Review of A WALK IN THE PARK
How in the hell did they survive this?
Tl;dr – Ever wanted to do a thru hike of the grand canyon with zero training or experience? You shouldn’t. And this book shows you why. 10/10 read.
I’m a big national park enthusiast. I’ve been to nearly a dozen in addition to other national monuments and state parks. It’s been a fantastic perk of living in the mountain west for the last five years with incredible access to some of the most stunning landscapes in the world. But once you leave the Disney crowds of the “front country” it’s a whole different game. And it’s not that hard to die out there.
I have a good story of how my husband and I overestimated our abilities, underestimated water and heat, and had a serious revelation of how people can, in fact, easily die in the backcountry while hiking Zion’s west rim in June. But nothing even close to the stories Kevin Fedarko tells in his memoir, A Walk in the Park: The True Story of Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon.
The desert in particular is a special place of extremes. Including extreme beauty and extreme danger. The desert is usually appealing because it’s so distinct from our normal environments but that also means we overestimate our ability to survive and underestimate how unprepared we are to deal with the harsh environment.
When Kevin Fedarko and Pete McBride made the decision to do a 100-mile thru hike of the Grand Canyon, their arrogance nearly got them killed countless times. I continued reading knowing that they survived because I was listening to them tell their story, but I was also on the edge of my seat screaming at them as they decided to do one moronic thing after another.
The book, told from Kevin’s perspective, recounts their successful thru hike (broken up into numerous segments, several times quitting, and with heavy support from experts) of the Grand Canyon and every misstep. What makes this book so damn entertaining is his self-deprecating approach and crystal clear post-hoc self-awareness of their idiotic approach to this attempt.
This is all entertaining (highly recommend on audio), insightful, adventurous, and the best way to convince you that no you cannot, in fact, do this hike “from the couch”. Do a couch to 5k program instead.
Published: May 2024
Publisher: Scribner
Format: Audio
If you think this sounds interesting, bookmark these other great reads:
The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest (2021) by Mark Synnott | Read my review
When I Fell from the Sky: The True Story of One Woman's Miraculous Survival (2012) by Juliane Koepcke
The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir (2020) by Roman Dial
This sounds fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
These are exactly the sort of books I love listening to while hiking! It reminds me I'm not immortal lol. Thank you for the recommendation :)