Chapter 18 Summary

Bryson scales Mt. Washington, the highest peak in New England, again accompanied by his friend, Bill Abdu. They are two in a crowd of hikers and tourists taking advantage of a beautiful July day. The summit is nothing like other summits along the trail. It is tourist-oriented, complete with a cafeteria, shops, and plenty of noisy people.

Chapter 18 Analysis

Mt. Washington is an interesting punctuation mark to Bryson's summer of "Reebok hiking." It offers the challenge of the "real wilderness," having a history of claiming lives and setting wind speed records, but at the same time it is accessible and immensely popular with the day-hiking tourist set. It is an almost perverse joining of civilization and wilderness, resulting in a kind of confusion over whether Bryson and Abdu are indeed in the wild or a theme park. Maybe here more than anywhere else...