mistakes. But Illig's journey is our journey and in time we learn how to prepare food on the trail and how to cut out unnecessary weight. We learn when to slow down, when to speed up, when to rest and when to go as Illig writes, "for miles." But our author still keeps some quirks--he hikes the entire trail with a pair of New Balance running shoes, and is ostracized for it all the way to the very top of Katahdin (in no small part because his trail-name was "Sneakers").

Above all, it is Illig's ongoing description of the relationship between man and nature that stands as the most enjoyable and enduring aspect of the story. And for all of us who might not ever hike the AT, Illig clearly articulates this profound effect of nature on man. Inspired by another through-hiker, Illig writes about beauty: "The essence of beauty is pure in the woods. Sun warms your face; wind blows your hair; a cold chill reddens your cheek; your body grows lean and strong climbing hills and mountains. The search for the sight of a secret pond makes your eyes sparkle, grace develops tiptoeing over stones in crossing a creek. The sun, the moon, the wind, the stars, the grass, the leaves, the noises, sights and smells of the forest are the most natural makeup of all. Hikers feel alive in the woods. Alive and aware. You appreciate a simple meal in a pot in the deep woods at night in a shelter. You enjoy easy talk there with friends."

Illig's book covers everything from chaos theory to Steinbeck to Monty Python, all while walking through the woods. We face each challenge with our author, we go for miles, we're alone, we're in love, we're sick, we make it to the next shelter, we take a rest here and there. There is so much to learn in this short book. As readers, we soon piece together the AT--both physically and spiritually. And (not to give everything away), when we finally reach Katahdin (proudly not part of the 90% through-hike attrition rate) we look back fondly at the view and celebrate the pages of our journey. This is a terrific read and I recommend it highly. I can't wait to read about Illig's next two through-hikes.

This book is for those of us who have always wanted to hike across the US but never seem to get out for a daily stroll. Few of us can hike sixty miles in a day carrying all we need to survive. Fewer still can write with such candor, honesty and humor. This is a true story about a great adventure in modern America and should not be missed. Save money. Get it in ebook.

Wow, what a ride! Few of us will ever hike across America, but we can reading this memoir was like being there for me. What I liked most was that Illig exposes his heart as well as his mind here.

Does this memoir contain opinions that you may or may not agree with? Sure. Would you want to read something that offended nobody? Then read a school history textbook and enjoy it.

This was my first of three hiking books by John Illig. It also is the book that focuses the most on the actual act of hiking. He begins the AT loaded down with an incredible assortment of heavy items but soon learns the law of the trail and churns about huge miles on an almost daily basis. He isn't as obsessed with finding hiking partners and getting to trail towns as are the writers of many of the AT narratives that I have read. He also shows real determination for overcoming a bout of lyme disease and still finishing the trail. The only annoying aspect of this book was his obsession with getting letters form a girlfriend referred to only as the Y, and he gets quite upset when he doesn't get that anticipated letter a few times in the book. Overall, an interesting book that should compel the reader to check out Illig's two sequels about his hikes on the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide Trails.

I'm waaaaaaay too lazy to ever hike across the park let alone America and, until a friend gave me this, I would never have guessed I would have enjoyed even reading about it---seems like way too much work---but I really liked this. It's written like the author is talking to a close friend and he just lets it all hang out, even if it doesn't make him look like a hero, and I liked that. Just started Pacific Dream and next I'm going to give MAN IN THE MIDDLE a try. At this price, why not? Who would have thought I'd be reading about hiking?

I have to agree with Kimbo's 2 star report on this one. It would have received 3 stars just for information, but Mr. Illig ruins it.

I will probably not ever get the chance to hike this trail from Georgia to Maine, so I enjoy reading others' experiences of their thru-hiking trips. At first, I found this book entertaining. I respected Mr. Illig's determination and the sharing of mistakes he made on the trail. However, as Kimbo mentioned in the review, Mr. Illig is quite preachy to the point of arrogance. Throughout this book, he is critical of others, be it Christians, meat-eaters, or day-hikers. His reported conversations and some of his register entries were offensive enough that I considered putting the book away. Some of his unkind observations could've been kept to himself and it would've improved the book immensely.

There are better memoirs out there. Keep looking.

I did not find John Illig to be either a particularly good writer or an engaging storyteller. There were a few moments of humor, but he wasn't especially witty or entertaining. The book badly needs editing: there were many redundancies, inconsistencies, spelling mistakes, and so forth. It reads as if he patched it together a long time after his hike by reading back through an old and incomplete journal.

What I found most offensive was his attitude. Despite his early remarks about everyone hiking their own way for their own reasons, throughout the book he was condescending and insulting toward hikers who either did not go as far or did not go as fast as he did. He was especially and consistently insulting toward weekend and vacation hikers. He was competitive to the point of being obsessed with who was up ahead of him on the trail, who was the best hiker, and who would finish first. He was preachy about his vegetarianism, repeating his objections to eating meat (and meat eaters) well after the point where I was saying "Ok, ok, I get it already." He came off as very conceited, clearly feeling quite superior to those who did not share his ideas or do things his way.

The use of someone else's snarky remark about Bill Bryson's book to promote his own is just an example of Illig's attitude. Why be unnecessarily ugly about another author's book, or another hiker's hike? Bryson's book was much more entertaining, and almost as informative, as Illig's. But there are many better sources for the information Illig offers (starting with the Data Book and the Handbook), and many better narratives available that tell the reader what it's really like out there on the AT.

The book did contain a lot of useful, detailed descriptions of his experience, which would help other people considering a long-distance hike.