Alpine Trails Book Club «

Alpine Trails Book Club

Does your list of favorite things in life include hiking and reading outdoor books? Interested in meeting others who enjoy the same? Each month we choose an outdoor book to read and discuss while hitting the trails near Seattle. This outdoor book club is geared toward women, but is open to anyone and everyone. Babies, kids and well-behaved dogs are all welcome, the more the merrier!

The best way to get the monthly book selections and meetup info is to join our Facebook Group.

Happy adventure reading!

Your Fearless Leaders

Ashley Gossens

Favorite Outdoor Book: Breaking Trail by Arlene Blum

Best Trail Snack: Parmesan Goldfish crackers and gummy bears

Favorite Hot Beverage: Chai tea latte

You’ll Most Likely Find Me: Hiking in the North Cascades or browsing Third Place Books

Dream Book Club Adventure: Read Journey to the Center of the Earth and visit Iceland (I LOVE volcanoes!)

Laura Norsen

Favorite Outdoor Book: The Nature Fix by Florence Williams

Best Trail Snack: For day hikes, homemade chocolate chip cookies, for backpacking, picky bars

Favorite Hot Beverage: Earl Grey tea, preferably in the largest mug available

You’ll Most Likely Find Me: Reading in the sun on the shore of an alpine lake, or at home knitting in my favorite hyggekrog

Dream Book Club Adventure: Group weekend at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, OR where we’d read a book by the author whose room we were staying in, then swap favorite passages while hiking down the beach to Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

Keep up with Laura’s adventures on her lovely blog, Tiny Pines

Adventures

Current Book Selections

November 2019: Forest Bathing by Dr Qing Li

Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is the Japanese secret to health and happiness, and it’s right in your own backyard. As a society we suffer from nature deficit disorder. But studies have shown that backing away from your computer screen and stepping outside to spend mindful, intentional time in nature can reduce your stress levels and blood pressure, strengthen your immune and cardiovascular systems, and boost your energy, mood, creativity, and concentration. It can even help you live longer: the phytoncides, or chemical compounds, produced by trees can help your body produce more of the white blood cells that fight cancer.

Forest bathing is more than just a walk in the woods. Unlike hiking, there is no particular destination and no physical exertion required; it is an exercise for the mind, not the body. By observing how a tree sways in the wind, running your hand over its bark, or noticing the particular citrusy scent of a forest, you will learn how to lose yourself in the beauty of your surroundings, leave everyday stress behind you, and reach a place of greater calm and wellness. Illustrated with more than 100 color photographs, this beautiful guide to forest bathing will introduce you to the healing power of trees.

October 2019: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever.

September 2019: Thruhiking Will Break Your Heart by Carrot Quinn

Carrot Quinn fears that she’s become addicted to the internet. The city makes her feel numb, and she’s having trouble connecting with others. In a desperate move she breaks away from everything to walk 2,660 miles from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail. It will be her first long-distance hike.

In the desert of Southern California Carrot faces many challenges, both physical and emotional: pain, injury, blisters, aching cold and searing heat, dehydration, exhaustion, loneliness. In the wilderness she happens upon and becomes close with an eclectic group of strangers- people she wouldn’t have chanced to meet in the “regular world” but who are brought together, here on the trail, by their one common goal: make it to Canada before the snow flies.