Environmental Communications

I LOVE lists, so here are some of my favorite adventure memoirs I’ve read in the past decade or so. This 15-book list is not in any particular order of preference, and certainly not exhaustive; I was aiming for variety. Add your favorites in the comments below!

Appalachian Trail

1. North, Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail
Co-authored by Scott & Jenny Jurek (2018)
🔸Trail Running, Fastest Known Time (FKT) Attempt
I enjoyed the back-and-forth style of this book. Its co-authorship gives you a glimpse of how Scott is feeling pursuing his FKT goal on the Appalachian Trail, and Jenny’s thoughts as his partner and crew leader. Spoiler: They don’t always remember events the same. 🙂 It was a real pleasure to read.

2. A Walk in the Woods
by Bill Bryson (2016)
🔸Humor, Backpacking, Personal Anecdotes with the Trail’s History and Ecology
When I read this book years ago, I wasn’t sure if I was interested or terrified of the Appalachian Trail, but I became curious. It’s certainly funny!

3. Becoming Odyssa – Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail
by Jennifer “Odyssa” Pharr Davis (2010)
🔸Backpacking, Thru-Hike
Again, I had mixed feelings about the trail after reading it. There was one too many snake encounters for me, but I love her storytelling and the many ‘characters’ she meets along the way.

4. The Unlikely Thru-hiker – An Appalachian Trail Journey
by Derick “Mr. Fabulous” Lugo (2019)
🔸Backpacking, Thru-Hike
An Appalachian Trail memoir that made me want to hike the trail! That’s because, if Lugo can do it (a young man from New York City who had NEVER even slept in a tent before his first day on the trail), we all can! Lugo has a 2nd book chronicling his Continental Divide Trail thru-hike, which I haven’t read yet.

Pacific Crest Trail

5. To The Gorge, Running, Grief, Resilience & 460 Miles on The Pacific Crest Trail
by Emily Halnon (2024)
🔸Trail Running, Fastest Known Time (FKT) Attempt
Halnon attempts the supported FKT for the Oregon section of the PCT. The memoir is filled with raw emotion as Halnon weaves the heavy grief she endured in the time leading up to the FKT attempt with the trials on the trail. On a personal note, Halnon made this attempt the year I hiked the Oregon section of the PCT in August 2020. It’s hard to know exactly where our paths crossed, but what I could gather, I was most likely asleep in my tent in the Three Sisters Wilderness at Reese Lake (near South Sister) when she ran by unbeknownst to me. Halnon describes a big storm that I remember complaining about, but I only hiked 18 miles in it, while Halnon ran significantly more miles up and over Jefferson Pass – that sounded miserable.

6. Thirst – 2,600 Miles to Home
by Heather “Anish” or “The Ghost” Anderson (2019)
🔸Backpacking, Thru-Hike, Fastest Known Time (FKT) Attempt
By age 25, Anderson had hiked the “Triple Crown” of backpacking —a combined distance of 7,900 miles. This memoir shares her 2013 attempt to beat the FKT record for backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail, alone and self-supported. Although the Oregon section is a blink of an eye in the book (it nearly always is), I still enjoyed seeing that section of the trail through her eyes. Anderson shares her awe of South Sister in the same way I experienced it, which made me smile. She saw WAY more mountain lions than I did (I have yet to see one in the wild). Anderson has two additional memoirs I have not read.

7. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed (2012)
🔸Backpacking, Thru-Hike
No list is complete (for me) without mentioning this one. I know, most everyone has read it, but it’s such a page-turner. It rekindled my dream of hiking the PCT, as it did for many others.

Miscellaneous Adventures

8. Travels With Charley in Search of America
by John Steinbeck (1962)
🔸Road Tripping
I stumbled upon this one by accident, but I’ve always loved Steinbeck. He travels the U.S. in a camper to understand the “America” he was writing about. His insights and perceptions are amazingly (and often sadly) relevant still today. Some things have not changed much.

9. Love with the Chance of Drowning
by Torre DeRoche (2011)
🔸Sailing
I hesitate to have a “favorite,” but this memoir would probably be the winner! I just LOVED it. There is zero hiking (that I can remember), but rather a sailing adventure and love story – oh, it’s so good; DeRoche is an amazing writer. I have never sailed, but couldn’t put this one down.

10.  Highest and Hardest – A Mountain Climber’s Lifetime Odyssey
to the Top of the World
by Chris Kopczynski (2022)
🔸Mountain Climbing
With the climbing addiction in his blood, Kopczynski set new goals and became the twelfth in the world to climb the highest peaks on seven continents. I’m not a mountaineer, but I’d like to dip my toe into the world of climbing peaks. It took me a bit to get into this one, but Kopcynzki’s writing is fabulous, and before long, I felt like I was right there experiencing the adrenaline.

11. Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
🔸Travel Adventure
Similar to Wild, this one just has to make it onto any of my lists – it’s a forever favorite.
I was reading Gilbert’s book, “Big Magic” when the pandemic hit, and I got laid off. I wrote about it here.

12. To Walk It Is To See It, One Couple, 98 Days, 1400 Miles on Europe’s GR5
by Kathy Elkind (2023)
🔸Backpacking (accommodation to accommodation), International Travel, Thru-Hike
A couple’s story of walking (and some biking) through the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, and France on the GR5 trail. I didn’t even know this trail existed, but now I want to hike it! Elkind is a wonderful storyteller and weaves her thoughts on perimenopause, parenting, married life, and her struggles with dyslexia into her observations along the trail. It’s simply lovely! The adventure genre is lacking female voices in the age of perimenopause, so I especially loved and appreciated Elkind’s voice.

13. Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks
by Emily Pennington (2023)
🔸Road Tripping, Hiking
Pennington visited all U.S. National Parks (63 at the time) in one year. Her efforts were thwarted when the Pandemic hit in March 2020, but she pivoted and kept at it! Since I’m in the midst of visiting as many National Parks with my 4th grader this year (2025/2026), it was an appropriate read, and I enjoyed it.

14. Let Your Mind Run – A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory
by Deena Kastor (2018)
🔸Running, Elite Athlete, Power of the Mind Goodness
“The day Deena Kastor became a truly elite runner was the day she realized that she had to ignore her talent–it had taken her so far, but only conquering the mental piece could unlock higher levels of achievement. In Let Your Mind Run, the vaunted Olympic medalist and marathon and half-marathon record holder, will reveal how she incorporated the benefits of positive psychology into her already-dedicated running practice, setting her on a course to conquer women’s distance running- vividly inspirational!” – I couldn’t really do better than the back-cover write-up. 🙂
This book had a profound impact on me, with SO many “aha” moments. I can’t recommend it enough to anyone interested in learning about the power of our thoughts.

15. To Shake the Sleeping Self
by Jedidiah Jenkins (2018)
🔸Biking, International Travel
Traveling via bike from Oregon to Patagonia (16 months, 10,000 miles)! It’s an adventure, and very raw, and so so good! Bikepacking is something I’m very interested in getting into.

Share your favorite adventure memoirs in the comments! I’m always looking for my next best read!