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Adventure Ready: A Hiker’s Guide to Planning, Training, and Resiliency
This clear and comprehensive DIY guide and manual sets backpackers up for success with detailed information about everything from the basics of gear selection, navigation, safety, and trip planning to nutritional and physical preparation and body resiliency to how to readjust after returning home.
Included are worksheets and checklists that make it easy to stay on top of all the planning a long-distance hike requires, while thoughtful prompts to address the "Why" of your adventure help to keep you motivated.
"Adventure Ready" empowers both men and women to create goals, face challenges, and be stronger and smarter on the trail.
(Midwest Book Review)
Included are worksheets and checklists that make it easy to stay on top of all the planning a long-distance hike requires, while thoughtful prompts to address the "Why" of your adventure help to keep you motivated.
"Adventure Ready" empowers both men and women to create goals, face challenges, and be stronger and smarter on the trail.
(Midwest Book Review)
380 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 10, 2024
I read this book to help me prepare for my goal to go on at least one short (1 or 2 night) backpacking trip this year. I have done a lot of day hiking but want to get a little out of my comfort zone. This book is really geared more towards preparing for very long through hikes and I think it does a good job dealing with the issues that face people who are going to be hiking for weeks or months on end. So while a lot of the information was not as valuable to me, the sections on gear, nutrition, and training gave me a lot of food for thought. The authors provided several helpful checklists and a huge array of resources that I'll be checking out as I continue to plan for my outing.
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July 30, 2024I had the audiobook, might not be the best format for this. A physical book where you can jump around sounds much better.
I don’t know much about hiking so I don’t know if this is good. But I still want to go hiking and it seems like an honest view on the ups and downs of being on the trail. Brings up pre hike diet and exercises and all sorts of part of the planning. Also brings up some post trail TLC.
I wonder what post trail depression will do with my current depression?
I don’t know much about hiking so I don’t know if this is good. But I still want to go hiking and it seems like an honest view on the ups and downs of being on the trail. Brings up pre hike diet and exercises and all sorts of part of the planning. Also brings up some post trail TLC.
I wonder what post trail depression will do with my current depression?
October 3, 2022
TLDR version: This is a reference book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who wants to, or even thinks they might want to in the future, take on the challenge of long distance hiking and backpacking.
The first question we ought to ask about any how-to book concerns the writer's qualifications. Authors Katie Gerber and Heather Anderson easily step over that hurdle as both have been there and done that when it comes to backpacking. Not only have they each walked more miles than most of us drive in a year, they have done so under conditions ranging from freezing cold to baking heat, alone and with others. When they talk (or write) about hiking we ought to listen.
Both authors are coaches and trainers, and working one on one with them would be a dream for any backpacker who is serious about the pursuit of a long trail. But if we can't get that personal training, this book is the next best thing. Essentially this is a textbook for a graduate-level course on how to make yourself into a much better hiker than you may be now.
"Adventure Ready" is not a book where you read about somebody else's adventures, although it includes a little bit of that. No, this is a book that tells you how to prepare for your own adventures. There are chapters logically arranged, starting with planning, logistics of resupply, how to select gear, and how to navigate and stay safe. There's good stuff here if you want to push beyond weekend trips and front country campsites. But the strength of the book comes in later chapters where Gerber and Anderson go into preparing your body, performance nutrition focused on long distance hikes, and maybe best of all, the mental preparation that's often neglected by other guides like this. There's even a chapter on fitting yourself back into the "normal" world after a long thru-hike.
As a planning resource, "Adventure Ready" proves to be very analytical in its approach to helping the reader take on a long distance trail. It provides some good checklists that opened my eyes a bit. The "Additional Resources" section in the back of the book is small but excellent, with several websites and books I already know of and some more that are new to me. I was especially tickled to see their suggested reading includes Alex Hutchinson's "Edure," which is a favorite of mine.
I bought the hard copy print edition, but it's available as an ebook if you prefer. It's a very well laid out and readable book with quality printing, and my quibbles are few and minor, mostly just a difference of opinion on meditation in the section on mental preparation.
So who is the audience for this book? I suppose it's people like me whose backpacking trips have begun to lengthen and who want guidance in how to step up their game. As I write this review today, my longest backpacking trip so far is a thru-hike of the Benton MacKaye Trail, just barely 300 miles including a few miles on the AT to get to the start and a few more at the end to get back to the car. Most of my trips are 50 to 80 miles. So if, like me, you're finding that a week at a time on trail has gotten too tame and you want more, but need a high quality source to lean on for help, "Adventure Ready" needs to be one of your first steps on that long trail.
The first question we ought to ask about any how-to book concerns the writer's qualifications. Authors Katie Gerber and Heather Anderson easily step over that hurdle as both have been there and done that when it comes to backpacking. Not only have they each walked more miles than most of us drive in a year, they have done so under conditions ranging from freezing cold to baking heat, alone and with others. When they talk (or write) about hiking we ought to listen.
Both authors are coaches and trainers, and working one on one with them would be a dream for any backpacker who is serious about the pursuit of a long trail. But if we can't get that personal training, this book is the next best thing. Essentially this is a textbook for a graduate-level course on how to make yourself into a much better hiker than you may be now.
"Adventure Ready" is not a book where you read about somebody else's adventures, although it includes a little bit of that. No, this is a book that tells you how to prepare for your own adventures. There are chapters logically arranged, starting with planning, logistics of resupply, how to select gear, and how to navigate and stay safe. There's good stuff here if you want to push beyond weekend trips and front country campsites. But the strength of the book comes in later chapters where Gerber and Anderson go into preparing your body, performance nutrition focused on long distance hikes, and maybe best of all, the mental preparation that's often neglected by other guides like this. There's even a chapter on fitting yourself back into the "normal" world after a long thru-hike.
As a planning resource, "Adventure Ready" proves to be very analytical in its approach to helping the reader take on a long distance trail. It provides some good checklists that opened my eyes a bit. The "Additional Resources" section in the back of the book is small but excellent, with several websites and books I already know of and some more that are new to me. I was especially tickled to see their suggested reading includes Alex Hutchinson's "Edure," which is a favorite of mine.
I bought the hard copy print edition, but it's available as an ebook if you prefer. It's a very well laid out and readable book with quality printing, and my quibbles are few and minor, mostly just a difference of opinion on meditation in the section on mental preparation.
So who is the audience for this book? I suppose it's people like me whose backpacking trips have begun to lengthen and who want guidance in how to step up their game. As I write this review today, my longest backpacking trip so far is a thru-hike of the Benton MacKaye Trail, just barely 300 miles including a few miles on the AT to get to the start and a few more at the end to get back to the car. Most of my trips are 50 to 80 miles. So if, like me, you're finding that a week at a time on trail has gotten too tame and you want more, but need a high quality source to lean on for help, "Adventure Ready" needs to be one of your first steps on that long trail.
June 19, 2024
I really enjoyed reading this book, but found it awkward. The book is at first oriented toward first time hikers... How do you face your first day in the woods? By the end, the authors are providing advice to hikers on multi-month solo through-hikes. The problem with this, though, was the that neither of the audiences the authors hoped to reach (beginners and through-hikers) were never fully appreciated. I would have preferred two books, one for beginners and one for those whose experience has left them ready to face the next big challenge.
Some chapters read like textbooks—I loved learning about outdoor related health and nutrition—while others read as if the authors were sitting down with a group of friends sharing knowledge they'd gained through their myriad hiking experiences. It interrupted the flow of the book. I found the book helpful in some respects, but felt the two-author approach mangled the book's flow overall. The juxtaposition between science and application didn't really work rhetorically. It left the mind fluctuating between hard science (albeit referencing application in the field) with a comfortable, let's-hang-out-with-friends-and-learn-from-each-other vibe. The two just didn't mesh.
Some chapters read like textbooks—I loved learning about outdoor related health and nutrition—while others read as if the authors were sitting down with a group of friends sharing knowledge they'd gained through their myriad hiking experiences. It interrupted the flow of the book. I found the book helpful in some respects, but felt the two-author approach mangled the book's flow overall. The juxtaposition between science and application didn't really work rhetorically. It left the mind fluctuating between hard science (albeit referencing application in the field) with a comfortable, let's-hang-out-with-friends-and-learn-from-each-other vibe. The two just didn't mesh.
March 13, 2023
Probably the best book currently out there on prepping for and accomplishing a thru-hike. The perfect mix of breadth and depth on all the things you need to concern yourself with before, during, and even after your trip. I tore through most of this within a few days of getting it from the library, but I ended up renewing it because there is so much good detail, I found myself going back to it again and again. While the gear information matched what I had read online and the emotional prep matched what I had read in Appalachian Trials, I found the section on diet especially helpful, as it gets into the nitty gritty of fueling a long distance hike vs a running race (tip: fat > carbs). If you’re planning any long distance hike and you’re debating whether to read this book vs any other, stop debating and go get this book.
July 14, 2023
Not the basic, "you'll need boots, backpack and map" instruction. Delves more deeply into nutrients over water filtration methods, mental and physical prep and recovery over map reading. However, broadly it covers all elements of planning backpacking or hut-to-hut hiking trips. This book is more for those planning trips of grueling successive days, per your current conditioning level. If you're doing one random weekend hike, followed by a brewery, then back home, not the book for you.
January 18, 2023
Training and planning guide for those getting into longer backpacking trips and thru hikes although it could be helpful for anyone new to hiking.
Many informative books overwhelm readers with too much information, this book covers all the basics with just the right level of detail. Everything from navigation, planning, nutrition, and training is covered.
Many informative books overwhelm readers with too much information, this book covers all the basics with just the right level of detail. Everything from navigation, planning, nutrition, and training is covered.
January 26, 2024
This is the perfect guide, I’m hoping to hike the PCT next year and it’s wonderful to have such comprehensive advice from women. Lots of hiker experiences are told from a male point of view so to have two women to look up to was perfect!
May 19, 2023
A wonderful book for those of us, like me, who want to get into backpacking, but have no idea where to start. Here, start here!
August 4, 2023
Well rounded content
September 15, 2023
Informative and useful with plenty of interesting anecdotes grounding the information. Good stuff.
May 15, 2024
A literal textbook of "how to long-term hike." It's an encyclopedia covering everything from assessing risks to calculating calories to reintegrating. There are excellent worksheets for each topic. The food chapter is my particular favorite. Most of the book is applicable to any backpacking trip, not just months long thrus.
I read the digital edition and some of the charts went wonky, but it met my current needs - dipping my toe in and getting excited. I'll probably pick up a hard copy as I get closer to my dream hikes.
I read the digital edition and some of the charts went wonky, but it met my current needs - dipping my toe in and getting excited. I'll probably pick up a hard copy as I get closer to my dream hikes.
April 23, 2024
Very well-researched and well-written book. The authors do a great job presenting information that can be helpful to hikers of all experience levels. The Additional Resources section at the end of the book is full of great checklists, links, and info. I will read and use this book again, and will recommend it to anyone looking to spend time in nature.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews