Five books that’ll spur you on when the going gets tough
The Old Ways by Robert McFarlane (2012)
A beautifully written rumination on the ancient pathways that criss-cross Britain and beyond – from the deadly Broomway off the Essex coastline and a secret cairn-marked trail in the Outer Hebrides to the many, many ways of the Camino de Santiago.
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Tracks by Robyn Davidson (1980)
When it’s not going to plan, take heart that you’re not Robyn Davidson in 1977, who had set off to journey 1,700 miles across the Aussie Outback with four camels and a dog for hiking buddies. Her eloquently honest account is a story of conviction, female triumph and self-discovery.
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Mawson’s Will by Lennard Bickel (2000)
Having decided not to accompany Captain Scott on his fated 1911 trip to the South Pole, explorer Sir Douglas Mawson led his own expedition to map an uncharted stretch of the Antarctic coastline. Over six weeks he covered 320 miles, battling icy storms, disease and snow-blindness in what Sir Edmund Hillary called “the most outstanding solo journey in Antarctic history”.
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The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (2018)
By turns funny and heartbreaking, this is the story of a couple who’d lost everything. Homeless and battling terminal illness, they set off to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path with decades-old camping gear, barely any money and no expectations. What happened along the way speaks of the life-changing power of long-distance trails.
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Wild by Cheryl Strayed (2015)
Battling demons from her childhood and desperate for escape, Cheryl Strayed hikes the Pacific Crest Trail up the West Coast of the US. En route, she comes face to face with a brown bear, some threateningly lecherous men and, eventually, the truth about herself.