The Hiking Trip (2023) is not a bad murder mystery. Murder on the West Coast Trail, Vancouver Island.
It’s obvious to me — someone who’s hiked the West Coast Trail 7 times — that the author has never done so. There are many glaring mistakes. 😀
It alternates between two timelines: a young woman’s fateful trek on the WCT 1999 and a mother in the present day (around 2019/2023) whose past secrets come back to haunt her when human remains are found just off the trail.
As a hiker, I did find the plot more interesting than otherwise.
Recommended.
Of course there are no open fires in the trees on the West Coast Trail. Jenny needed some hiking fact checkers. 😀
‘Sponsored by Heineken (1995) to reach the parts other explorers cannot reach, itinerant traveller Mark Eveleigh sets off on foot and by canoe across the heart of Borneo.
On the way he endures shipwreck, malaria, leeches and exhaustion, not to mention enforced alcohol abuse and barbecued mouse-deer foetus.
Such hardships, you would imagine, might be enough to put a man off his boiled fish and rice, but the author confronts each challenge with a spirit that is as understated as it is refreshing.
All too often travelogues dwell on the downside of discovery, but Mark’s unique blend of enthusiasm and humour is genuinely absorbing and immensely readable.’
– Global AdventureMagazine.
I really enjoyed the book while sailing between Indonesian islands, myself.
The most astonishing takeaway for me, however, is the narrator of the audiobook.
Excellent.
“Narrated by: Virtual Voice” indicates an audiobook that was not narrated by a human, but by an AI-generated voice created by a technology like Amazon’s Virtual Voice on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
This computer-generated speech technology creates audiobooks from ebooks, offering authors a way to produce an audio version at a low cost or no cost.
The narration quality varies by title, and Audible (and other platforms like Amazon and Alexa) will clearly label these audiobooks and provide samples for listeners to evaluate before purchasing.
Gran Paradiso National Park (Italian: Parco nazionale del Gran Paradiso, French: Parc national du Grand-Paradis) is an Italian national park in the Graian Alps, between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions. The park is named after Gran Paradiso mountain, which is located in the park. …
The land the park encompasses was initially protected in order to protect the Alpine ibex, but now also protects other species. …
Personally, I felt the storytelling average. Sometimes pretentious.
What kept me going was the plot ➙ story of the search for Valerie Gillis, a 42-year-old hiker known as “Sparrow,” who vanishes while navigating the challenging Appalachian Trail.
After weeks experience on the A.T., Sparrow makes many dumb mistakes.
The book was slightly inspired by the story of Geraldine Largay who went missing in 2013 and survived for 26 days.
Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.
At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. …
… The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. …
A Modern Guide to Hiking Gear and Techniques for Active Adults
I’m over age-60 and still a keen hiker. It’s one of the recreational activities that skews to a higher age demographic.
If you want to start hiking as an older adult or you hiked as a youth and are just getting back onto the trails, you’ll quickly discover that the hiking gear and skills used by today’s hikers have changed significantly in the past 20 years. From lightweight gear, footwear, and clothing to advances in GPS navigation and satellite communications, nearly every aspect of the hiking experience has been transformed, making hiking more accessible than ever for older adults.
Written by Philip Werner, the founder of the highly acclaimed hiking website SectionHiker.com, Hiking Over 60 will bring you up to speed on the hiking gear and techniques that modern hikers use today.
Since retiring in 2010, Philip has hiked ten thousand miles in the United States and Scotland. An older hiker himself, he has a unique grasp of the physical challenges that mature hikers may face on the trail. …
Patagonia is massive and bleak. Yet we love the Patagonian Andes, 2000km (1243mi) in length, but averaging less than 100km (62mi) in width. You could take years exploring just the eastward (drier) side of the mountains.
Towering granite peaks, untouched lakes, massive glaciers, huge volcano trekking peaks. This land is phenomenal.
Trekkers target five areas:
The Araucania
Lakes District
Central Patagonia
Southern Patagonia
Tierra del Fuego
Start in Mendoza, Argentina and visit the highest mountain outside Asia, Aconcagua. Next bus to the Switzerland of South America (Lake District). Some of the highest volcanoes of the world are here. Finally, work your way south by air and ferry to the granite spires at the south tip of the continent.
Trekking season here is Nov-Apr. (Feb-Mar often the best weather) That said, the wind and weather in Patagonia is notorious. Independent hikers need be prepared for anything and everything.
Conversational Spanish highly recommended for those travelling independently.
besthike.com 