Reviews for Weird Hikes: A Collection of Bizarre, Funny, and Absolutely True Hiking Tales

The average rating for Weird Hikes: A Collection of Bizarre, Funny, and Absolutely True Hiking Tales based on 2 reviews is 1.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-10-16 00:00:00 Thaddeus Bouska I was gifted this book. I skipped ahead and read Hike Ten, set in Juneau, AK, which is where I live. This chapter left me very doubtful that anyone fact-checked this writing whatsoever. From inaccurate descriptions of landmarks and plant life to complete fallacies regarding the presence of dangerous wildlife, this writing convinced me that the other chapters would not be worthwhile to read. The writing pertaining to the native population seemed borderline at best, using outdated terminology and accentuating stereotypes. The state office building is not built into a cliff, Mt. Roberts is not a jagged, heavily-glaciated peak, and grizzly bears are infrequent visitors of Juneau (especially in the area the author hiked). Most confusing of all, the author mistakes a salmonberry, which looks like a yellow-orange raspberry, with a toxic baneberry. These berries do not resemble each other in the slightest. Furthermore, he changes his description later in the story and says he thought it was a blackberry. I do not find this weird, but rather a complete lack of foresight. No one should attempt foraging for wild berries in an unfamiliar area without knowledge of plant identification or a guidebook.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-12-08 00:00:00 Stephen Turner This book is actually more a memoir than a collection of hiking anecdotes. Though each chapter does indeed relate the strange, often surreal, sometimes downright hallucinatory hiking experiences author Art Bernstein has had, they also provide a spectrum of his life and American times. Bernstein does focus too much on details of things like the species of the trees that were around on a particular to allow the narrative to remain consistently engaging--I often resorted to skimming through sentences and full paragraphs--though I imagine the true hiking enthusiast will be pleased. Some chapters are obvious filler, but a handful are pure classic. This book certainly is an original. Sadly, Bernstein's humor-infused musings on his life take a depressing turn in the final chapter or two. It's too bad I cannot rate this book chapter by chapter, because then you would see anything from a five-star rave to a one-star riffing. Altogether, I have to say that "Weird Hikes" is just okay.