Colin Fletcher

Colin Fletcher (March 14, 1922 – 12 June, 2007) was a backpacker and writer, best known as the author of The Complete Walker, a comprehensive guide to backpacking that Field and Stream magazine has called "the hiker's Bible." In 1963, he became the first man to walk the length of Grand Canyon National Park entirely within the rim of the canyon 'in one go' (second to complete the whole journey), as chronicled in his bestselling memoir The Man Who Walked Through Time (1968).

Annette McGivney, editor of Backpacker Magazine, said "Colin was sort of the founding father of modern backpacking, the first person to write about going out for an extended period and being self-sufficient." Because many people started following Fletcher's advice in The Complete Walker, according to McGivney, "the book could be credited with starting the backpacking industry," including gear makers and periodicals like Backpacker Magazine. Through his writings Fletcher "inspired a generation of young Americans to take up backpacking as means of filling a spiritual void," and to escape from the confusion of Vietnam-era America:

"After Vietnam, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. So many of my friends had died from bullet holes," recalls Backpacker Magazine contributing editor Buck Tilton. "I read The Man Who Walked Through Time, and it was the only thing that made sense to me. Fletcher's words gave meaning to backpacking. I loaded my pack exactly the way Fletcher did and carried a walking stick like his. He was my hero."

Early life and career

Born in Cardiff, Wales March 14th 1922, Fletcher was educated in England and served in the Royal Marines during World War II. After spending time in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and as a prospector in Canada, he moved to the United States in 1956. Two years later, he walked the length of the state of California, a journey that was the basis for his book The Thousand Mile Summer.

Writing career

Fletcher published a total of 10 books between 1964 and 2001, which included 4 editions of the The Complete Walker. His first book was The Thousand Mile Summer (1964) recounting his 1958 hike along the entire eastern edge of California. His second book was The Man Who Walked Through Time (1968), in which Fletcher was the first person to walk a continuous route through the Grand Canyon in 1963.

In 1968, Fletcher published the first edition of The Complete Walker, his most popular work including three new editions with the last in 2001, in total selling over 500,000 copies. Fletcher's book is distinguished by its encyclopedic treatment of the technique and equipment of wilderness travel, as well as by what critics and readers have praised as its rousing humor and elegant, vigorous prose. While certainly comprehensive in its discussion of all aspects of wilderness travel, it also devotes a generous amount of space to Fletcher's self-confessed idiosyncrasies, ranging from his affection for walking staffs and corduroy shorts to his loathing of wilderness trail guidebooks.

In 1981 he published The Man From the Cave, which tells how, after finding a trunk and a few belongings abandoned by someone in a desert cave in Nevada, he spent years piecing together the life story of "Trunkman". As he pieced together the mystery of the man's life, Fletcher saw in it a discovery and reflection of himself, "We both valued solitude and silence and square, smoothed-off granite boulders."

In 1989, Fletcher hiked and rafted the entire length of the Green/Colorado River from its source in the Wind River Range of Wyoming to the Gulf of California. He was evidently the first person ever to do this. He told the story of the journey in River (1997), adding to his customary description of the places through which he travelled a metaphor, comparing the course of the river and its emptying into the sea, to life itself and his own life in particular.

Later years

In his later years, Fletcher became a prolific writer on environmental issues. He was allegedly very reclusive, rarely responding to letters or interview requests, although always willing to incorporate reader feedback into revised editions of The Complete Walker.

In 2001, at the age of seventy-nine, Fletcher was struck and seriously injured by an SUV while walking to a town meeting near his home in Monterey County, California. His survival was attributed to his excellent physical condition. Within a year of the accident, he was back on his feet and walking daily.

According to published obituaries, Fletcher died on June 12, 2007 in Monterey, California, as a result of complications from head injury sustained from being hit by the car six years earlier.

Quotes

• God is light, we are told, and Hell is outer darkness. But look at a desert mountain stripped bare by the sun, and you learn only geography. Watch darkness claim it, and for a moment you may grasp why God had to create Satan--or man to create both.
  • The Thousand Mile Summer (1964)

Bibliography

• The Thousand Mile Summer (1964)
• The Man Who Walked Through Time (1968)
• The Complete Walker (1968)
  • The New Complete Walker (1974)
  • The Complete Walker III (1984)
  • The Complete Walker IV (2001)
• The Winds of Mara (1973)
• The Man from the Cave (1981)
• The Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher (1989)
• River: One Man's Journey Down the Colorado, Source to Sea (1997)
• Autobiography (incomplete and unpublished - started in 2001 just before the accident)

External links

Obituary/Biography

• Obituary, Backpacker Magazine.
• Obituary, New York Times.
• Obituary, Sierra Club
• Obituary, NPR.
• Obituary, Metafilter.

Misc

• Bibliography - descriptions of each book and publishing history