Chapter 16 Summary

Happily back in New England, Bryson is trying to hike as much of the region as he can before meeting up with Katz in August for the Hundred Mile Wilderness of Maine. On a three-day hike through the Berkshire Mountains of Massachussetts, he is thinking about the occasional sightings of mountain lions, generally believed extinct in the east. He has read up on all the wildlife that has suffered from over hunting in the last century and notes that these woods are relatively quiet now. On this trip, Bryson meets an Appalachian Trail "celebrity" at the time, named Chicken John. He is known all along the trail for frequently getting lost and hiking in the wrong direction. They hike together to the town of Dalton, where Bryson saves John from yet again getting lost. From there, Bryson makes for Adams, from which he...