Soon after her fiftieth birthday, Melissa Walker set out on a journey that many women of her generation have mapped only in their dreams. Having spent her adult life raising children and climbing the academic ladder, Walker decided to put some of the environmental theories she'd taught into practice. Leaving her suburban life, she ventured into the wilderness.
Like many American chroniclers before her who have surrendered to the aimless pleasures of the road, Walker had no geographical destination in mind, but she did have two definite goals--one personal, one political--for her journey. She was looking for the peace and solitude of the backcountry, certainly, but she also wanted to learn the dynamics of preserving wild places and to devote herself to that cause.
Walker took off on three extended solitary trips over the next two years, establishing a way of life for herself that continues to this day. In the Sky Islands of southern Arizona, on the banks of the Popo Agie River and the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, and Olympic National Park, in Gila and Glacier Peak Wilderness, she encountered the hazards of wild animals and extreme weather, and she began to reassess what parts of her life she could control. Her belief in the primacy of individual achievement changed as she confronted the hidden structures of life. And her understanding of her environment broadened when in addition to grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, and mountain lions, she also met ranchers, loggers, cowboys, and outfitters whose livelihoods depend on activities that may threaten wilderness.
Living on Wilderness Time is a book for those who have visited wild places and want to return and for others whose overcommitted urban lives make them long for land where time is measured differently and human beings are scarce. Above all it is a call to join those, like Aldo Leopold, who see wilderness as vital to the human community.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Living on Wilderness Time:

I purchased this book because of all the high ratings. Being a 50 year old woman myself I eagerly anticipated a " WILD " read. Melissa Walker claims she spent some 200 days within the wilderness...I wonder how many days she alone was in the deep wilderness. There was not one chapter in which she wasn't mentioning names of whom she was with on many legs of her journey. It seemed to me like she took a few weeks of solitary sojourning and heavily peppered them with experiences she had with others.
I... more info

Inspirational:

Very Inspirational when we all loose ourselves in the hustle of everyday life, I have adapted the saying Wilderness Time every time I feel rushed, it has a calming effect on me now, even being a outdoor addict, there are many of times I feel rushed in the outdoors. The book has made me appreciate that time more.
I did not give the book 5 stars, simply because there was to much reference to Melissa being with someone, in a resort, in a hotel, and not being "alone" as the book lead me to beleive, I... more info

WONDERFUL BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

My sister told me to read this book and I liked it so much, I returned the half read book to the library and bought one of my own so I could savour it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (She is right, I live in Washington, and the Olympic National Park is west of Seattle, not east as the text says.)

LOVE THIS BOOK(couple of errors though):

I loved this book. I can't imagine having the "guts" to do what she did, I feel too vulnerable as a female. We are too easily overcome by strength, but I think she used her wits not to put her into these situations. I loved it when she hit the guy in the stomach for blocking her in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There were two mistakes in the text however: page 65 "when I thought I might encounter the largest predator to roam the wilderness." The male polar bear is the largest land predator to roam the wilderness I... more info

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