Why I'll Never Hike the Appalachian Trail: More writings from a White Mountain tramper

I picked up this book because I had read the author's revious book, "Along the Beaten Path," which was excellent. This book is also commendable. It's is a collection of newspaper articles Mike has written over the years relating to New England hiking. He profiles various local hikers and also gives interesting descriptions of many well-known New Hampshire hikes. The title is actually somewhat of a misnomer, because the Applachian Trail is not the main focus of the book at all. The best chapters are those on winter hiking and winter accidents along Tuckerman Ravine, some of the Presidential peaks and the infamous (in winter), Mt. Washington. Being from California, I only hike in New England in the summertime and after reading this book, I'm glad I'm not doing any hiking in the Whites in the winter. The chances some of these hikers take are foolhardy at best, and suicidal at worst. If you're a New Hampshire native, I highly recommend the book. If you're from outside New England, the book is still quite interesting if you're planning to hike in the White Mountains.

Mike Dickerman does a nice job describing the White Mountains, and what hiking there is like as a hobby and a passion. His essays are alternately informative, amusing, and educational. He does have one strange habit of mixing up east and west, which for a serious hiker, is astounding!It seems that Mike accidentally messes up east and west twice in his book -- Once when he refers to the Carter range as the Western? side of Pinkham Notch, and once when he refers to Mousilaukee as the Eastern?-most 4000 footer in the whites.Maybe he was sitting upside down when he wrote the book? ;-)