White Blaze Fever [Paperback]

Bill Schuette (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1589394291 | ISBN-13: 978-1589394292 | Publication Date: July 11, 2003

It's called "White Blaze Fever" and although you will not find the fever mentioned in any medical journal, have no doubt in your mind - it does exist and no one is immune. Only the most casual, most minute contact with the Appalachian Trail is needed to catch the fever. I now welcome you to be my vicarious hiking partner as we pursue the two-inch by six-inch white blazes from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. Through my daily journal entries - revised only a little - you will share encounters with bear, moose, snakes and other wildlife. You will feel the thrill of viewing the most magnificent vistas east of the Mississippi and come to know a unique collection of individuals guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Schuette (Trail name: Mountain Slayer) was born in the small hamlet of North Star, Ohio, and caught the hiking bug while on a vacation with his family in the Shenandoah National Park.

Following a thirty-year career in education, Bill retired and succumbed to "White Blaze Fever" as he fulfilled his long time dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing (July 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589394291
• ISBN-13: 978-1589394292
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling nitty gritty of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike, September 4, 2003

By 

Timecheck "backpack45.com - Camino Chronicle... (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Blaze Fever (Paperback)

For the first time, I think I understand what it's like to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. This is a day by day journal of Bill (Mountain Slayer) Schuette's thru-hike in 2000. - 2167 miles from March 28th to August 28th, at the age of 51. Bill is a retired high school principal, who was hooked by the thru-hiking bug, when he and his wife were checking into a lodge and saw a thru-hiker stagger in, dirty, smelly, exhausted.

White Blaze Fever gets its name from the white blazes used to mark the route of the AT. The regional trails usually have blue blazes, and work their way reasonably around a mountain. the AT with its white blazes, goes over the top.

Every three to five pages, there is an italicized paragraph or two inserted, with various hiker tips for doing the trail. This gives the reader a useful break - read the tip, then back on the trail again.

By the time you reach the end of the book, you will have a good sense of what equipment works and doesn't work, and what you are getting into. This book makes you realize that this is very much a group experience. Shelter conversations, stories referring to hikers by their trailnames, shared misery and triumphs pay a large part in this book. You also learn something about the terrain, and a small dose of history.

I strongly recommend reading this if you have any intention of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Try to read it several months before you go.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fever inducer, January 3, 2005

By 

Bill Putnam (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Blaze Fever (Paperback)

If you're looking for an AT narrative like Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, this book is not for you. Like other reviewers have noted it is written in much more of a daily journal style. That said, it is much more informative about the AT, stops along the way, gear that worked and gear that didn't. Schuette's mantra seems to be reduce pack weight whenever possible and his tips at doing that are excellent! Does a very good job at not romanticizing parts of the hike that were not pleasant. I got a great picture of him waking up and putting on wet clothes on several occasions and it read as miserable as it must have been. At the end of the book, my own fever to hike the AT is still running rampant and I feel much better prepared having read Mountain Slayer's account.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars White Blaze Fever, September 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: White Blaze Fever (Paperback)

I found this book really interesting. I felt I was right there with the author walking the trail. That's the only way some of us would be able to do it. It was so well written that I could hear the mosquitoes buzzing and feel the rain falling. I could see the beautiful views of the sun as it rose or set over the mountains. Once you start reading it you don't want to put it down.