Appalachian Trail Environment

Environment and Technology on the Appalachian Trail The individuals Bryson met on the Appalachian Trail and the revelations he experienced magnified his respect for the wilderness and his disdain for technology. At the beginning of his memoir, he knows little about the wilderness. He decides to embark on the adventure of hiking the Appalachian Trail in order to get in shape, and prove to himself that he could do it. He also felt compelled to go because the trail could potentially be destroyed in the next fifty years. His decision to attempt this ambitious adventure is rash; he wasn’t planning it out for months beforehand. Bryson uses his memoir A Walk in the Woods as a platform to get through to readers the importance of going out into the

Americans simply do not walk anymore, in fact it seems like they would do anything to avoid it. Bryson describes a woman he knows that drives a quarter of a mile to go to the gym, but complains about having to find a parking space. When he asked her why she doesn’t just walk to the gym, she responded “‘Because I have a program for the treadmill...it records my distance and speed.’ It hadn’t occurred to me how thoughtlessly deficient nature is in this regard” (Bryson 129). This shows his aversion to people who rely on technology. Again, he uses sarcasm to make fun of people when he thinks they are being ridiculous. People don’t walk or hike anymore because they don’t feel the need to. It takes going out into nature to develop a deep respect for the environment, and if people don’t respect the environment it faces the risk of

He wants people to treat the Appalachian Trail, and the environment in general, with respect. People reading A Walk in the Woods should want to hike the trail for the right reason: to be out in nature and solitude, not to talk about themselves and their technology, or party. Hiking the trail did not necessarily change his views, but it changed him. With this hike, he showed that anyone could go experience the environment in a deeper fashion than we already do, but most people just don’t care enough. After being out in the wilderness for so long, Bryson will no longer be content to be inside most of the time. Part of him will always long for the woods and the escape from