Bryson explains that after moving from England back to the US and settling in a small New Hampshire town with his family, he soon discovers a walking path with a sign announcing that it’s part of the famed Appalachian Trail, a 2,100-mile trail running from Georgia to Maine along America’s eastern seaboard. Offering himself rationalizations like improving his fitness, reacquainting himself “with the scale and beauty of [his] native land after nearly twenty years of living abroad” (4), and the threat of global warming destroying forests, Bryson decides to try to hike the trail in its entirety. He then turns his attention to preparation and considers the many possible dangers, including threats from animals such as bears, wolves, and snakes; infections and diseases such as poison ivy or giardiasis; and even murder, considering that nine hikers had been murdered on the AT since 1974.

Like most AT hikers, Bryson opts to begin on the southern end of the trail, in Georgia, in early spring to complete the trek before the snows arrive in the fall in New England. Bryson notes that his “first inkling of just how daunting an undertaking it was to be came when [he] went to [his] local outfitters, the Dartmouth Co-Op, to purchase equipment” (10).