Tag Archives: outdoors

Fresh Air with Terry Grosz

Posted on November 21, 2025 by smellincoffee

When it’s time for me to do my annual writeup in a month or so, I will have to mention the Black Swan event that was game warden-oriented books suddenly exploding onto the scene, bursting out of nowhere like a … Continue reading →

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Backcountry Lawman

Posted on September 22, 2025 by smellincoffee

Readers may remember that earlier this year I fell into CJ Box’s game warden novels starring Joe Pickett with the eagerness of a winter traveler who finds a cabin laden with quilts and fresh chili. I subsequently found Paul Doiron’s … Continue reading →

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Hiking grandmas, irreligious hombres, and unjacking from the Matrix

Posted on May 3, 2021 by smellincoffee

As an avid hiker I couldn’t help but be hooked by the story of Emma Gatewood, who in 1955 became the first woman to through-hike the Appalachian Trail. She did so with a minimum of preparation, without much of the … Continue reading →

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The Old Man and the Boy

Posted on January 11, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Old Man and the Boy© 1957 Robert Ruark303 pages Of the various titles on my Classics Club Strikes back list, The Old Man and the Boy is something of an outlier; I’d venture to say that most people haven’t … Continue reading →

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Brian’s Saga, continued: Winter, River, and Return

Posted on December 21, 2014 by smellincoffee

Brian’s Winter /  The River / Brian’s Return© Gary Paulsen 1996, 1991, 1999             Hatchet told the story of a young teenager named Brian who survived a crash landing in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.  Forced by the pressing … Continue reading →

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Hatchet

Posted on December 17, 2014 by smellincoffee

Hatchet© 1987 Gary Paulsen195 pages Hitching a ride on a small plane to meet his father in Alaska,  young Brian is left alone thousands of miles in air when his pilot succumbs to a heart attack.  The thirteen-year old is no … Continue reading →

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The View from the Summit

Posted on December 31, 2013 by smellincoffee

The View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir from the First Person to Conquer Everest© 1999 Sir Edmund Hillary310 pages The Himalayan Mountain range boasts the highest peaks on the surface of the globe; its heights equal the cruising altitude … Continue reading →

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The Men Who United the States

Posted on December 27, 2013 by smellincoffee

 The Men Who United the States: America’s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible© 2013 Simon Winchester496 pages The Men who United the States is a storied account of how the American people came to … Continue reading →

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Into Thick Air

Posted on December 17, 2013 by smellincoffee

Into Thick Air© 2003 Jim Mauser388 pages             Jim Mauser might be interested in the view from the Seven Summits, the highest points of each continent, were it not for the fact that they have … Continue reading →

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The Man Who Cycled the World

Posted on November 20, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Man Who Cycled the World© 2011 Mark Beaumont400 pages Why did Mark Beaumont decide to try and break the world record for circumnavigating the world by bicycle? Well, it beat law school. In his early twenties, with his life’s … Continue reading →

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