Walt McLaughlin Libros

What makes us human? Drawing from his own experiences in wild places through the decades, the author challenges the conventional notion that being civilized somehow changes what we are. He argues that wildness is an essential part of our humanity, and that our complex civilization threatens it. WILDNESS AND BEING HUMAN questions the basic assumptions we make about ourselves as it follows the evolution of hominids into fully human beings, the development of towns and agriculture, and the unfolding of civilization during the past 5,000 years. This book also considers what we are becoming, while stressing the importance of staying connected to the natural world. It is a whole new way of looking at human nature.

During the summer of '76, a disillusioned college boy set aside his books long enough to hitchhike from Ohio to British Columbia and back. A hunger for meaning stirred deep within as he climbed in and out of other people's cars, other people's lives, while dealing with the realities of the open road. Truckers, a philosopher/farmer, cowboys, born-again Christians and hippies all had something more to offer, but the author kept moving through the western American landscape until he reached a dead end. Then the adventure really began. This is a tale of numerous highway encounters and one young man's attempt to make sense of the world in the process.

Backcountry Excursions is a collection of six short hiking narratives set in the various wildlands of the Northeast, from New York's Adirondacks and Vermont 's Green Mountains, to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Maine Woods. Whether hiking with companions or alone, in well-known traces or off the beaten path, the author ruminates about humankind's rather complex and often contradictory relationship with the natural world.

After years of delay, the author finally backpacks the heart of the relatively new Cohos Trail in northern New Hampshire. But the recent deaths of loved ones, insufficient physical training, and his advanced years make a tough hike even tougher. All the same McLaughlin revels in the natural beauty of the White Mountains and the Nash Stream Forest as the trail rises to magnificent mountain views, skirts pristine ponds and dreamy meadows, and passes through sprawling forests. Despite all hardships, the wild still works its magic.