Walking Distance: Extraordinary Hikes for Ordinary People, by Robert and Martha Manning, Oregon State University Press, 2013

The message of this beautiful, intelligent, and highly readable book is: long distance walking is within the walking distance of ordinary folks.  Walking Distance makes the unique and primeval pleasures of long distance walking seem accessible to the average healthy person.  Which it is!

This book aims to encourage and inspire those who haven’t tried long distance walking, and is a source of authoritative, practical information for anyone planning walking trips.  Richly illustrated with 173 beautiful color photographs (by Robert Manning) over 243 pages, it is a delicious armchair pleasure.  Walking Distance is a fine book for experienced walkers to peruse over a cup of tea in the depths of winter, or to give to a friend who has fantasized about walking and walking and walking in places of great interest and beauty.

The Mannings — Martha, a fiber artist and Bob, a professor who studies the history, philosophy and protection of parks, wilderness, and related areas — have walked the walks: 30 in 6 continents.  Their walks are, as the Mannings emphasize,  for “ordinary people like us, and you.”  They selected “….walks through the great cultural landscapes of the world where nature and culture are intertwined in harmonious, pleasing, and sustainable ways.”  In addition to practical tips, they focus on both cultural and natural history. This book, leavened with a wry sense of adventure and wonder, is an homage to curiosity and openness while walking through a landscape.

The simplest way to convey the contents of this well-planned guide is to summarize each chapter.

Part 1 of the book comprises three chapters on why, how and where to walk:

• Why Walk? is a superb essay on the history and philosophy of walking.
• How to Walk covers logistics: physical preparation, planning, packing, food, wayfinding, and ethics.
• Where to Walk addresses whether you want to walk locally or globally, long or short distances, parts or all of a trail, in wilderness or more populated areas.

Part 2 — Extraordinary Hikes For Ordinary People — 30 chapters describing 30 great long distance walks.

A two-page  introductory table conveniently lists the hikes, their locations, the length (in miles), accommodations, whether baggage transfer is available, option to walk in sections (most can be), and degree of challenge (most are low to moderate).  Twelve of the walks are in Europe, and twelve in North America; three are in Australia or New Zealand; and one each is in Asia, South America and Africa.

The accommodation types listed in the table seem to reflect international patterns:

• Europe has by far the largest number of hut systems, B&B’s and Inn’s; backpacking is less common;
• North America is all about backpacking, though some huts and commercial accommodations are available.

Each chapter is about 5-6 pages and:

• begins with basic information about the trail and maps locating it in the country and region;
• continues with a brief, and often humorous, anecdote imparting a flavor of the trail and a sense of the serendipity and adventure that walkers experience.  One of my favorites is about the mischievous Kea bird in New Zealand, where “……several birds kicked open the screen door of our cabin, one bird holding the door open while the others prepared to plunder our possessions.”;
• describes the topography and the natural and cultural history of the trail, identifies highlights and side trips, and provides practical tips (e.g. logistics, permits and fees, and weather); and
• concludes with a list of resources for further reading (books and websites).

The book concludes with References and a list of Books and Essays on Walking/Hiking.

All this is interspersed with delightful quotations about walking.  Altogether a delightful romp through 30 great long distance walks full of wonder.  Walking Distance admirably fills a gap in the American literature.  Read the book and take a long walk!

Reviewed by Sam Demas, Editor, h2h