Books, Etc.
Survival Skills Books:
Wilderness Survival Handbook
by Alan Fry
This book is a basic preparation guide for anyone that plans on going into the wilderness. If you happen to run into problems, the book lists many different survival tricks and techniques to help keep you alive. A beneficial book for hikers, skiers, backpackers, canoeists, snowmobilers, or anyone else that could possibly get stranded in the outdoors. The book includes choosing proper clothing, equipment you should take, how to navigate the land, finding food and water, shelter, and signaling for help.
Tom Brown's Field Guide Wilderness Survival
by Tom Brown, JR., with Brandt Morgan
This book is an excellent tool for anyone who spends a lot of time outdoors. Tom Brown is one of the most renowned outdoor survival experts in the world. In his book you will learn pretty much everything you need to know to survive in the wild, including the attitude it takes to survive. The book shows you several ways to make shelter, fire, collect water, making tools, and things you need to watch out for when in the wilderness. The book has just about everything you could want on food. It lists several edible plants and where they can be found. It also talks about how to hunt, fish, trap etc. What animals are edible, finding and approaching animals, skinning and cleaning, cooking, and utilizing the entire animal are also covered.
Basic Essentials Map and Compass
by Cliff Jacobson
This is just a real basic guide on using a map and compass. For anyone going into the wild it is a great idea to have a map and compass, and be able to read them. This book can help you with that. This is just a beginner guide and likely won't help anyone who is well accomplished at reading a map or compass. It will explain things such as contour lines, latitude and longitude, and declination.
by Alan Fry
This book is a basic preparation guide for anyone that plans on going into the wilderness. If you happen to run into problems, the book lists many different survival tricks and techniques to help keep you alive. A beneficial book for hikers, skiers, backpackers, canoeists, snowmobilers, or anyone else that could possibly get stranded in the outdoors. The book includes choosing proper clothing, equipment you should take, how to navigate the land, finding food and water, shelter, and signaling for help.
Tom Brown's Field Guide Wilderness Survival
by Tom Brown, JR., with Brandt Morgan
This book is an excellent tool for anyone who spends a lot of time outdoors. Tom Brown is one of the most renowned outdoor survival experts in the world. In his book you will learn pretty much everything you need to know to survive in the wild, including the attitude it takes to survive. The book shows you several ways to make shelter, fire, collect water, making tools, and things you need to watch out for when in the wilderness. The book has just about everything you could want on food. It lists several edible plants and where they can be found. It also talks about how to hunt, fish, trap etc. What animals are edible, finding and approaching animals, skinning and cleaning, cooking, and utilizing the entire animal are also covered.
Basic Essentials Map and Compass
by Cliff Jacobson
This is just a real basic guide on using a map and compass. For anyone going into the wild it is a great idea to have a map and compass, and be able to read them. This book can help you with that. This is just a beginner guide and likely won't help anyone who is well accomplished at reading a map or compass. It will explain things such as contour lines, latitude and longitude, and declination.
Trail Guide Books
A Falcon Guide Hiking Books
Authors Vary
A Falcon Guide Hiking Books are a series of books that cover different areas from around the United States. I own their hiking books for Oregon's Southern Cascades and Siskiyous, Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks, The North Cascades, Olympic National Park, Yosemite, Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness, and California's Trinity Alps Wilderness. Even though the books in this series have several different authors, the features are usually the same. The beginning of the book will have sections on the history of the area, wildlife that you may need to be aware of, how to stay safe on the trail, and what, if any, permits are needed. Some of the books even have a rating system where it will rate, for example, best backcountry lakes, best hikes for wildflowers, best hikes for views, and best hikes for solitude. Each of these categories will be broken down into easy, moderate, and strenuous hikes. This section has been very helpful to me in the past when choosing hikes to do.
Each book will usually list at least 50 different hiking adventures. Each hike will have it's own section. In these individual sections of the book there will be a small map provided. The book will explain how to get to the trailhead and will give the description of the hike. A lot of the books will contain and elevation profile for every hike, and the books that don't have this elevation profile will have the elevation gain and loss listed. Each hike also has a Key Points mileage marker. A Falcon Guide also provides books for various other outdoor activities.
Authors Vary
A Falcon Guide Hiking Books are a series of books that cover different areas from around the United States. I own their hiking books for Oregon's Southern Cascades and Siskiyous, Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks, The North Cascades, Olympic National Park, Yosemite, Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness, and California's Trinity Alps Wilderness. Even though the books in this series have several different authors, the features are usually the same. The beginning of the book will have sections on the history of the area, wildlife that you may need to be aware of, how to stay safe on the trail, and what, if any, permits are needed. Some of the books even have a rating system where it will rate, for example, best backcountry lakes, best hikes for wildflowers, best hikes for views, and best hikes for solitude. Each of these categories will be broken down into easy, moderate, and strenuous hikes. This section has been very helpful to me in the past when choosing hikes to do.
Each book will usually list at least 50 different hiking adventures. Each hike will have it's own section. In these individual sections of the book there will be a small map provided. The book will explain how to get to the trailhead and will give the description of the hike. A lot of the books will contain and elevation profile for every hike, and the books that don't have this elevation profile will have the elevation gain and loss listed. Each hike also has a Key Points mileage marker. A Falcon Guide also provides books for various other outdoor activities.
Poems
Country Boy
I suppose it really started when I was born,
my need to get away from the city and car horns.
The tall buildings and street lights did nothing for me.
In the forest and the mountains is where I want to be.
I head to the woods for the peace and the solitude
and I don’t have to put up with any city folk attitude.
Hearing nothing but wind and the calls of the wild
is something I have enjoyed since I was a child.
Camping beneath the stars and the moons light,
is the only true way to spend the peaceful night.
Hiking around the wilderness to see nature’s beauty,
I’ll cover many miles in a day, as if it were my duty.
Through deep glacial valleys and over mountain peaks,
I’ll be catching rainbow trout in the crystal clear creeks.
The hidden waterfalls and alpine lakes are a sight to see.
Everyone that has made it this far would also agree.
Walking through forests of spruce, firs, and pines
I am enjoying myself. These are the best of times.
Just a human amongst the bears, the elk, and the deer,
This is where I was born to live. It’s all coming clear.
With my pack on my back and my pistol at my side,
I could live off the land and let nature provide.
I know the wilderness can be a dangerous place
But I’ll take my chances with a smile on my face.
For it is only in the wilderness where I feel alive
And it has been said, ‘A country boy can survive’.
By Dave Alonzo
Country Boy 2
I’ve been living off the land for almost a year.
The only thing I miss is an ice cold beer.
I built me a little cabin in a quiet mountain glen
Cutting trees with an axe like the true mountain men
Trimming, notching, and stacking each log, one by one
It certainly isn’t perfect, but it gets the job done.
It doesn’t consist of much, mostly a place to rest my head
But without this shelter I would undeniably be dead
Critters that break in will learn a quick and painful lesson
They’ll be on the losing side versus my Smith and Wesson.
Hunting and gathering is how I usually spend my day
In the life of a mountain man there’s no other way
I have luck catching fish in the creeks and the lakes
Until winter comes and brings ice and snow flakes
Up here in the mountains, where winter lasts forever
Putting food on the table can be quite an endeavor
Big game provides me with a majority of my food
If I didn’t know how to hunt I would definitely be screwed
Seeing spring hit the mountains is a beautiful thing
but it will not be long before summer is in full swing.
The long, sunny days I gladly welcome with a smile
The sunsets alone make this whole adventure worthwhile
The work never stops; it is constant around the clock
If you want to make it out here you have to walk the walk
I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, it wasn’t a surprise
But I told you before, this country boy would survive.
By Dave Alonzo
I suppose it really started when I was born,
my need to get away from the city and car horns.
The tall buildings and street lights did nothing for me.
In the forest and the mountains is where I want to be.
I head to the woods for the peace and the solitude
and I don’t have to put up with any city folk attitude.
Hearing nothing but wind and the calls of the wild
is something I have enjoyed since I was a child.
Camping beneath the stars and the moons light,
is the only true way to spend the peaceful night.
Hiking around the wilderness to see nature’s beauty,
I’ll cover many miles in a day, as if it were my duty.
Through deep glacial valleys and over mountain peaks,
I’ll be catching rainbow trout in the crystal clear creeks.
The hidden waterfalls and alpine lakes are a sight to see.
Everyone that has made it this far would also agree.
Walking through forests of spruce, firs, and pines
I am enjoying myself. These are the best of times.
Just a human amongst the bears, the elk, and the deer,
This is where I was born to live. It’s all coming clear.
With my pack on my back and my pistol at my side,
I could live off the land and let nature provide.
I know the wilderness can be a dangerous place
But I’ll take my chances with a smile on my face.
For it is only in the wilderness where I feel alive
And it has been said, ‘A country boy can survive’.
By Dave Alonzo
Country Boy 2
I’ve been living off the land for almost a year.
The only thing I miss is an ice cold beer.
I built me a little cabin in a quiet mountain glen
Cutting trees with an axe like the true mountain men
Trimming, notching, and stacking each log, one by one
It certainly isn’t perfect, but it gets the job done.
It doesn’t consist of much, mostly a place to rest my head
But without this shelter I would undeniably be dead
Critters that break in will learn a quick and painful lesson
They’ll be on the losing side versus my Smith and Wesson.
Hunting and gathering is how I usually spend my day
In the life of a mountain man there’s no other way
I have luck catching fish in the creeks and the lakes
Until winter comes and brings ice and snow flakes
Up here in the mountains, where winter lasts forever
Putting food on the table can be quite an endeavor
Big game provides me with a majority of my food
If I didn’t know how to hunt I would definitely be screwed
Seeing spring hit the mountains is a beautiful thing
but it will not be long before summer is in full swing.
The long, sunny days I gladly welcome with a smile
The sunsets alone make this whole adventure worthwhile
The work never stops; it is constant around the clock
If you want to make it out here you have to walk the walk
I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, it wasn’t a surprise
But I told you before, this country boy would survive.
By Dave Alonzo