The Complete Walker

by Colin Fletcher

This was my hiking handbook in the 70s and 80s. In the 70s I didn’t actually have this book, and all my hiking was done with friends family. I was just a teenager and wasn’t planning my own trips. But I found this book somewhere–on the bookshelf at summer camp? At my best friend’s house?

In any case, Fletcher was not nearly so gear oriented as current writers. I recently got a vintage copy and I am delighted by the inspirational writing. Its much less fixated on gear, and more inspirational in regard to the joys of hiking and camping by foot. This is why it still has value today, even though not many folks would hike with an external frame Kelty pack these days.