Best of
Wilderness

2017

Pure Land: A True Story of Three Lives, Three Cultures, and the Search for Heaven on Earth


Annette McGivney - 2017
    She was stabbed 29 times as she hiked to Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of Grand Canyon. Her killer was a distressed 18-year-old Havasupai youth. Pure Land is the story of this tragedy. But it is also the story of how McGivney’s quest to understand Hanamure’s life and death wound up guiding the author through her own life-threatening crisis. On this journey stretching from the southern tip of Japan to the bottom of Grand Canyon, and into the ugliest aspects of human behavior, Pure Land offers proof of the healing power of nature and the resiliency of the human spirit."There is such tragic irony here. The very things that Japanese tourist Tomomi Hanamure is so deeply passionate about--the wild, stark, beautiful American West and Native American culture--are what leads to her violent death. Around this single horrific event Annette McGivney has masterfully woven three separate, highly personal narratives."-- S. C. Gwynne, Author of Empire of the Summer Moon, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize"McGivney intuitively grounds her narrative while exploring humanity's roots of culture and origins of character, like the light of the sun awakening each intricate layer of earth in the deepest of canyons. She is a storyteller of the highest caliber, with a style reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's journalistic skill and unmistakable purpose."-- Carine McCandless, author of The Wild Truth, the New York Times bestselling follow-up to Into the Wild"Annette McGivney has gathered three disparate narratives and braided them into a bewitching tapestry of darkness and light, pain and atonement, along with the unexpected gifts that can sometimes accompany profoundly devastating loss." -- Kevin Fedarko, author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon

A Fly Rod of Your Own


John Gierach - 2017
    In A Fly Rod of Your Own, Gierach once again takes us into his world and scrutinizes the art of fly-fishing. He travels to remote fishing locations where the airport is not much bigger than a garage and a flight might be held up because a passenger is running late. He sings the praises of the skilled pilots who fly to remote fishing lodges in tricky locations and bad weather. He explains why even the most veteran fisherman seems to muff his cast whenever he’s being filmed or photographed. He describes the all-but-impassable roads that fishermen always seem to encounter at the best fishing spots and why fishermen discuss four-wheel drive vehicles almost as passionately and frequently as they discuss fly rods and flies. And while he’s on that subject, he explains why even the most conscientious fisherman always seems to accumulate more rods and flies than he could ever need. As Gierach says, “fly-fishing is a continuous process that you learn to love for its own sake. Those who fish already get it, and those who don’t couldn’t care less, so don’t waste your breath on someone who doesn’t fish.” From Alaska to the Rockies and across the continent to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, A Fly Rod of Your Own is an ode to those who fish—and they will get it.

Bushcraft First Aid: A Field Guide to Wilderness Emergency Care


Dave Canterbury - 2017
    Bushcraft First Aid teaches you how to be your own first responder. The authors’ years of experience and training will help hikers and backpackers deal with a variety of emergency situations, from cuts and burns to broken bones and head injuries. You’ll also learn what to pack and how to make bandages, dressings, and slings at a moment’s notice. As bushcraft experts, Canterbury and Hunt explain how to use plants as medicine to treat various conditions. Bushcraft First Aid provides the lifesaving information you need to keep yourself and your fellow hikers safe on the trail.

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California: Section Hiking from Campo to Tuolumne Meadows


Shawnté Salabert - 2017
    While many hikers attempt a thru-hike every year, beginning in Campo, California and connecting their footsteps all the way to Manning Park, B.C., even more people enjoy "section hiking" tackling the trail in bits and pieces.This guidebook serves as a road map to section hiking the Southern California portion of the PCT, beginning at its southern terminus in Campo and ending 942.5 miles north at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. From the magical cactus gardens of the Mojave Desert to the snowy peaks of the High Sierra, this book covers one of the most biologically and geologically diverse portions of the PCT. Author Shawnté Salabert serves as your personal trail guide along the way, offering informative route descriptions, interesting sidebars, and colorful stories that will deepen your experience on this iconic trail, whether you're headed out for a weekend, a week, or a month.Each volume of this new series focuses on section-by-section pieces of the PCT and includes the following features:- Inspirational full-color guides with over 150 color photographs in each- Trail sections of 4- to 10-night trips- Detailed camp-to-camp route descriptions- Easy-to-understand route maps and elevation profiles- Details on specific campsites and most-reliable water sources- Road access to and from various trail sections- Info on permits, hazards, restrictions, and more- Alternate routes and connecting trails- Clear references to the PCT's established system of section letters, designating trail segments from Mexico to Canada so you can easily cross-reference the guides with other PCT resource- Key wilderness sights along the way- Suggested itineraries

Opposites Attract


Cree Storm - 2017
    It is recommended to read book 1-3 of the Haven Ranch series first. Dudley was a rarity in the shifter world. A human turned into a shifter, and not just any shifter, a Bashkiria. Two animals in one, dolphin and flamingo, and fear was his middle name. Heights, dark water, spiders, snakes──heck, you name it, Dudley feared it. However, he was not going to let that stop him from living and enjoying life. With his pink pony tail, manicured nails, and come hither outfits, Dudley was ready for anything──or so he thought. Alexander is the head of the King’s Guard. He loved being an electric eel and vampire, loved being a Bashkiria world. He preferred to blend in and go unnoticed, and he faced any danger head on. That's why, when he met Dudley, he thought Fate had lost her mind. How could this man, afraid of his own shadow, flamboyant, and "take note I am in the room" attitude, be the one for him? Alex sure hoped the term "Opposites Attract" is true, because as a shifter, Alex had to trust in the choice the Gods made for him. So Dudley can run, he can hide, but Alex will get his man──or will he?

Vacationland


Susan X. Meagher - 2017
    Snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, even some ice-fishing, all spent in surprisingly pleasant temperate conditions. Now re-imagine that scene, but make it a team-building exercise with co-workers you’re not overly fond of. The bloom falls off that chilly rose pretty quickly, at least from Sunny Thompson’s perspective. But when they meet their guide, the remarkably pretty, stunningly fit Devin Savary, Sunny’s opinion starts to change. Devin’s fun, playful, and patient, something the little group of Dallas natives desperately needs. Now all they have to do is bond, a silly waste of time in Sunny’s view. You can’t force people to rely on each other by fiat. That only comes from being tested, a situation unlikely to happen when you’re traveling with a woman everyone seems to agree is one of Maine’s best guides. What could possibly go wrong?

Two Solitudes


emungere - 2017
    After the fall, Will drags Hannibal out of the Atlantic and they find their way north to a remote part of Labrador, where they try to make a life together.Words: 54,490

Alone on the Shield


Kirk Landers - 2017
    She would marry a fellow antiwar activist and end up immigrating to Canada. He would fight in Vietnam and come home to build an American dream kind of life—a great career, a trophy wife, and a life of wealth and privilege. Forty years later, they have reconnected and discovered a shared passion: solo canoeing in Ontario’s raw Quetico wilderness. They decide to meet again to get caught up on old times, but not in a restaurant or coffee shop—they agree to meet on an island deep in the Quetico wilds. Though they try to control their expectations for the rendezvous, they both approach the island with a growing realization of the emotional void in their lives and wonder how different everything might have been if they had spent their lives together. They must overcome challenges just to reach the island, then encounter the greatest challenges of all—each other, and a weather event for the ages. Alone on the Shield is a story about the Vietnam war and the things that connect us. It is the story of aging Baby Boomers, of the rare kinds of people who paddle alone into the wilderness, and of the kind of adventure that comes only to the bold and the brave.

Infected Volume Two


Andrea Speed - 2017
    Then, in Infected: Undertow, Roan is stuck in a coma as human and lion war for control; meanwhile, Holden and Fiona have their own cases to solve. And in Infected: Epitaph, a rash of tiger strain infecteds brings back bad memories for Roan and might be connected to his past, and as his symptoms escalate, it’s time for Roan to make his final choice….Finally, take a peek behind the curtain with Roan McKichan and the various characters who make up the Infected universe in this sometimes serious, sometimes humorous collection of short stories centered around the holidays, in Infected Holiday Special.

The Wilder Muir: Twenty-three of John Muir's Wilderness Adventures


Bonnie J. Gisel - 2017
    This collection of his little-known pieces have been culled from private letters, magazine articles, and personal journals from deep in the archives. In Bonnie Gisel’s able hands, Muir takes the reader on thrilling adventures and remarkable discoveries. His first summit of Half Dome, his great epiphany about the “living glaciers of the Sierra,” and his jolly ode to the giant sequoia are all presented here with awe and affection. A nearly penniless young Muir sleeps under the stars in a Florida graveyard. Muir the father prods his wife in the back with a stick, “helping” her up Yosemite’s Four Mile Trail. And an older yet still adventurous Muir summits Mount Rainier and survives the perilously icy descent. Certain to delight fans of The Wild Muir, these audacious exploits reveal John Muir’s boundless curiosity and love of all things wild.