Over 50 years ago, on a hot summer day, I helped one of my brothers move to the Mojave Desert where he was starting college. The heat was like a blast furnance. His car overheated several times, resulting in a blown head gasket. After unloading his belongings and a fitful night of sleep, I left, hitch-hiking back to LA.
I vowed to never enter a desert again.
Six years later, I moved to the desert. A different desert. A hotter desert. Why would I do such a crazy thing?
In the time, between my vow to never visit a desert again and my relocation to the desert, I read three of my now favorite books. They piqued my interest, and I began to visit, hike, and backpack in desert environs. The first book I read was, The Thousand Mile Summer, by Colin Fletcher.
Fletcher is often considered one of the most (if not the greatest) influential modern day writers about long-distance hiking and nature. This book is an early statement of his mastery of both. We can probably say with confidence that he was the pioneering influence on modern backpacking in the US for several decades.
Colin Fletcher was born in the United Kingdom, fought in World War II, moved to Africa, then Canada, and finally settled in the United States, living in California for the rest of his life.
The Seed that Created the “Walk”
This book isn’t about backpacking. It’s a man’s journey to find himself. Fletcher doesn’t distain civilization. He embraces it. At the same time he figures out that to know himself, he needs to walk alone in wilderness.
In 1958, the idea popped into his head that he should hike the length of California. At the time he wasn’t an accomplished backpacker. That would come after he completed this thousand mile hike. Fletch eloquently describes how he came to the conclusion that he needed to do this long walk,
“I was lying awake in my San Francisco apartment on February night, worrying about the things we all worry about, when it came to me out of nowhere, without the apparent aid of logic, that what I wanted most in life just then was to walk from one end of California to the other. I lay still, no longer tossing and turning I knew of course, that the idea was crazy; but I felt almost sure I was going.
Next morning the idea still glittered. A week later it still had me half dazzled. And by then I was quite sure.”
California is expansive with many different deserts and mountain ranges. A hike like this requires walking through some of the most difficult deserts in the world, especially Death Valley. Fletcher realized he had only about a month to plan and assemble gear to avoid walking when it would be too hot in the deserts. Not having any equipment for such a trip, he bought what he thought he would need, and at the same time, had to figure out how to use all this new equipment.
About a month later, he was at the US-Mexican border near Yuma Arizona. Stepping across the border to place a foot into Mexico, he turned and started walking north. His 6-month adventure had started.
The Thousand Mile Summer by Colin Fletcher is a vivid account of one man’s solo journey along the length of California, through the deserts, mountains, and wilderness of the state’s eastern border area. The book was published in 1964, six years after “The Walk” as he called it. The book records Fletcher’s walk from the Mexican border to Oregon—a journey of over a thousand miles that took him through mountains, deserts, and other remote areas. It isn’t a journal. It’s much, much more.
We follow Fletcher as he transforms from a tenderfoot novice into a walking machine. It isn’t just about the walking, as Fletcher immerses himself into nature and begins to understand why the few people who live on the outskirts of civilization choose to do so. His descriptions of the land are magical and vivid.
Man versus Nature
Unlike most books of this genre, Fletchers descriptions of the landscape are the soul of the book. He develops, after a time, a deep reverence for the natural world, portraying equally the beauty and harshness of the wilderness at the same time. His first look at a seeming desolate desert, the magnificent peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and the lush river valleys come alive in his writing. He captures the physical details of the landscape and, at the same time, how these things affect him emotionally. He gains a respect for nature’s power, while leaving the reader with a sense of awe for the stunning and often unforgiving land he travels through. Alone most of the time, it is a solitary walk, with plenty of time to reflect on many things — nature and our place in it.
The book isn’t just a travelogue; it’s a reflective walk. Months alone in the wilderness with the occasional human contact when he needs to resupply or chance meetings with intriguing reclusive people. This solitude provides a chance to dissect his thoughts, his fears, and the nature of his existence. His self-examining reflections give the book a philosophical depth that makes it more than a travelogue.
There are moments when Fletcher’s writing veers into loneliness, and the sense of isolation becomes real. At the same time he embraces the challenge, both physical and mental, of being alone for so long. A central theme of the book is Fletcher’s new found discovery of himself.
Fletcher’s Voice
Fletcher’s writing is both expressive and exact; much like the careful planning required for his journey. Few nature writers can pull off both at the same time. He has an uncanny ability to balance technical details with lyrical descriptions. We see this when he is describing the equipment he carries, the animals he encounters, or the constant desert heat; it is as if he is having a conversation with the reader. His humor is subdued but powerful with a touch of curmudgeonly wit.
The Physical Challenge
Walking the length of California in 1958, mostly through desolate areas devoid of trails, without the modern technology of cell phones and GPS is a challenge in itself. Physically it is difficult. Today hundreds of people begin a walk through California on the well-marked Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Very few have ever tried to walk the route Fletch chose. It is too difficult. Planning the logistics of a PCT thru-hike is much easier than Fletcher’s walk along the eastern spine of California.
Fletcher details the logistics of this journey: food, water, and gear carried, the importance of physical conditioning, and the constant challenge of navigating through difficult terrain. His descriptions of the constant desert sun, sore muscles, blisters on his feet communicates the real aspects of a long-distance walk. The reality of these things are not hardships to Fletcher, just the real-world facts of backpacking. These facts are just minor challenges compared to his sense of accomplishment and the enjoyment of walking day-in and day-out.
A different man emerges as he places a foot across the California-Oregon border than the man who placed a foot into Mexico six months earlier. A better man, happier and wiser.
A Narrative for Today
This book was written over 50 years ago, and yet, it is still applicable to our more modern life. Perhaps it is even more universal to what makes us human than our life of constant noise and digital technology. Solitude in nature is a wonderful antidote for our constantly connected digital world.
Most people who might read this are probably backpackers. Fletcher does talk about gear, quite frequently too. Not only how and why he selected his equipment, but even long detailed itemized lists with weights. That part is nostalgic, and at the same time, instructive to the modern reader on how to integrate the equipment into an efficient package that will be carried for days, weeks, or even months.
Many photographs are included in the book.
Highly recommended!!
It is available in hard or soft cover.
Thousand-Mile Summer
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